


Alice story part 2

by Bad_Wolf_and_The_Oncoming_Storm



Series: Alice's Story [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Older Man/Younger Woman, Shameless Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-05-09 05:13:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 58
Words: 404,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14709776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bad_Wolf_and_The_Oncoming_Storm/pseuds/Bad_Wolf_and_The_Oncoming_Storm
Summary: How does Alice continue without her sister? How will Gibbs help? How will Alice react to Ziva?Gibbs/OC Gibbs/OFC. All rights go to the creators of NCIS. I only own Alice and the story lines around her.Alice story 2Any chapter with * has smut





	1. Kill Ari (1)

We all return to NCIS squad room, but unlike early there is no laughter or joking, we’re in mourning. I want my sister back, I want to start over, I don’t know who to live without her. I am sitting on the morgue table next to my sister.  
“Kate, you can’t be dead. I need you,” I cry as there is a ding in the background but I can’t hear it. All I can her is Kate’s body hitting the ground and her body, not moving. Never moving, not ever again.  
The morgue is dark, but there is light entering from the hallway outside, I never bothered turning the light on, I didn’t even releaser that it is dark. My fear leaving me in my shocked state, just looking at the bag carrying my sister, my best and lonely friend. Ducky enters the room and hangs up his umbrella, with his coat and hat. The door hiss closed behind. Ducky moves to the slab and opens the body bag on it, without even seeing me as he opens Kate’s bag. She looks like she’s sleeping because I closed her eyes, she need them closed. He turns on the light about her and just gazes at her body for a moment. A look of pain and sorry on his face. When he looks away with a sigh, he sees me sitting there looking at my big sister, the only family that clam’s me.  
“Oh, Caitlin. I am so sorry,” Ducky say to her before looking at me and saying, “Alice you shouldn’t be here. Not for this.”  
“She shouldn’t be alone. She might need something,” I mumble without thinking about it. She needs something, her life back.  
“Alice, head up to the squad room. You don’t want to be here for this,” Ducky say to me softly while coming to stand in front of me.  
“She can’t be along.”  
“She won’t be. I’ll be here until you return with Ari’s body,” Ducky promise which makes me get up before I do something I have never done before, I hug my father. I need someone to hug me, someone with my DNA, Kate is the only one with my DNA that’s ever hugged, and I have to change that.  
“Want do I do know Ducky?” I cry to my father.  
“You live for your sister,” Ducky informs me before leading me out of autopsy.  
“Some birthday,” I mumble. Kate dies and it’s my birthday, she was going to make me her famous cake, a cake I’ll never eat again. Along with her bad cooking, she might not be able to cook, she can bake.  
“Go on,” Ducky orders me while calling the elevator and placing me on it while he returns to my sister.  
I arrive to the squad room to see Gibbs sitting alone in the dark, just like I was. I quickly walk over to him, he doesn’t look up when I arrive but he does grab my hand. I almost lean all my wait on his shoulder when the elevator door opens showing McGee and Tony leaving and walking to us. Both of them are soaking wet making me look sadly, what a great weather, we’re in mourning and it’s raining. That’s too fitting, but I guess it doesn’t just happen in the movies.  
“Found Ari’s sniper’s nest, boss,” Tony reports more businesslike then I have ever seen him.  
“Roof of the abandoned office building to the east,” McGee adds to the report while Tony takes the evidence back from his inner jacket pocket, showing three bullet casings.  
“Didn’t police his brass,” DiNozzo say as Gibbs gets up and circus’s his desk leaving me on my own. He takes on of the evidence bag from Tony and holds it under his desk lamp.  
“They’re Lapua. 308s,” McGee informs Gibbs making Tony give him a look, “I… I didn’t mean that you couldn’t see that, boss.”  
“I can’t, without my glasses,” Gibbs admits with a shrug. Making Tony and McGee exchange looks, that’s not Gibbs, Gibbs continues, “Lapuas. Match-grade sniper ammo. You guys find any bullets?”  
“Uh, none that matched the casing. I left three guys on the roof searching,” Tony reports but after a moment of silence Tony adds, “McGee and I’ll get back to the roof, boss.”  
“Tony, you’re soaking wet. Go put some dry clothes on,” Gibbs orders Tony who flinches back when Gibbs hands him the evidence, he than pats ton on the back, making Tony l\stare at Gibbs in disbelief and then exchange another look with McGee.  
“Ari’s rooftop wasn’t much higher than ours,” Gibbs states while remembering Kate’s death, “Rooflines behind where lower. No telling how far a full metal jacket bullet would go after killing Kate.”  
“How’s he know it was a full metal jacket?” McGee asks Tony while I lean on Gibbs desk, she’s really gone. This isn’t a dream, why couldn’t it be a dream?  
“Didn’t you see Kate?” Tony ask him in surprise.  
“I didn’t want to.”  
“Her head was intact.”  
“So… she didn’t look bad?”  
No. no, not at all, probie. In fact a little putty right here,” Tony comments before tapping where Kate was shot but on McGee before continuing, “and she’ll be good as new. Course, she was having a bad hair day, though, right back here, ‘cause a full metal jacket’ll put a hold the size of a grapefruit tight about there,” Tony states before smacking McGee in the back of the head.  
“Tony. Please.”  
“I’m sorry, kid,” Tony says while patting McGee on the shoulder.  
“Three rounds? Only one hit?” Gibbs asks us.  
“He must’ve popped off a couple of rounds while you were weaving across the roof.”  
“I was standing still when Kate was shot.”  
“McGee lasered the distance at nearly 600 meters.”  
“572,” McGee corrects Tony.  
“Slight shift in the wind, he misses you, he hits Kate,” Tony attempts but I think back to the moment Kate’s life is deaded. Her hair isn’t moving, not at all.  
“There was no wind,” I state making them looking at me.  
“What’re you saying, he was aiming at Kate? You’re the one he wants to kill!” Tony asks me before turning to Gibbs for the finial moment.  
“Ari had a thing for Kate,” McGee exclaims.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“She told me that he was always coming on to her. in autopsy, when he kidnapped her and let her go.”  
“She never told me that.”  
“Gee, what a surprise.”  
“What?” Tony snaps at McGee before hitting him in the back of the head again, “Huh?”  
“Don’t do that, Tony,” Gibbs snaps at Tony making Tony look confused while Gibbs looks at the briefcase that McGee’s controller was in. Gibbs asks, “When was this hit, Tim?”  
“When I was pinned down.”  
“Ari have a shot at it?” I ask him while finally moving away from Gibbs desk to Gibbs where I grab his hand again.  
“Our car was between the controller and the terrorist. There was no way he could have hit it. Boss, I’m… I’m sorry, I should have realized it was Ari,” McGee exclaims in shame.  
“Why didn’t he pop McGee?” Tony asks making me glare at him.  
“Isn’t one person enough for you?” I snap at Tony. Kate’s dead and all he cares about is why McGee’s not dead.  
“Oh, thanks, Tony,” McGee says hurt.  
“All I’m saying is, you’re sizable target. The controller isn’t,” Tony defends himself.  
“You saying I’m fat?”  
“No. I mean, maybe a little around the waist, under the chin.”  
“He didn’t have an angle on Tim,” Gibbs cuts in.  
“Wow. You own that shooter from the warehouse a thank you. He saved your life.”  
“The bullet entered here. Could’ve ricocheted into the car.”  
“Well, I’ll get on it,” McGee exclaims.  
“Abby should be here by now. Tony, see what you can pull off that brass,” Gibbs orders Tony before handing Tony the evidence back before he release my hand and walks away, but calls back to us, “I’m going for coffee. Can I’ll buy you come?” making Tony and McGee look after him in  
“No,” Tony answers him.  
“Thanks,” McGee also answers.  
“Please,” I state while looking at Kate’s desk, I want my sister back.  
“That’s a first,” Tony mumbles once Gibbs has left..  
“He called me ‘Tim,’” McGee states in surprise.  
“He patted my back.”  
“It’s kind of nice.”  
“Nice? I don’t want nice. It’s not Gibbs, if he’s nice,” Tony exclaims before Tony and I walk away from McGee towards the back elevator.  
“I want Kate,” I mumble again, I’ll give anything, even my own life for my sister back.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Tony and I walk into the lab to see Abby sitting at her computer with black lipstick, pigtails and laughing at nothing.  
“Abby,” Tony calls to her making her stop laughing and turn to look at us.”  
“Hey, Tony, Alice,” Abby exclaims.  
“You okay?”  
“I will be, soon as I tie up my pigtails. There. What can I do for you?” Abby ask but we just stare at her, “What?”  
“You’re weirder than Gibbs.”  
“How so?”  
“He offered to get us coffee,” I mumble making Abby look surprised.  
“He’s being nice,” Tony answers her but that one’s not so surprising.  
“Gibbs is always nice,” Abby exclaims.  
“To you and Alice and Ducky, maybe, to me…. Growls at, smacks on the head.”  
“Which makes you feel wanted.”  
“Yeah.”  
“What d’ya got for me?” Abby asks making Tony hand Abby the evidence with the shell casing the killed Kate.  
“.308 casing from Ari’s sniper’s nest.”  
“You would have to give me the most popular calibre in the world.”  
“Well, hey, I just found them. Can you tell what kind of gun he used?”  
“A .308,” Abby answer with an eye roll.  
“Abby. What model? We need to know so we can kill Ari,” I beg of her softly, trying not to cry again.  
“You don’t know?”  
“Would I be asking?”  
“Well, how’m I supposed to know?”  
“Because you’re the firearms expert,” Tony say to her.  
“That I am,” Abby agrees with putting on latex gloves, “And when I’m done, I will tell you: the propellant, the primer, the percentage of nickel and copper in the brass, whether or not all three rounds were fired from the same weapon, which you assume, but I can prove or disprove. I will tell you who manufactured the ammo, the batch number, and perhaps where it was sold. I will also, with some degree of accuracy, tell you if it was fired from a lever action, a bolt action, a semi-automatic, or an automatic weapon. However, there is no way in hell I can tell which of the 87 different .308 models fired those rounds.”  
“The rounds are Lapua.”  
“What?”  
“Lapua made the ammo. Logo’s on the round.”  
“Tony, I’m gonna miss her,” Abby cries making me loose it and cry too. Tony pulls us both into a hug as we cry.  
“Me, too,” Tony agrees.  
“I want my sister back,” I mumble as a bullet shatters the glass on the window. Tony pushes us both to the ground while laying on Abby while I curling up into a ball on the floor.  
“You hit?” DiNozzo asks us.  
“No. you’re heavy,” Abby stains making Tony get off her while waiting me for an answer.  
“Why is he doing this?” I cry to him.  
“Sorry,” Tony apologize to Abby while pulling her against the wall then coming back to get me and pull me over too.  
“God, no wonder you’re so heavy. Tony, you’re all muscle,” Abby exclaims while feeling his leg. He pulls his gun out, ready if he needs it.  
“Abby, shh9!”  
“Packing a nice body, too.”  
“Hey, is this how you deal with getting shot at?”  
“I don’t know, it’s my first time.”  
“Abby!” Gibbs hisses.  
“Boss, down!” Tony calls out before Gibbs turning off all the lights in the lab before moving over to us where he sees me curled up against the wall. He comes over while placing his arms around both Abby and me.  
“You okay?” Gibbs asks Abby.  
“Yeah,” Abby answer him.  
“Are you okay?”  
“Yeah,” I mumble into Gibbs chest where I bury my face.  
“Close off Anacostia Park between the bridges. It’s a crime scene,” Gibbs orders Tony who nodes while getting up making Gibbs grab his leg and hiss, “Hey! What if he has a night-vision scope?”  
“That’s a good point, boss,” Tony says before crawling out of the lab as I grab a handful of Gibbs shirt.  
“I’ll get you bulletproof glass,” Gibbs promise Abby while picking glass out of her hair with the arm around her.  
“There’s no such thing, Gibbs,” Abby informs him.  
“Oaky. Bullet-resistant glass.”  
“Ari didn’t shoot at you and hit Kate by mistake, did he? He’s after me now.”  
“I was walking by that window when he fired.”  
“You’re just saying that to make me feel safe.”  
“I’ll keep you safe, Abby. Both of you,” Gibbs promises us before kissing our heads before adding, “I promise.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you sure you want to go in here?” Gibbs ask me while pulling me into his arms in the elevator.  
“I need too. I… I need,” I stumble over my words but Gibbs gets it.  
“If you need to leave. Just do it,” I softly orders me making node.  
“Ari fired into Abby’s lab,” Gibbs informs Ducky as we walk into autopsy and he cover’s Kate’s face.  
“Good lord,” Ducky exclaims in surprise.  
“It had to come from across the river, from Anacostia Park.”  
“Was Abigail hurt?”  
“No, she’s scared,” I answer him softly.  
“Tony’s with her,” Gibbs adds.  
“In the lab?” Ducky asks while walking to the other end of autopsy.  
“In the squad room, writing up an incident report,” Gibbs reports while I walk over to my sister and gently pull her cover back so I can see her face, it might be the last time and I don’t want to forget what she looks like. Gibbs says to Ducky, “You should’ve brought in another ME, Duck.”  
“Couldn’t,” Ducky states while returning with a bottle of alcohol before continuing, “Not for Caitlin,” He then pours the spirit into two glasses.  
“I’ve lost men in combat. You hope you won’t, you know you will.”  
“This is different.”  
“But it shouldn’t be. Kate was an agent. She knew she had to lay her life on the line,” Gibbs snaps making me whimper, my sister did just that and it’s wrong. Ducky goes to cut Gibbs off but Gibbs continues, “But you’re right. It’s different.”  
Ducky and Gibbs continue to talk but I just can’t listen, I just focus on my sister. I wonder what she would say if she was alive, or if we would be at home, eating cake and watching TV. Or talking about boys.  
Gibbs walks over to me once he is finished talking to Ducky, he watches me have to stop myself from rubbing my sister’s hair, smoothing it out. I want to touch her but if I do, she is really dead then.  
“Come on,” Gibbs says softly to while pulling me into the side of his body. Once I am against his body, he leads me out of autopsy and back into the elevator, he hits the button for the garage to see if McGee has found our missing bullet, or at least one of them. Once the doors are closed he asks me, “Are you okay?”  
“She’s really done. I want my sister back,” I whimper trying not to cry but when Gibbs pulls me into his arms, I begin crying in pain.  
“It’ll be alright. We’ll take it one day at a time,” Gibbs promises me.  
“You promise?” I mumble, what if he doesn’t like me anymore? What if he breaks up with me?  
“I promise,” Gibbs promises before we leave the elevator to see McGee staring at Abby’s ass as she leans in the car that McGee hide behind when he was shot at by Ari.  
“Oh! I found another one!” Abby exclaims as we stop behind McGee, looking over his shoulder.  
“Boss, uh, we-we-we found a .308 slug,” McGee stutters out after spinning around when he feels Gibbs presence behind him.  
“Two. They were plugged in the trunk,” Abby reports while holding the second bullet in her tweezers making McGee get another jar for her to drop it into.  
“These fired by that dirt bag in the warehouse?” Gibbs asks while looking at the bullets.  
“Yes. Those I found in the right side of the car,” Abby explains while pointing to the holes in the car making Gibbs move over to it. Abby continues, “.9, mil. Slugs.”  
“Ari missed with his first shot, hit the controller with the second,” McGee explains as Gibbs runs his finger around a large hole in the car’s side.  
“Where were you before you took cover?” I ask McGee.  
“Uh, right here,” McGee informs us while squatting down to demonstrate where the bullet hole is.  
“Tony’s right. You do own that terrorist a thank you,” Gibbs says making McGee look at the hole and then away from the car in fear. He looks at the hole again before standing up.  
“Gibbs you can’t say that,” I state at him.  
“What?”  
“Tony’s right. Last time you said that Kate died. Those words are cursed.”  
“He didn’t police his brass again. Metro PD found a .308 casing in the park next to tire tracks,” Tony reports while walking over to us.  
“And?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Nothing. I was waiting for you to tell me to tell them to bring the evidence here ASAP.”  
“What, I have to tell you that DiNozzo?”  
“You always do.”  
“Tell Metro PD to…”  
“Already did, boss,” Tony cuts Gibbs off making him give him a dirty look and head to the elevator, “Oh, and by the way, the director wants to see you up at MTAC.”  
“Why are you baiting Gibbs?” Abby demands of Tony angrily.  
“Trying to get him to stop being nice.”  
“I like him nice,” McGee comments making Abby and Tony give him a look for a moment before hitting on the head together.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Tony. Where are we?” Gibbs asks as he walks into the squad room with a red head. And the sight of her makes me feel very unconfutable, is he going to leave me. She is closure to his age than I am, so has more in commune with him that I came.  
“McGee and Abby are working firearms analysis. I’m matching tire tracks to vehicles,” Tony reports while looking at the women over the photograph he is looking at.  
“No one is to leave the building. McGee’s on protection detail with Abby. I’ll be back in an hour,” Gibbs orders before leaving with the women. Tony watches over his desk, staring at the women’s legs.  
“Really Tony?” I ask him while getting up.  
“Where are you going?” Tony asks me.  
“Coffee,” I answer making Tony get up to go with me, but I add, “From the kitchen down the hall.” Once I say that Tony relaxes and sits back down at his desk as I walk to the kitchen.  
“I’m dead, and this is your first coffee,” Kate mumbles from her spot on the kitchen table as I make my coffee.  
“What’s that mater?” I mumble.  
“Normally you’d be on your fifth or so. You can’t put your life on hold because of me, or I’ll come back and kill you.”  
“How? You’re dead.”  
“I’ll destroy your belt again.”  
“You do that and I deface your grave.”  
“There’s the Alice I love,” Kate says before disappearing in front of me, leaving me with a sad, small smile.  
“I love you too, Kate,” I mumble while taking the two coffee’s I made. I walk back to the squad room to see an unknown women with a visitor badge at McGee’s desk, and for some reason, I am glad it’s not Kate’s desk.  
“You can’t help because I’m here to stop special agent Gibbs from killing a mossed officer,” She says with a heavy Israeli accent.  
“Ari Haswari?” Tony asks her.  
“Yes.”  
“I’d wish you luck, but I want the bastard dead, too,” Tony whispers to her as I walk in placing Tony’s coffee on his desk.  
“And I will kill him, he killed our agent,” I state making her look at me.  
“Thanks,” Tony says while sipping his coffee.  
“Who are you?” I demands of the second unknown women in half an hour.  
“Ziva David. Mossad. Who are you?” Ziva asks me.  
“Alice. Mossad, so you’re the fucking morons who worked with the FBI to kill my sister? Lovely. Ari dies, and if you try to stop us, you die,” I promise her before I move over to Gibbs desk where I have placed a photo of Kate and me, at the hospital. I am sleeping and she is reading a book with a smile on her face, it’s a great photo of her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You’re not a wealthy family,” Ziva say to Tony who is working the hundreds of papers on his desk.  
“Really,” Tony asks Ziva in fake surprise.  
“Born and raised on the east coast. New England boarding school. Spent some time in the Midwest and Philadelphia.”  
“How would you know that?”  
“Because she’s Ari’s handler and he needs to know who to kill us, easily. Meaning everything they can get their hands on about our life,” I explain to Tony making Ziva glare at me. She is pissing me off, I want her gone.  
An elevator dings as Ziva gives Tony a secretively smile but I just glare at her, she helped Ari kill my sister.  
“Shalom, Jen,” Ziva greets the red head with Gibbs.  
“Shalom,” Jen says to Ziva before kissing each other cheeks.  
“Did I miss it?”  
“Yes, you did, but we didn’t,” Jen answers Ziva making Tony and I go over to Gibbs.  
“You first,” Gibbs orders.  
“Ziva David, mossed. She’s here to stop you from whacking Ari. Yours?” Tony asks.  
“Gibbs, this is Ari’s handler. She profiled Tony. She knows his whole life, including his schooling. If she known’s Tony, she known’s all of ours too. If she does so does Ari,” I whisper to Gibbs as I curl up into his arms.  
“Director Jenny Shepard. Same mission,” Gibbs informs us while rubbing my hair.  
“Which agency?” Tony ask Tony.  
“Ours,” Gibbs answers making Tony laugh thinking Gibbs’ joking but he’s not.  
“Yeah?”  
“Special Agent Gibbs, Ziva David, Mossad,” Shepard induces the bastard’s handler.  
“Ziva. Director Shepard has spoken often of you,” Ziva says to Gibbs.  
“Really?” Gibbs states.  
“Ziva and I worked anti-terrorist ops since 9-11. You saw one today in MTAC,” Shepard explains making me scuff and roll my eyes, how many terrorist have we been up to, at least half a dozen, their doing such a great job.  
“That was yours?”  
“I only acquired the Intel,” Ziva answers Gibbs ask her phone begins ringing making her say, “’Scuse at me.” Ziva walks her away with Gibbs watching her, as Tony stares at the new director.  
“Yes, I really am the new NCIS Director,” Shepard states.  
“Yeah,” Tony nodes before she leaves giving Tony the view of his arse, “Wow.” Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head while walking off for the moment, “Ow… good to have you back, boss.”  
“Miss David; whose get cut off if Ari is not a Mossad Mole, but a terrorist?” Gibbs demands of Ziva once she finishes her call that was in Hebrew.  
“Mine, I suppose, since I’m his control officer,” Ziva admits making me smirk.  
“Ah, they promote control officers young in Mossad.”  
“They have to. The good ones are dead at your age.”  
“Do you know how we located Ari’s terrorist cell?” I ask her with a smirk.  
GPS fix off his encrypted cell phone. He wanted to you know the terrorists’ location so you could stop the missile instead of them, which would have necessitated blowing his cover.”  
“Right. Nope he wanted us in place to kill Kate.”  
“Only an NSA satellite can GPS an encrypted phone. Ari didn’t know I had that asset,” Gibbs informs her.  
“You give him less credit than he gives you. Who hung up first? You or him?” Ziva ask making me think back to the call, we both hang up, “Ari knows a fix takes only nineteen seconds. When Sharon visited Bush, Ari’s Hamas cell kidnapped Agent Todd. Why didn’t he kill her instead of freeing her to warn the Secret Service?”  
“I don’t know. Why don’t you arrange a meet and he can tell me?” Gibbs overlaps her when I look like I’m going to cry again and grabbed the back of his shirt tightly in a fist.  
“Ari Haswari is a Mossed operative undercover in Hamas. He hasn’t turned on us, or you. He didn’t kill Agent Todd.”  
“Gibbs, even if you’re right, we owe them proof,” Shepard informs Gibbs.  
“That’s all we ask. Don’t kill the wrong man.”  
“Like Mossed did in Norway?” I ask her innocently.  
“That stink cost us dearly,” Ziva yells while banging her hands onto Gibbs desk.  
“Not as dearly as the Palestinian waiter you killed,” Gibbs gloats her.  
“Ziva, assure your deputy director that even though Ari Haswari is a suspect, no action will be taken unless we have evidentiary proof,” Shepard orders Ziva, breaking the tense standoff, Shepard then turn to Gibbs and orders him, “Proof before action.” Gibbs stares at her for a long moment before getting up to walk to the back elevator with us following him.  
“I don’t like her,” I inform Gibbs after the elevator door closes.  
“Me too,” Gibbs agrees with me. Before turning to Tony, “I want you on Ziva’s ass.”  
“She’s not really my type, Boss,” Tony comments making Gibbs smack him on the back of the head.  
“I never thought I’d hear that,” I state before freezing, that’s Kate’s line. I can’t use Kate’s line.  
“To tail her,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“I knew that,” Tony mumbles.  
“She’s been in contact with Ari. That’s the only way she could know I hung up on him.”  
“Ooh. I don’t want you to get pissed…”  
“I thought you wanted me pissed.”  
“I did. It was kinda weird when you were being nice. Not that you’re not nice, I mean, uh…”  
“Will you spit it out, DiNozzo?”  
“What if Ziva’s right and Ari knew you traced the call? Maybe he wasn’t the sniper.”  
“She is right. Ari wanted me to raid the warehouse. He set me up. And it cost Kate her life,” Gibbs informs Tony as we get off the elevator but Tony doesn’t.  
“IS he a mole or a terrorist?”  
“Whatever gets him killed,” I state.  
“Whatever works to play his game,” Gibbs answers him at the same time.  
“And if Ziva leads me to Ari?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“Shadow him and call me.”  
“So you can bring him in?”  
“Yeah, so I can bring him in,” Gibbs promises when the elevator door closes he adds, “To autopsy.”  
“The FBI database gave me six weapons whose rifling patterns fit the bullets you recovered,” Abby reports while smacking McGee’s hand away from the guns. She continues, “I’ve been able to eliminate all but three: two SWAT weapons, the Tango-51 and Braco-51, and this…”  
“My old friend. The marine M3-A1 sniper rifle,” Gibbs cuts her off while picking up the gun, reverently and then aims it at a wall.  
“It looks sweet the way you hold that, boss,” McGee comments, wrongly.  
“Sweet?”  
“Uh, yeah, it’s am expression, it means…”  
“Yeah, I know what it means, McGee. You think Ari looked sweet when he shot Kate?” Gibbs demands of McGee while replacing the rifle back with the other two.  
“Of course not, boss.”  
“Uh, my vote is for the Tango or Bravo-51. What d’you think, Gibbs?” Abby asks Gibbs.  
“Your test runs show more gouging than Ari’s. He was hand-loading and moly-coating,” Gibbs states.  
“Moly-coating?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Yeah. Molybdenum disulphide. It’s a lubricate. It decreases barrel wear and increases accuracy.”  
“McGee, run a trace on Tango and Bravo-51 sales, last six weeks, tristate area. Check the bravo first,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
“On it, Boss,” McGee agrees before leaving the lab.  
“Any prints on the brass?”  
“No. is your gut tell you something?”  
“Yeah. I need coffee.”  
“No, Gibbs. Come on. This isn’t just another investigation. Todd was your agent, but Kate was my friend, so can you stop it with the John Wayne stare and tell what your gut says?” Abby snaps at Gibbs when he just stares at her for a moment before saying.  
“What don’t I believe in, Abby?” He overlaps her.  
“UFOs, mystics, coincidence, saying you’re sorry, excuses, I could go on all night.”  
“As a marine sniper, I used hand-loaded Lapua .308, boattail, full metal jacket, moly-coated bullets.”  
“Gibbs,” Abby begins after a pause.  
“Know what a sniper calls a Bravo-51?”  
“No,” Abby and I answer him.  
“A ‘Kate,’” Gibbs explains making my face fall, Ari killed Kate with a Kate. Gibbs grabs my hand to pull me out of the lab, leaving Abby alone.  
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Gibbs is sitting at his desk, trying to think of a way to get Ari, while I am sitting on my spot on the ledge behind his desk.  
“Jethro. I know it’s been a difficult fay for both of us,” Shepard says while walking up to Gibbs desk, ignoring me.  
“That’s what my DI used to say. Never believe him,” Gibbs states before she turns to leave, “Jen. You going to dinner with CBC?”  
“I am.”  
“Don’t do that interview. Please.”  
“I’ll see if I can delay it a few days.”  
“Good.”  
“Good night, Jethro.”  
“Night,” Gibbs mumbles as Shepard calls the elevator to see Ducky already in there.  
“Ducky! How nice to see you again!”  
“And you. Congratulations,” Ducky says to her.  
“Going home?”  
“Uh, yeah.”  
“Ducky,” Gibbs exclaims before getting up and rushing towards the elevator but the door shuts before we get there.


	2. Kill Ari (2)

“You’ve reached Doctor Donald Mallard. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can,” Duck’s voice mail informs us when his phone rings out.  
“I said no one was to leave the building!” Gibbs says into his tightly.  
“Ducky, please call, okay? We’re really worried,” Abby attempts to say.  
“No one includes you, Doctor Mallard!” Gibbs snaps into the phone over Abby.  
“We’re worried including Gibbs… or he wouldn’t be yelling,” Abby says before turning to Gibbs to say, “Look Gibbs, it’s not Ducky’s fault, okay? He probably did Kate’s autopsy on auto pilot and then just drove himself home the same way.”  
“Boss! An outside call came into autopsy twenty three minutes ago. I’m tracing the number!” McGee reports while working away at his computer. “Boss that call came from Gerald Jackson’s cell phone!”  
“Gerald called,” I ask McGee in surprise. Gerald never calls.  
“I’d almost forgot about Gerald,” Abby exclaims.  
“He’s been in rehab a year,” McGee reminds her.  
“Maybe he heard about Kate and he called Ducky.”  
“They’re in a pub somewhere consoling each other.”  
“Yes!”  
“I don’t like it,” Gibbs states.  
“Why?” McGee and Abby asks.  
“I don’t need a reason why!”  
“I’m getting voice mail,” McGee exclaims after attempting to ring Gerald.  
“They probably can’t hear their phones because they’re in a pub,” Abby exclaims.  
“Do you want to leave a message?”  
“No. get a GPS fix,” Gibbs orders McGee and when he hesitates Gibbs snaps, “Snap it up, McGee1”  
“Once second, boss. Got it.”  
“Georgetown. Olive and Twenty-ninth. I know that street. That’s mostly residential. Locate Ducky’s cell,” I order McGee tightly. I can’t lose my father, I just lost my sister.  
“See. They’re together,” Abby exclaims.  
“There’s no pub there,” Gibbs states tightly, moment away from losing his nut.  
“Well maybe Gerald lives there.”  
“That’s negative. He lives on Peabody,” McGee informs her.  
“So they’re parked. They’re talking.”  
“Want me to go with you, boss?”  
“No, Tony’s out. Stay with Abby,” Gibbs orders McGee as we leave the building.  
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“Okay, where are they now?” I ask McGee over the phone while sitting in Gibbs car as we get to Georgetown Street.  
“Same place. Olive and Twenty ninth,” McGee informs us.  
“Get a fix on my cell,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Okay. You’re right on top of them!”   
“Damn it, McGee! They are not here!” I yell at them.  
“They have to be, boss.”  
“Gibbs. Is there a pub?” Abby asks.  
“No! There is no pub! No people… there are no cars!” Gibbs answers her tightly.  
“Okay, I was just checking.”  
“How accurate is this fix, McGee?” I ask McGee.  
“Within twenty five meters,” McGee reports making us get out of the car and look around on the ground, I am so worried for Gibbs, he is talking to himself. We have ended the call so we can find the missing people.   
“Gibbs,” I call when I find their phones on the ground. Gibbs walks over to me and picks up the two phones.  
“Special Agent McGee,” McGee answers his phone when we call him back again.  
“We found Ducky and Gerald’s cell phone in the park,” Gibbs snaps.  
“Why would they leave their cell phones in the park?”   
“They wouldn’t. He has them,” I snap in anger.  
“Do you want me to come down there?”  
“If I wanted you to come down here, I would have told you so. Put a BOLO out on Ducky’s Morgan. Get his license plate from his file,” Gibbs snaps at McGee.  
“Gibbs, Ari has Gerald and Ducky,” Abby almost cries.  
“They’re not dead, Abs.”  
“How do you know?”  
“There’s no bodies,” I answer for Gibbs, before adding, “Just phones. Always phones.”  
“Ah… boss? Gerald’s here,” McGee reports.  
“Ari’s got Doctor Mallard,” Gerald informs us over the phone.  
“How’d you get away?” Gibbs asks Gerald.  
“I didn’t. Ari let me go.”  
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“I don’t believe in coincidences, Tony,” Gibbs says into his phone as we leave the elevator back at the squad room. “Haven’t I beat that into you…? What did you say…? Stay with them. I’m one my way… what about your gut…?”  
“Oh, god. What do we have?” Gibbs demands as we arrive in the squad room.  
“Ari picked up Gerald to force Ducky into a meet,” McGee reports.  
“You warn him?”  
“I did. But you know Doctor Mallard. He came anyway,” Gerald explains.  
“It’s not your fault, Gerald. Ari’s the bastard,” I promise Gerald as I rub his arm. We have to get Ducky back, I can’t lose any more family.  
“Ducky made the decision to go, not you. Debrief him. Write it up. I’ll be with Tony at the Embassy Hotel,” Gibbs orders before getting ready to leave again.  
“Um, Tony’s at the Embassero,” Abby corrects Gibbs.  
“Why did he say the Embassy?”  
“Call phone garble.”  
“All right, from now on everyone is using phonetics, like we did in the corps.”  
“Um… golf-India-bravo-bravo-sierra. Can I please go back to my lab? I’m flipping out here with nothing to do.”  
“Okay, but don’t leave…”  
“Don’t leave the building. I know. Bravo. Yankee. Echo.”  
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“Hey, McGee. I’ve got a passport alert. Ari is traveling with a French passport under an alias, Rene Saurel. Alpha. Uniform. Romeo. Echo. Lima,” Gibbs informs us over the phone.  
“Okay, what alert category?” McGee asks Gibbs.  
“Terrorism!” On it.”  
“McGee! Congress cab number seven teen picked up a female fare at the Embassero Hotel ten minutes ago. If he’s en route, I need his twenty. If he’s dropped his fare, then get me an address. And take the BOLO off Ducky’s Morgan. E’s safe,” Gibbs orders us after twenty minutes of silence, that is the longest time of my life.   
“McGee! Didn’t Tony match the tire tracks to a Chevy Suburban?” Abby exclaims while returning to the squad room.  
“Uh, yeah. Bridgestone Duellers. Factory issue. Uh. What are you doing?”   
“We caught a break. N-O-R orbited a new Keyhole. They’re doing calibration tests using the seventh hole of the Norfolk Naval golf course.”  
“Why the seventh hole?”  
“See? That’s why I dig you, McGee. You think specific. Whatever the reason, we are grateful because that orbit took the keyhole over Newport News! I imputed the warehouse,” Abby rambles pulling up the satellite video of us on the roof top before Kate died.  
“That’s the rooftop! That’s me… tony, Alice, Gibbs, Kate.”  
“Is that the building where Ari’s sniper nest was?”  
“It is. Ari’s not there,” I whine.  
“What do you expect? A video of him shooting?”  
“Well, I was hoping,” McGee admits making me have to sit down, I can’t see that. “Only in flicks, McGee.”  
“Okay, then why are you so excited?”  
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s being alone with you on a rainy night.”  
“Abby…”  
“Oh, look! Could it be? A clack Chevy Suburban driving the alleyway.”  
“Uh… can you read the license plate?” I ask her softly.  
“That depends more on the angle than resolution,” Abby admits while trying to see it. She continues, “It’s not a dress, Alice. You can’t look up it to see what you want. HA! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Ih, McGee!”  
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ve got to put a BOLO out on the plate.”  
“We did good, huh?”  
“You did great.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Since Miss Scuito has confirmed that the sniper rifle we recovered last night was the weapon used to murder Special Agent Todd, and with no evidence to the contrary, it appears that Mohamed Esfiri was the sniper. I believe it’s safe for your team to go home, Gibbs. Special agent Todd’s funeral is in Indiana tomorrow afternoon. SecNav has offered us his private jet to fly us there. Go home. Get some rest,” Shepard orders us once someone tried to kill her when she was in the car with Gibbs earlier, but it wasn’t Ari. Everyone leaves but for Shepard, Gibbs and myself. Why would I go home, the apartment is empty, Kate’s not there and I never go there when she’s not there. “What about you, Jethro?” Shepard asks Gibbs while ignoring me.  
“Mohamed didn’t kill Kate,” I state making her look at me.  
“He didn’t shoot at Abby,” Gibbs adds.  
“You are not infallible, Jethro, no matter what your gut is telling you. Ari isn’t trying to kill you, but this obsession might,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs politely.  
“Hey, Jen?”  
“What?”  
“Why did he only shoot at your side of the car last night?”  
“I suppose you were right. He was trying to kill women who work with you.”  
“Why hasn’t he tried to kill me? He has the most chances to kill me, even more than Kate or you. But even in autopsy, he never tried anything. I was standing in front Kate, he could have killed both of us. I’m not that much shorter than Kate,” I ask what I have been thinking about since Kate died. I was right in front of her, he had to aim for her or I would be dead too.  
“How did he know you were in the car? I called you at the spur of the moment. I parked in the dark. He couldn’t see through our windshield even with a scope. That guy was sent to die, not to kill,” Gibbs informs Shepard, but it is obvious he is thinking about my question. Ari could have killed me with Kate, with Abby, in autopsy or any number other time he was in the state.  
“No. No one’s going to do that,” Shepard denies it.  
“Come on, Jen. Jamas suicide bombers blow themselves up all the time. It doesn’t matter how a martyr dies as long as it’s for the Jihad. Mohamed last night – he died for rivers of honey and seventy-two virgins.”  
“I’m not saying you’re right, but if you are, how do we prove it?” Shepard asks as we walk over to the elevator and stop in.  
“We? Did you just join my side?”  
“Jethro, I’ve always been on your side. What do we do?”  
“Kill Ari before he kills me.”  
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“It’s raining, Gibbs,” Fornell informs Gibbs as he sits next to Gibbs on the park bench, he has an umbrella something we didn’t think to bring.  
“Uh-huh,” Gibbs mumbles as I sit silently leaning against Gibbs.  
“You smell like a wet dog.”  
“Well, there was on here underneath the bench when I got here. I put him in the gazebo.”  
“Why aren’t you in the gazebo?”  
“Dog smells like hell,” I mumble.  
“So why didn’t you leave him under… never mind.”  
“If I ask you something, Tobias, are you going to lie to me?” Gibbs ask Fornell.  
“Depends on the question.”  
“What’s Ari’s real mission here?” I ask him.  
“I’m going to lie to you. Mossad lies to the CIA. They lie to us. I lie to you. I don’t know who you lie to, being the bottom of the armed Fed Food Chain and not married.”  
“So you don’t know,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“Correct. I do not know. You ever go to the movies?”  
“I build a boat.”  
“Well, you and that dog are going to need one. Why don’t you get out of the rain, Jethro, and go watch a movie!”  
“You have a film in mind?”  
“It’s not in theatres anymore. But you can rent a DVD.”  
“Sounds like a good idea. A good thing to do on a rainy afternoon. What’s the name of this film?”  
“The Peacemaker,” Fornell informs us before leaving the park. Gibbs and I leave a few moments later. We do stop at a movie shop and borrow the movie Fornell recommended.  
Once we arrive back at Gibbs house, we are both shivering and cold. Gibbs sends me straight up to his room to take a hot shower to warm up. Once I am warm I put on one of Gibbs USMC sweet shirt and a pair of boxes, I then make my way back to the lounge room to see Gibbs has pizza and coffee set up.  
“Ready,” Gibbs ask me making me node as I sit next to him and he plays the movie. Once we finish eating, I snuggle up into Gibbs chest. I hope I never lose him, I can’t, I need him.  
“Gibbs, can I ask you a question?” I softly ask Gibbs, I don’t even know if I want to ask it. I move away from his chest so I can face him while trying to work out the wording if I do asks the question  
“What is it baby?” Gibbs ask me, not bothering to correct me because he knows I didn’t even release I called him by Gibbs and not Jethro.  
“What’s going on between you and the new Director?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“You called her Jen and she called you Jethro. She’s a red head. Are you… do you…?”  
“Baby, Jen and I worked together six years ago. We did date but that’s in the past. I promise there is nothing there, why would I want her when I got you?”  
“But she’s closer to your age and lived through the same things,” I mumble making Gibbs feel bad, I have enough on my plate without him adding worry about him not wanting me anymore.  
“Oh, baby. I’m not going to leave you. I promise. I don’t want someone else,” Gibbs promise while pulling me back into his arms, from the fear and pain and worry, I begin crying into his chest. I don’t want to keep crying but Kate’s gone and I thought I was going to lose Gibbs and Ducky. I end up crying myself to sleep against Gibbs who places a quick kiss on my head while holding me for the rest of the movie.  
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“Did they lose a nuke, Boss?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“According to the deputy director, Israel doesn’t have nukes,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Boss?” Tony ask in confusion while I look up from the photo of Kate, the one I added to Gibbs desk, I need to get it a frame.  
“They have a power plant in Dimona where a small amount of plutonium us missing.”  
“Hamas is making a bomb?”  
“They have a core. No detonator,” I state.  
“Ari was to buy a Krytron trigger. He delivers it to the Hamas cell with the plutonium,” Gibbs adds.  
“Mossad grabs him,” Tony states.  
“Only he’s a little behind schedule. They’re getting nervous. Deputy Director David is up there right now ordering Ziva to cooperate.”  
“He her daddy?”  
“No idea. I didn’t ask.”  
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“Do you know why Ari left his brass behind?” Gibbs demands of Ziva in the lab at night time.  
“You are a broken tape, Gibbs,” Ziva says while failing to answer the question.  
“Record. A broken record,” Tony corrects her.  
“A sniper’s brass is like signing your signature. That’s why a sniper always polices his brass. Lapua. Three oh eight casing. Boat-tail. Moly-coated full metal jacket bullet,” Gibbs list of the bullet casing facts.  
“That’s what you shot as a marine sniper. At Mossad we use Sierra Six point five hollow points,” Ziva states, making me not like her more, I want to hit her.  
“How do you know what I shot, Miss David?”  
“She profiled you for Air,” Shepard states, conforming what I said earlier.  
“Not just the boss. That’s how you knew where I was born and went to school,” Tony releases I was right all along.  
“Ari’s mission involved NCIS,” Ziva begins.  
“Yea, breaking in and stealing a dead body, then kidnapping an agent, then killing that agent,” I snap at the person protecting Ari.  
“As his controller, of course I did dossiers on everyone he might interact with,” Ziva continues while her and the direct glares at me.  
“It’s S-O-P at Kumemiute,” Shepard defends her friend.  
“Director. Abs. Alice. Tony. Give me a minute alone with Miss David, please?” Gibbs orders us, making us leave them alone.  
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“I don’t like this,” I state to Gibbs who is going to his home with Ziva, in the hopes that Ari shows up, we are alone in the elevator with the emergence stop pulled so we can talk privately.  
“I’ll be fine,” Gibbs promise.  
“I can’t lose you, Jethro. I don’t trust her,” I whisper making Gibbs pull me into his arms.  
“I’m not going anywhere,” Gibbs promises again before placing a quick kiss on my lips before leaving.  
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We are all at Kate’s funeral, where I stand with the team and not my family because the team has not left when my family hasn’t even rang too see if I am okay, even when they were informed I was there when she was shot. They just don’t care. I listen to the services silently, alone. I am surrounded by the team but Kate is gone and I don’t know if Gibbs is alive or dead. Once by one we all step up to her open casket and place a flower on her body, but I can’t do that so I place her hard drive that she shot years ago when she destroyed by belt, because I know it would make her laugh at the memory.   
I just stare at my sister for a long time, she just looks like she is sleeping, why can’t she just be sleeping? I slowly force my hand forward and stroke her hair making her look perfect before I move over to the team, and when I look back over at her I see her smile before I see Gibbs walking up to her next.  
“I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it,” Gibbs admits.  
“Ari?” Shepard ask Gibbs without caring that he almost missed Kate funeral.  
“Ziva’s escorting his body to Tel Aviv,” Gibbs admits before walking over to Kate and placing her badge on her body.   
“Do you mind if I play something for Kate?” Abby ask my parents, and then don’t mind so she plays jazz as we all walk back to the cars.  
I climb into Gibbs car while everyone else gets into himself.  
“What do you want to do?” Gibbs ask me softly while looking at me.  
“I need to go home and get clothe. And Tony, I need Tony,” I mumble while hugging myself.  
“Okay, we’ll get cloth, and Tony before head back to my place.”  
“I’d like that,” I mumble as Gibbs begins driving.  
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Once we arrive at the apartment complex, I hesitate for a moment before climbing out of the car. Gibbs follows me up to the apartment. I open the door to see it looks the same as when Kate and I rushed out to go to work, clothes still everywhere from Kate folding it up, and I refused to put it away because I wanted to go to work.  
I walk over to my room without touching anything, I grab my bag to pack. I put all my clothing into the bag, and grab the photo of my bedside table, it is of Kate and me at Christmas. Next I grab my medical journal, Kate inputs every one of my hospitalizations in to it with a photo, what was wrong, what the symptoms, how long I have it, what meds I took, and everything else I might need in future or the doctors might need.   
I also grab my pillow, and walk out the room with the bag dragging behind me too see Gibbs with Tony’s gear, her bowls, bed, and everything I thought I need with Tony.  
“IS that everything?” Gibbs ask me softly but I shake my head no, I want my sister back.  
“I want Kate,” I mumble.  
“I now you do,” Gibbs says while taking my stuff out of my arms and I pick up my dog straight away.  
We leave the apartment and I lock it up, I know I while have to return to clean it and deal with Kate’s stuff but I can’t do it today. We walk back to Gibbs car in silence, Gibbs place all the stuff in the back while I climb in the front with my dog.  
We silently drive to Gibbs house, with only one stop for Gibbs to get steak to cook. Once we arrive Gibbs takes everything in while I carry my dog, Gibbs won’t even let me carry my pillow. Gibbs places the bag in the master bed room while I set up Tony’s food and water in the lounge room under the table so no one will knock it over on her. I place her bed next to the coach with her chow toys. Gibbs returns from the bed room to find me sitting quietly staring at the blank TV screen.  
“Alice, baby, are you okay?” Gibbs ask me while kneeling in front of me.  
“She’s really gone. She’s not coming back. I thought I was dreaming until I touched her at the funeral,” I inform him softly.  
“I now, but you’ll be fine. It might not be today or tomorrow, but you’ll be fine.”  
“How do you know? How can I be fine?”   
“One day you’ll be able to laugh about Kate, it’ll take time. But until then, I’ll make sure you smile at least once a day,” Gibbs promises while rubbing my hair back out of my face.  
“Will it ever stop hurting?”  
“No, but one day you will walk up and release you can live without crying every day. You will still miss her but you will be able not to cry.”  
“How do you know?”   
“Because I’ve been throw this before.”  
“Really?” I ask Gibbs because surprise me. I didn’t think anyone would get close enough to hurt him.  
“Really. Know come on, why don’t you go have a shower and I’ll cook these steaks,” Gibbs softly orders me making me node as I got up to have a shower.  
I walk into the bed room to see my bag and pillow on the bed, I take some clothe out of the bag and Gibbs NIS sweet shirt to wear before walking into the bathroom too see Gibbs has already ran a bath for me with bubbles. I strip my cloth off my clothes and slid into the bath with a small moan of pleasure from the temperature. I relax into the bath while thinking of the good times I had with Kate, like after I got out of the hospital from the plague and Kate came over to Gibbs house and we pranked Gibbs by putting dye into his toothpaste making his teeth red for twenty four hours.  
Or when she threaten Gibbs that if he hurt me, she would make him wish he was dead.  
When the water begins getting cold, I climb out of the bath and get dressed and head out to the lounge to see Gibbs is cooking on the fire in the fire place.  
“Feel better,” He ask me without turning around.  
“A little. Where did Ari die?” I ask Gibbs, I hadn’t thought of it before but I couldn’t stop it falling out of my mouth.  
“In the basement,” Gibbs admits after a moment making me grin at that. He deserved it, I just wish I was the one who shot him.  
“Cool,” I mumble while walking over to Gibbs and hug his back as he cooks the steaks. He doesn’t seem to mind as I hold him so I don’t let go, enjoying the warmth and smell of Gibbs. We stand there for ten minutes as Gibbs finish cooking his steaks making me feel hungry for the first time since Kate died.  
Gibbs plates up the steak with some vegetables for me but he has just steak, which is less heathy than his take out habit.  
We sit down and eat in front of an old Western. Gibbs makes the best steak I have ever tasted. Once we finish eating I take the dishes out to the kitchen and wash them up while Gibbs gets a bucket of water to clean Ari’s blood off the floor in the basement.  
Once the plates are clean Ugly Tony and I make our way down stairs to see Gibbs scrubbing the blood off the concert floor. I walk over to him and pick up the second brush, because they come in a pack of two, and kneel beside him and work with him silently except for the TV playing in the background. We work silently until the last bit of the blood stain is removed, at which time we get up and Gibbs pours to cups (Screw bottles,) of bourbon for us.  
“How may boats have you made?” I ask Gibbs a question I have wanted to ask since I meant him, and a way to keep my mind off of Kate for the moment.  
“This is the fourth,” Gibbs answer me.  
“Okay, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but how much money have you wasted on boats? And how can you afford it? And how many trees?” I ask Gibbs, because honestly I can’t imaging building boats is cheap and trees take forever to grow, so. But Gibbs just shrugs innocently at me with a boyish grin on his face, which is really not fair to the female gender. He shouldn’t be allowed to look that cute.  
“What do you want to do tonight?”   
“I don’t know,” I mumble.  
“Do you want to go to bed?” Gibbs ask me while walking over to me and standing in my personal space, like he does at work to intimidate people at work, it doesn’t intimidate me, it makes me feel good in a way it probably shouldn’t.  
“I don’t want to be alone.”  
“Come on,” Gibbs says while placing an arm around me and leading me out of the basement and up to the master bed room. Where he leads me over to the bed and tucks me in before grabbing clean cloths and heads into the bath room.  
I snuggle into my pillow that I grabbed from home when I packed my bag, and listen to the sound of the water running in the bathroom as well as the rain landing on the roof.  
When Gibbs returns to the bedroom, freshly washed with wet hair making him look even cuter. He turns the light off before climbing into the bad behind me, and wrap his arm around my waist using it to pull my body back into his chest.  
“Jethro, do you think Kate felt it when the bullet hit her? Or did she die straight away?” I mumble into my pillow.  
“I don’t think she felt it,” Gibbs informs me while rubbing his arm up and down my side.  
“I hope she didn’t feel it, getting shot hurts like a bitch.”  
“I know it does. It hurts,” Gibbs agrees with me.  
“I don’t like getting shot. Must be a suck-y way to die.”  
“I’ll make sure you don’t die by getting shot.”  
“I’ll hold you to that,” I mumble into the pillow as I fall asleep.


	3. Final Goodbye

The next morning I wake up to see something that almost stop my heart, Gibbs is still sleeping next to me. My head is buried in Gibbs warm, strong chest, making me very comfortable but I have to get up. I try to get out of the bed without waking Gibbs but that doesn’t work at all, the second I begin moving Gibbs jerks awake and grab me making me fall back into his chest with a grunt.  
“Jethro, I was going to make coffee,” I whine at him because I really want that coffee, he rolls onto his back making me be laying across his chest with me legs on either side of his waist.  
“Five more minutes,” Gibbs grumbles with a really deep, sleepy voice that is not aloud. He cannot be cute, sexy, handsome, and have a deep sexy sleepy voice.  
“But I want coffee know.”  
“Five more minutes.”  
“But coffee,” I mumble but I don’t mind the position I am in, and Gibbs is comfortable to lay on. And before I know it, I am falling to sleep again against my warm, comfortable boyfriend.  
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The next time I walk up Gibbs is gone and I am sleeping alone making me pout, why does he have to leave, I like laying on his chest.  
I lift my head to see a cup of coffee on the bedside table making me laugh as I take a sip. I climb out of the bed with the cup of coffee and change into a set of jeans and a white shirt. Before I walk down stairs but don’t see Gibbs, which really doesn’t surprise me. I walk into the lounge room and sit down next to my dog as I lift my phone and hit the button to text Kate. Only to shut my phone when I release it is impossible, she is not here anymore.  
I realise I have to clean the house out and the longer I put it off, the harder it will get so I walk to top of the basement where I can hear Gibbs sanding his boat.  
“Jethro,” I call down to him, making the sanding stop before he comes up the stairs.  
“Yeah?” Gibbs asks me while stopping in front of me.  
“Would you be able to help me clean Kate’s things out? I want to get it done because it’s going to get harder the longer it goes without me.”  
“Of course. Do you want to eat before we go?” Gibbs ask while leading me to the kitchen when I node and he makes me some cereals.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Once we have eaten breakfast, Gibbs drives me back to Kate’s apartment. On the way to the apartment, we stop to get boxes to pack the gear into.  
I walk to the door but freeze before I open it.  
“We don’t have to do this, we can come back another time,” Gibbs softly says to me while pulling me into a backwards hug making me node but I still insert the key into the lock and unlock the door.  
“I have to do this. If I don’t do it know, I might never do it,” I mumble to Gibbs while opening to the door and we walk into the apartment.  
I walk into the apartment where there are so many happy and sad members in here. I walk to my bedroom to pack it first before I touch Kate’s stuff. Gibbs follows me while carrying the boxes that are flat packed.   
“Where do you want to start?” Gibbs asks while looking around my childish room, still covered in drawings, stuffed toys and school books and everything from my life.  
“I don’t know,” I mumble while looking around the room before making my way over to the cupboard that is full of the clothe I have for summer. I didn’t bother packing it last night because it’s winter. I make one of the boxes before placing the cloth in it while Gibbs starts on my desk that has an old computer and everyday schooling gear.  
Once I have packed all the clothing and there is still room is in the box so I move over to my bed toys into the box, mainly the rabbit Kate bought for me when she first moved me into her home and I was afraid of everything. We slowly make out our through the room, packing everything slow and carefully into the boxes when there is a knock at the door making me freeze. I walk towards the door slowly before looking through the peak hole only to freeze for a moment before opening the door.  
“Alice,” mother says tightly making me try to not look down.  
“Mother,” I say softly.  
“What are you doing here?” Father demands of me.  
“I’m packing.”  
“Don’t touch Caitlin’s gear. Do you hear me?”  
“But, I…”  
“I don’t want you touching my daughter’s gear. You have already took her away from me, you are not going to take her stuff too,” Father yells at me making me cry, it’s not my fault Kate is dead, I tried to keep her safe, but the FBI made that hard.  
“I didn’t…”  
“If you want to make this right. Why don’t you take her spot,” Mather demands of me making the tears fall faster, I would if I could but I can’t. I don’t even notice that Gibbs is walking up behind me until mothers changes from anger to sadness while says tearfully, “Agent Gibbs, what are you doing here?”  
“Mr and Mrs Todd,” Gibbs nodes at them making me jump because he is right behind me placing his hand on my back carefully before saying, “How can you speak to your daughter like that?”  
“You don’t understand,” Mother begins but Gibbs doesn’t care.  
“She just lost her sister, and all you care about is that she is cleaning her house?”  
“It’s not her house, it belongs to Kate. And being her father it was willed to me and I want that thing out,” Father demands while pointing at me making the tears falling more.  
“I’m not a thing,” I mumble, how can he call me a thing? He raised me.  
“Her name is Alice. Why don’t you go back to your room,” Gibbs states making me blink before I leave the room into my packed room.

Gibbs pov

I hear some yelling saying that Kate’s death is Alice’s fault and that makes me mad. My family was murder so I know that you blame without your family placing the blame on you too. I leave the room to see Alice crying and attempting to defend herself but her family doesn’t listen, but when they see me their attitude changes.  
I try to get them to explain their attitude to me but I quickly lose the little patient I have when Mr Todd calls Alice a thing, she is not a thing she is my girlfriend. I order Alice to return to her room so she doesn’t see what I am going to do, she doesn’t need more stress.  
“How can you such heartless bastards? She is your blood?” I demand of the people, who are supposed to be Alice’s family, I now understand why she is so hesitant to get close to people and ask for physical contact.  
“She’s not my blood,” Mr Todd snaps at me.  
“I can see why Alice doesn’t talk to you. Her sister dies and all you care about is that she is in her home,” I yell at him tightly.  
“It’s not her home. It’s Kate’s and I want that thing out or I am calling the police.”  
“You are not welcome here,” I state as his wife does call the cops but he is not doing to like what they say. I add, “Fine, but you’re not coming in,” I snap at him before closing and locking the door in his face. I walk back into Alice’s room to see Alice sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, covering her head, looking like a scared child. I quietly walk over to her and sit beside her; she is so scared she tries to flinch back into the wall.  
“Alice,” I say softly while placing my arm around her shoulders, carefully.   
“I… I didn’t… it’s not… I couldn’t,” Alice cries while trying to defend herself but she is not able to because her mind is jumping everywhere. I pull her into my arms where I can feel her crying into my chest and it breaks my heart.  
“I know. I know,” I whisper while rubbing her hair in the hopes of calming her down but she just keeps half mumbling how it wasn’t her fault, something I know all too well.  
“It wasn’t my fault,” Alice mumbles into my chest, and that breaks my heart that she believes what her parents says about her. I can’t help but wonder what other things they said about her that she believes.  
“I know, it wasn’t you fault,” I promise her when there is a knock at the door, that I know would be the police. I get up and Alice follows me while holding a fistful of my shirt. We walk to the door where I open the door; there are two police officers with Mr and Mrs Todd.  
“Sir, ma’am you have to vacate the premises,” one of the police officers, mark, informs because they have been speaking to the Todds.  
“Why?” Alice asks them softly making her parents glare at her.  
“Because you’re trespassing on property,” the other police officer, john, informs us tightly.  
“I live here.”  
“We are not trespassing,” I state.  
“You are not the one who owns this house. Mr and Mrs Todd’s daughter left this to them when she died,” Mark informs us.  
“If you don’t leave, we will have to arrest you,” John adds.  
“What are you talking about? Have you seen the will?” I demand of them tightly, Alice doesn’t need this.  
“What are you on about, sir,” Mark asks us.  
“Have a read,” I state while handing them Kate’s will and testimony that I witnessed she signing. I continues “Last month Alice, Kate Todds little sister, almost died. And so Kate renewed her will and testimony so that Alice isn’t left out in the cold if she died.”  
“What are you on about?” Mr Todd demands of me while snatching the will of Mark.  
“That is fake,” Mrs Todd exclaims but it is not and it is all official meaning that the Todds have no right to anything in this apartment and it all belongs to Alice. The way Kate wanted it because she told me that her parents might do this to Alice and she didn’t want that to happen again.  
“I apologies to you sir, ma’am, well get out of your hair,” Mark says while handing the will back after taking it from Mr Todd. The police officers then leave because I can handle myself and these two officers have worked with me on a join case in the past and we are within our rights to be here, mainly Alice.  
“Baby, why don’t you leave the packing to us,” Mrs Todds say to Alice in a sickly sweet tone, completely changing from the bitch she was to Alice before she found out that Alice owns everything Kate had owned previously.  
“We have it,” I state to Mrs Todd while Alice shakes her head before hiding her face in my back like a scared child.  
“Why not? We loved Kate too and she is our daughter.”  
“And we have a right to take family alums back,” Mr Todd sneers at me while Glaring at Alice.  
“No you don’t. By law because Kate willed everything to Alice, that means every last think she owned and Alice can decide who it is split up,” I explain like I am explaining to a child.  
“I want my daughter’s things.”  
“Well, you should have taken that up with Kate when she redrafted her will, but I’m not letting you in. So goodbye,” I snap at him before slamming the door in their face again.  
“Kate left everything to me?” Alice mumbles her question in surprise.  
“Why is that surprising?”   
“I thought she would leave it to mother and father, I didn’t think she know how they would act once she was gone.”  
“Oh, baby. Kate knew and before we even got together she came to me and asked that I make sure they don’t bully you into not getting or things or anything to remember her by.”  
“Really?”  
“Yep. She always know, but she didn’t want you to think about what could have happen so she asked me.”  
“Why would she ask you?”  
“Her words where, ‘Can you look after Alice. You are the first person she has opened up too.’”

Alice pov

“Kate has always known me too well to lie to her,” I half laugh and half cry making Gibbs smile at me because he noticed that too.  
“Come on, I’ll heat something up,” Gibbs asks me while leading me into the kitchen.  
“I wouldn’t touch anything in the fridge,” I mumble to Gibbs while following him.  
“Why?” Gibbs ask while opening it but looking over the door at me waiting for a valid reason.  
“Because Kate cooked it and she can’t cook. It’s poisoned,” I answer him with a small smile.  
“We’ll survive,” Gibbs promise me while grabbing out some of the precooked food, because that’s how we do it, each week Kate and I swooped cooking so that when we’re hungry we just heat the food up and eat on the go.  
“I don’t think so.”  
“Have I ever let you down?”  
“Not that I know of.”  
“Then trust me on this,” Gibbs orders me while handing me the food and leading me over to the table where he watches me eat. I eat in a comfortably silence and think about how I will never taste Kate bad cooking after I finish what she cooked, the day I went back to work.  
Once I finish eating we return to packing, I go into Kate’s room while Gibbs packs the living and lounge room. I hesitate for a second before walking over to Kate’s cupboard and open it and begin sorting it out her clothes, I pack the ones I like and will wear into one bag and the other ones into another bag to drop into the family if they want it but if they don’t, I will drop it into the a donation box somewhere.  
Once all her clothes is packed I pick up the photo she has on her bedside table, which is a photo of us a couple of years ago making me smile as I stare at Kate’s favourite photo before I pack it between the cloth I am keeping. I can’t stop myself from packing Kate’s blanket and pillow into a box with the cloth and photo. I go throw Kate’s bed side table packing it making me squeak in surprise, making Gibbs rush into the room.  
“What’s wrong?” Gibbs asks me while pointing his gun away releasing that there is no danger.  
“Nothing,” I mumble what quickly shutting the draw making Gibbs give me a look before walking over to open the draw to see what surprised me making him laugh.  
“Kate wasn’t as innocent as we thought she was,” Gibbs laughs while closing the draw that holds Kate’s sex toys and condoms.  
“I didn’t want to see that,” I whine at Gibbs making him laugh at me.  
“Just be glade DiNozzo is not here,” Gibbs whispers in my ear while hiding his laughter.   
“And Kate. She would have killed me.”  
“Why don’t you do pack the kitchen and I’ll take care of the rest of the room,” Gibbs orders me while leading me out of the room while finally losing it and laughing at what I found in Kate’s room.  
“I can’t believe my sister has that,” I hiss at him in laughter. Once I am out of the room, I head to the kitchen and begin packing the stuff out of the cupboards like canned food because Gibbs still doesn’t have food in his house.  
We slowly pack the whole apartment but know we have to get it down to Gibbs car, which is doing to be a feet on its own without night falling, which it is meaning it is dark out. Gibbs grabs all the heave boxes while I get the lights ones, like clothing wile Gibbs is books and canned goods. We slowly but carefully pack Gibbs car with everything from two lives in one car. Once the car is packed, Gibbs helps me into the passenger side of his car and then he climbs into the driver’s side making me smile sadly while looking at the only apartment with its lights off.  
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When we arrive at Gibbs house, he drives his car into the garage of his house before helping me carry in all of Kate’s cooking to put in the fridge but we are going to do that rest tomorrow, after another night of sleep and dreaming of my sister.  
Gibbs heats up some more of Kate’s food while I put the rest into his empty fridge, how can he live without having food in his house.  
We sit down on the couch to watch an old western with our dinner, once I am finished eating the poisoned food, I lean back on to Gibbs making him wrap his big strong arm around my shoulders, allowing me to settle into his chest.   
Even if the day was not fun, it is nice to know that Gibbs while protect me from everything from a terrorist to an anger parent. It makes me want to never leave him, but I know it wouldn’t be possible because we have to work and he has his own life to live. 

Gibbs pov

After the first old Western I go to get up to get a drink when I release Alice’s hasn’t moved yet and the ads aren’t that good so I move her hair out of her face to see she is sleeping while holding a little fistful of my shirt making me grin, she is too cute and innocent. I won’t let anything change that about her, I promise myself and Kate.  
I don’t bother getting up for a drink but instead I watch Alice sleep and how she snuggles into my chest more when I play with her hair making me smile before deciding to wake her.  
“Alice. Baby,” I mumble while shaking her shoulder.  
“Mmm,” Alice mumbles while snuggling into my chest even more.  
“Baby you have to wake up.”  
“Don’t wanna.”  
“I know you don’t wanna, but you have to get up. Once you have a bath, you can go to be,” I attempt to get her to way up which she does with a pout, making me smirk. I wait to she is staring at me before saying, “Alice, why don’t you go for a nice warm bath.”  
“Mmm,” Alice mumbles while she gets up and stumble towards the stairs making me laugh at her sleepiness, but still cute.  
I watch another episode of the old westerns before making my way up the bed room to see Alice’s not in here. I quickly make my way into the bathroom in a panic, where is she. What happen? She should be in bed by now. When I walk into the bathroom, I find Alice asleep in the bath making me calm down and smirk, because I know she was tired but I didn’t thing she was that tired.  
“Alice, baby,” I say while walking her for the second time in an hour.  
“What?” Alice asks while opening her eyes.  
“Why don’t you get dressed and head to bed?”   
“Mmm,” Alice mumbles ask I leave the room to give her some privacy to get dressed. Once the door opens I see Alice in one of my USMC shirts and that’s all I can see, which is not nice. If she wasn’t so sad, I might just show her what wearing my clothes does to me but instead I help her into bed, as she almost falls asleep while walking.  
I quickly shower before walking back into the bed room to see that Alice has her pillow from her house, the one she sleeps on when she sleeps here and my pillow, which is very cute snuggled up with the pillow fort she has made. I slowly make my way over to the bed and grab the Ben-Gay for my knee that is acting up again. I sit on the bed beside the pillow monster, I gently pull one of the pillows away from Alice but that wakes her up.  
“What are you doing?” Alice mumbles while rolling over to me.  
“Nothing. Go back to sleep,” I order the sleepy girl.  
“What are you doing?” Alice asks again when I open the Ben-Gay.  
“Putting on some Ben-Gay.”  
“Why?”  
“My knee hurts. Go back to sleep,” I order her while getting ready to rub it into us knee until Alice takes the Ben-Gay out of my hand to and grab a glob to rub in herself. The feeling of Alice’s hand on my knee is nice but the pain is overruling my pleasure of it. I mumble half-heartedly, “Baby, you don’t have to do that,” But even as I say that, I lean back against the bed as I relax.  
“I wanna. You been looking after me, the least I can is return the favour,” Alice mumbles while placing a quick kiss on my neck softly before nudging me to lay down. She then asks me, “Does that feel better?”  
“Mmm,” I mumble while pulling her to lay next to me. She snuggles into her pillow fort while I snuggle into her neck.  
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I walk up the next morning to my baby sleeping on top of me, I gently move her off my chest back onto her pillow nest without waking her up. I get up and get dressed before heading downstairs where I make myself a coffee before grabbing the paper to read, but when I see what movies are playing tonight it gives me a great idea, I’ll take Alice out to the movies and get her mind off Kate for a couple of hours. I plan everything until I have a full date panned within a couple of hours making me feel better.  
Once my date is planned out I begin unpacking Kate’s things from my car so Alice can put it away without having to lift the heavy this, the things I know how to put away is the food.  
“Jethro,” Alice mumbles while walking into the kitchen to see me putting everything away.  
“Hey, coffee,” I ask her while holding out the coffee out to her which she takes without anything but at the same time she almost falls over her own feet in her sleepy walk for coffee.  
“Thank you.”  
“Your welcome,” I smile as she sits down and cradles her coffee to her body like it’s her lifeline.  
“What you doing?” Alice asks when I continue putting the canned food away as she drinks her coffee.  
“Putting the food away.”  
“Is there anything I can help with?”  
“There is boxes in the lounge room,” I tell her while pointing to where I stacked the boxes for her. She walks over and runs her hand over the names before taking the box with her clothes. I lead her back up to the bedroom where I show her the empty half of my cupboard for her to put her clothes into.  
“You don’t mind if I put my clothes in your closet?”  
“No, of course not,” I say to her while placing a kiss on her head before leaving her to unpack her clothes.

Alice’s pov

I slowly put my clothes into Gibbs closet methodically. I am not one of them people who just put everything in the closet at random; I put it in an order of, my good clothing, my sleepwear, my weekend clothes, my workout clothes, and finally my work clothes. I set all of them up in the closet before I move over to the draws Gibbs showed me to put my clothes in that can’t hang up. In the top draw I put in my underwear and socks. Under that I put my shorts and clothes I where sometimes but not often enough to warrant hanging up. I look at my blanket; the only reason I even took it was because Kate made it for me, which is why I left my bedding but took the blanket.  
“What do you want to do with that?” Gibbs asks making me jump because I didn’t know he was standing in the door watching me pat my blanket.  
“I don’t know. I’m not throwing it out,” I say defensively  
“I didn’t say you had too. I just asked what you wanted to do, do you want to put it on the bed or in the cupboard,” Gibbs explains to me while walking over to sit on the bed next to me as he gives me my options.  
“I don’t know. I don’t what it to get damaged,” I mumble while leaning into Gibbs chest and hug the blanket into my chest.  
“How about we put it in the closet? How about that.”  
“It wouldn’t get damaged.”  
“Nope and when you’re ready we can put it on the bed.”  
“Yeah, I’d like that,” I agree with Gibbs while handing him my blanket.  
“What do you want to do with Kate’s blanket?” Gibbs asks me while placing the blanket on the bed beside him so he can hug me to his chest.  
“I didn’t pack it.”  
“Don’t worry, I did. That’s why I ask you.”  
“Can… can we put it on the bed?”   
“Of course we can. This one needs washing anyway,” Gibbs say while placing a kiss on my head while getting up to get Kate’s blanket  
I decide to remove Gibbs’ blanket because he said it needs washing and it’s the least I can do for everything he does for me in the last couple of days. Gibbs walks back into the room carrying Kate’s blanket and new sheets to make the bed new. We make the bed to Gibbs standards except for my side where I have a giant stack of pillows; some is Kate’s, mine and Gibbs. It kind of looks like a pillow monster making me smile, Kate always did say she would lose me to a stack of pillows and never a man, and then she limited how many pillows I was allowed at any one time.  
“There you do,” Gibbs says to me while leading me out to see Abby standing in the door way which confuses me.  
“Abby,” I exclaim before giving her a quick hug.  
“Wanna go shopping?” Abby ask me while bouncing on the spot, does she never not bounce beside when she’s mourning?  
“What for?” I ask her in confusion, why would I want to go shopping? I only go shopping when Kate threats me with something.  
“Because, you need to do something besides think about Kate and so do I.”  
“I guess,” I mumble making Abby grin at me before I return to the bed room to get dress out of Gibbs shirt, I like his shirts there so comfortable. I decide on a set of dressy looking jeans and a t-shirt, then I put my shoes on before brushing my hair out and tie it up into a bun to get it out of the way for the day. We I walk back down stairs, Abby and Gibbs quickly stop signing, making me know they are planning something for or about me, which does scare me but if Tony’s not involved it can’t be that bad right?  
“Ready to go?” Abby ask me while bouncing around.  
“Yep,” I agree with her while grabbing the NCIS jacket, I do need to buy a new jacket, and I can’t keep stealing Gibbs.  
“Have fun,” Gibbs orders us as Abby leaves with a salute for Gibbs while Gibbs grabs my (his) jacket and pulls my body against his, “I do like you in my clothes,” Gibbs mumbles against my lips before he quiets teasing me and kissing me properly, probably more than he leant to because it got very heated. I end up between a hard place and a rock, or in my case a marine and a wall, and we probably wouldn’t have stopped if Abby hadn’t honked the horn on her car making Gibbs pull back.  
“I’ll see you later,” I whisper to him while forcing my way from between him and the wall but he doesn’t move meaning I have to push past him, meaning he gets to have a full feeling of the front of my body.  
“What took you so long?” Abby teases me as I get into her car.  
“Nothing.”  
“Right, that’s why you’re blushing.”  
“I’m not blushing,” I deny as Abby drives her car to the cloth shop before I change the conversation, “What were you and Gibbs talking about?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Now why don’t I believe that?”  
“Because you’re a suspicious person.”  
“No, because you’re both acting suspiciously,” I state as she pulls up at the shops and parks her car.   
“No we’re not,” Abby defends them as she walks into the clothing shop and straight to the fancy clothing which just conforms my theory that she is planning something with Gibbs.  
“Abby, what are you up to?”  
“Okay, truth, I want to find a dress for you that’ll make Gibbs jaw drop or he faints,” Abby finally answers me while holding up a see through dress making me pull a what the hell face.  
“Why?”  
“Because you didn’t go through with my last plan and I want Gibbs to be jealous when anyone looks at you.”  
“And who’s going to be looking at me beside Gibbs?”  
“Doesn’t matter, it’s the dress and his imagines while doo the rest,” Abby bounces around while informing me. I help her look through all the dresses; each one is as ugly as the last in this shop so we leave the shop for another shop.  
We spend hours going from shop to shop looking for the best dress that I like and Abby things while knock Gibbs shocks off, and maybe all his cloth.  
“What do you think of this dress?” Abby ask while holding up a beautiful dress.  
“It’s perfect,” I exclaim while grabbing the dress off Abby who grins before leading me to the fitting room to try it on, and it fits like a glove making me grin at Abby as I show her.  
“We need shoes,” Abby exclaims before leading me back to the shoe section once I have returned to my normal clothes.  
After hours of shopping, and a hold new outfit for both of us, we head back to Abby’s house for her to get me dressed up, which makes me freeze for a second because the last person to help me get dressed up for a guy, and ending with me dressed up in Gibbs basement, was Kate.  
I put on the beautiful dress before walking out to Abby’s living room for her to do my makeup.  
“What colour do you want?” Abby ask while looking through her makeup bag, which is a mystery to me, I don’t understand make up. Don’t get me wrong, it makes me feel pretty but I can’t put it on, which is why I always told Kate she wasn’t allowed to die, I need her to do my makeup.  
“Can I have red?” I ask her innocently but I don’t know if Abby even owns anything red.  
“Of course you can,” Abby agrees with pulling out red make up. She begins with my eyes which she does beautiful cat eyes and then she slowly and methodically does the rest of my face (If that’s not how you put make up on, I do apologized like Alice, my sister does it for me when I need it. Which is like three times in the last decade) and finally she put on blood red lipstick making me happy.  
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We both climb into Abby’s car and she starts it but she doesn’t drive yet, instead grabs a blindfold.  
“What’s that for?” I demand of Abby in fear, what is she planning besides putting me in the dark.  
“Just put the blind fold on, please?” Abby begs while bouncing in place.  
“I don’t wanna,” I mumble but put it on anyway, I might not like not knowing or the dark, but I do trust Abby for now.  
“Don’t worry, you’ll like it,” Abby promise me while driving off but I can only tell where by when she turns, which let me know she isn’t going to Gibbs house making me even more worried. I want to go back to Gibbs’ house now, maybe watch some TV with him before going to bed.  
Abby drives for ages making me wonder if she is kidnapping me, I hope not I want my pillows to sleep with tonight. Abby finally stops the car where she is going but she doesn’t let me remove the blind fold making me pout, I want the light back.  
“One minute, no peeking,” Abby orders me while bouncing out of the car for the moment before returning to the car back in the driver’s seat, as my door opens making me jump in surprise, who the hell is opening my door? Abby’s in her side. Abby say to me, “Alice, why don’t you get out of the car.”  
“Abby, what have you planned,” I demand of her while there is a chuckle beside me, I recognize it but I can’t place who it belongs too, which freaks me out more, I just want to be at home with Gibbs.  
“Don’t worry, you’ll thank me,” Abby promise before unclipping me. I finally give in and get out of the car but my new jacket is covering my new and beautiful dress. “Alice, you have to remove your jacket,” Abby calls out to me while pulling the jacket but I’m still blindfolded so no, not until I know where I am.  
“Can I remove my blindfold?” I beg of her but she doesn’t answer me, but someone does come to a stand in front of me. Before I can even step back the person removes my blindfold allowing me to see again, I blink twice before my eyes adjust to the light to see Jethro grinning at me boyishly. I grin at him, and look him up and down to see he is a nice suit. I wrap my arms around him in a hug, I might have only been with Abby today but I did miss him.  
“Alice, take you jacket off,” Abby laughs at me making me blush when I remember what dress I am wearing underneath.  
“You know about this,” I suddenly realise while pointing at Abby who smiles innocently while nodding to my jacket making me smile slightly before I allow it to fall open making Gibbs stop breathing while staring at the dress I am wearing.  
“You,” Gibbs begins but has to stop to clear his throat before beginning again, “You look beautiful.”  
“Thank you,” I mumble while pulling on the short bottom of the dress, not that Gibbs seams to mind the length.  
“Shall we?” Gibbs asks while holding his arm out for me to take.  
“We shall,” I agree with him as I slip my arm throw his. Gibbs begins leading me into the movie theatre behind where Abby dropped me off.  
“You really do look beautiful,” Gibbs mumbles while looking me up and down next to my body throw the side of his eye.  
“You look very handsome yourself. If you dressed like this out work, you wouldn’t get any work done,” I inform Gibbs while leaning into his side. He opens the door and lets me into the movie theatre and then leads me to the counter to buy the tickets.  
“What do you want to see?” the man behind the counter asks us.  
“What do you want to see?” Gibbs whispers in my ear.  
“X-Men; the last stand,” I offer to him while looking hopeful.  
“Two tickets for the x-men movie,” Gibbs asks the boy who is obviously staring at my chest which makes me uncomfortable.  
“Yes sir, do you and your daughter what anything to eat or drink?” the boy ask Gibbs making me clamp my teeth together. Gibbs is not my father; he is too good looking for that.  
“I’m not his daughter, I’m his girlfriend,” I snap at the idiot, I mean I know I am younger but Gibbs is not my father, he too hot and nice to be my father.  
“I’m sorry, ma’am. What would you like?” The boy asks me this time without even looking up from my chest making me close my coat again. I was enjoying Gibbs reaction to the dress but I don’t actually want anyone else looking at me in it.  
“We want popcorn and two lemonades,” Gibbs snaps at the horny boy as I step back against Gibbs, I don’t like this boy he is still staring at my chest even with my coat closed.  
The boy jumps into action from the tone of Gibbs voice, he quickly got both the drinks and the popcorns.  
“There you go,” The boy begins but Gibbs puts him off by giving him the money for our purchases making the boy him give Gibbs the change without hesitation because he seems afraid of Gibbs, which is funny to me.  
“Come on,” Gibbs whispers to me while leading me over to the theatre room and we sit down in the back of the theatre with Gibbs sitting against the alia while I sit in the middle. I take my coat off before I sit down, giving Gibbs’ a view of my new dress making Gibbs smirk while staring at it.  
“Do you like it,” I ask Gibbs while pulling the bottom of my dress while enjoying the feeling of Gibbs not being able to look away from the dress.  
“Yeah, not that you should where it out in public,” Gibbs whispers in my ear while holding my hand in his.  
“I didn’t know we were going anywhere but back home,” I explain away my dress before asking Gibbs, “Have you even seen any of the marvel movies?”  
“Nope,” Gibbs answers me with a smirk which really doesn’t surprise me at all.  
“Well, I’m not going to explain it,” I inform Gibbs while snuggling into his side after lifting up the arm rest so I can.  
“I’m not surprised. Why did you decide to take me to the movies? You never go to the movies.”  
“I thought you might like it.”  
“I do, I just don’t what you too be unconfutable for the whole movie.”  
“I won’t. I promise,” Gibbs whispers as the movie begins making me snuggle into him more.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
After the movie finishes we walk out to Gibbs car where Gibbs helps me up into the car.  
“Where are we going?” I ask Gibbs when he drives out of the parking.  
“It’s a surprise,” Gibbs answers me while driving around making me even more lost, Abby did have my eye’s covered while delivering me to Gibbs’ for the movie.  
“I don’t like surprises,” I mumble with a pout but Gibbs just smirks at me without telling me anything.  
“You’re like this one,” Gibbs finally promises me making me smile, if he says I will like it, I guess I’ll just have to wait for him to tell me when we get there.  
He grins as he drive around for a while, I don’t know if he is driving around to lose my sense of direction or we are that far from where he wants to go. He drives for a bit more before handing my blindfold back on making me give him a look but he just indicates that I have to put it on again. I put the blind fold on slowly, I don’t like the dark but Gibbs’ protect me and I can be brave for a little longer. Gibbs places his hand on my hand, so I know he is still here in my fear if I need it, and he drives with one hand for ages, or what feels like ages to me without being able to see.  
“Wait here,” Gibbs informs me before getting out of the car making me pout, why does everyone tell me to wait as they get out of the car and I’m blindfolded. My door opens and then I hear Gibbs say, “Come on, baby. Climb out.” He says this while lacing his hand on my waist to help me out of the car and when I step down I end up leaning against Gibbs, not that I mind. He leads me away from the car with his hand on my waist so I don’t fall over anything because I’m still blindfolded.  
“Watch your step,” Gibbs says t me while helping me up three steps and out of the cold weather. He leads me through where ever we are until we come to a stop. “Okay, what a minute,” Gibbs orders me in a whisper before moving away from me leaving me standing on my own in the middle of the room. Gibbs is moving around for a moment before coming to a stop and saying, “You can remove the blindfold now.” I quickly remove my blindfold to see we are at Gibbs house and he has roses on the table with a romantic dinner set up on it.  
“Wow,” I mumble while looking around at what he has done.  
“DO you like it,” Gibbs asks me and he sounds very nervous.  
“I love it. Thank you,” I say while moving over to Gibbs and hugging him.  
“I’m glad,” Gibbs says while pulling out a chair for me to sit down before he sits across from me at his table. He lifts the plate cover off to show he has made steak with vegies.  
“This looks lovely,” I say to Gibbs with a small grin and we begin eating as we talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj2leGMqqLbAhVDwrwKHZylBLQQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bebearabia.com%2Fcollections%2Fpart-sale-items-30-60%2Fproducts%2Fopen-mesh-dress&authuser=1&psig=AOvVaw21mezmYbTpAT4E1AHLSgHc&ust=1527388032939838 
> 
> Alice's dress but in black


	4. Mind Games

“I will never forget the day that Gibbs caught this psycho,” Cassidy says to us as we look at a criminal on death row who is demanding Gibbs talk to him before he dies.  
“You knew Gibbs back then?” Tony asks her in surprise.  
“No! I was a junior at Georgetown and for two years, every women D.C. was afraid to go out at night.”  
“That must have been tough.”  
“Yeah. You have no idea. I actually own Gibbs for the first full night of sleep I got in college.”  
“Hmm. I meant dating.”  
“Yes. Yes. Dating was tough.”  
“Need any help with that now, Paula?”  
“No, Tony. Thank you. I’ve been there. I’ve done that.”  
“Ha, ha! Ouch!” Tony exclaims while holding his heart in fake pain.  
“Your problem with women is where you’re focused.”  
“Where?”  
“Mmm… here. It’s a mirror,” Cassidy hands Tony a ‘mirror’ which he takes and opens.  
“Quick question. The pink ones, do they taste like Strawberry Starburst? I thought you said you weren’t seeing anyone!” Tony says while holding Cassidy’s birth control making her freak out.  
“I’m not,” Cassidy defends herself.  
“Hmm?”  
“IT’S for my complexion.”  
“Complexion got a name?” I ask her innocently from my spot behind Gibbs computer.  
“Alice, you do don’t want to go there.”  
“Just tell me it’s not another agent because I don’t really think I could,” Tony begins but Cassidy slams Tony’s body into his desk making his shout out in pain and surprise.  
“He’s name’s Bob, and he’s a lawyer.”  
“What a coincidence. I hate lawyers.”  
“I know. So do I. that why it’s,” Cassidy begins before whispering in Tony’s ear making me wonder is I want to know.  
“Well, what would that make me?”  
“An idiot,” I offer to Tony making him grin at me.  
“A big mistake. If you do not give me by birth control pills, I’m going to break your arm,” Cassidy threatens Tony.  
“I’ve got that coffee,” McGee exclaims making his presents known.  
“Have you been there long?”  
“Uh, long enough to say ‘no ma’am,’ agent Cassidy.”  
“Okay. Good answer,” Cassidy says while finally snatching her birth control back while releasing Tony and says sweetly innocent, “Thank you.”  
“I let her do that,” Tony defends himself but no one believes that.  
“Thank you.”  
“Who’s that?” McGee asks innocently.  
“Kyle Boone,” Cassidy says like that answers his question.  
“He’s an infamous serial killer, probie. Terrorized the District in the nineties. Come on,” Tony explains better.  
“Twenty two women went missing and five bodies were found.”  
“Guy only made one mistake.”  
“He killed a petty officer.”  
“Gibbs caught him?” McGee asks know he understands.  
“He’s scheduled for a Government-sanctioned dirt nap on Saturday,” I explain to McGee.  
“He wants to talk to Gibbs before they flip the switch,” Cassidy explains.  
“Why?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“He claims he’s going to tell him where the bodies are,” Tony explains.  
“What the hell is that doing on my screen?” Gibbs demands while walking to the squad room to see Guy’s face on the plasma.  
“Uh… I didn’t put it there, boss,” McGee defends himself when Gibbs glares at him.  
“Who did, McGee?”  
“Probie let me handle this. Boss, she did it,” Tony exclaims while dubbing in Cassidy making me smirk at that.  
“We heard you were interviewing… Kyle Boone, and we assumed we would be providing backup,” Cassidy defends herself when no one is going to do it for her, while Gibbs moves over to his desk where I am and throwing Cassidy bag off of the corner of the desk where she put it down when she handed Tony her birth control instead of her mirror and onto the ground next to the desk.  
“You heard wrong, Cassidy. I’m not interviewing anyone,” Gibbs snaps at her while leaning around me to put his gun in the draw.  
“Oh, well then you might want to let the Governor of Virginia know, since MTAC has him standing by waiting for your call.”  
“Find her a desk.”  
“IS that one,” Cassidy begins while walking over to Kate’s desk.  
“No, that one is busy,” I yell out while cutting her off while grabbing her arm before she can get close to Kate’s desk.  
“No, it’s taken,” Gibbs agrees with me before heading up to MTAC.   
“A whole week of T-A-D with Gibbs. I can smell the fun already,” Cassidy complains while moving away from Kate’s desk.  
“If you stay away from Kate’s desk, and stuff it will be fine. Or just stay away in general,” I snap at her.  
“Well, it’s been a tough month,” McGee explains while trying to ignore my anger.  
“Right now he pretty much hates everyone, Paula. Including himself,” Tony defends Gibbs.  
“And everyone hates you on a normal day,” I explain to her in a sickeningly innocent tone of voice.  
“What is your problem with me?” Cassidy snaps at me.  
“How much time do you have? We can start with you letting and translator steal emeralds and then die and work our way up from there.”  
“Well, look on the bright side,” Tony say to Cassidy before I kill her.  
“What is the bright side?” Cassidy demands of Tony while looking away from my glare.  
“You’re only here a week.”  
“Why couldn’t I sit at Kate’s desk?”  
“Mostly because it’s still Kate’s desk,” Tony explains while I glare harder at her, if I hadn’t promised Gibbs I wouldn’t hit anyone I would have punched her and keep going when she hit the ground.  
“She was a great agent.”  
“She IS a great agent,” I hiss at Cassidy while glaring harder at her, I want her gone.  
“Yeah,” Tony agrees with Cassidy while looking at Kate’s desk.  
“How are you handling it?” Cassidy asks Tony.  
“Same way I handle everything. I try not to think about it.”  
“And when that doesn’t work?”  
“There’s always junk food.”  
“IT doesn’t sound very healthy, Tony.”  
“It’s either that or I start building a boat in my basement.”  
“Don’t knock the boat,” I say to Tony tightly, I like that thing.  
“Did you move from your apartment?” Cassidy ask Tony while ignoring me.  
“No. Now you see my dilemma,” Tony explains to her.  
“Hey, if you ever do what to talk about it, I’m here for you. Okay?”  
“You mean that?”  
“Yes, of course I mean it.”  
“Okay. Well then let me ask you something. What’s bobby like in bed?”  
“Oh, Kate was right. You are truly, truly pathetic, DiNozzo.”  
“Ah, you two might want to get busy. Gibbs is headed this way and he looks pissed,” McGee warns us quietly.  
“Think he caved into the governor?”  
“No way!” Tony exclaims.  
“No way! If Gibbs doesn’t want to do something, he doesn’t,” McGee explains to Cassidy.  
“No matter who’s asking,” Tony explains before seeing Gibbs leaning around me for the second time but this time to get his gun back, “Where you going, Boss?”  
“Sussex State Prison to interview Kyle Bonne. Be gone the rest of the day,” Gibbs says tightly before leaving.  
“Yep, you two sure have him pegged,” Cassidy teases them.  
“Nope they had him pegged right but the new director has leverage that the old director didn’t,” I state while pulling up an old file only to close it when I see that Kate’s was the one who summited it.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Where is he, Timothy?” Ducky asks when he walks into the squad room.  
“Uh, who?” McGee asks innocently.  
“Gibbs, damn it,” Ducky snaps before seeing Tony’s fatty lunch making him exclaim, “Hey! Do you know the difference between good and bad cholesterol, Tony?”   
“No. But I’m assuming it has something to do with taste,” Tony answers him while Ducky rushes over to Tony and takes his lunch.  
“Bad is what came back on your last blood test,” Ducky snaps while taking the food and handing it to McGee while saying, “Dispose of this.”  
“Hey, hey, hey. That cost me sixteen bucks, that pizza.”  
“You’ll thank me when you’re my age.”  
“But you eat pizza all the time,” McGee exclaims in confusion.  
“Exactly.”  
“I don’t really see the connection here,” Tony says in confusion.  
“Well, of course you wouldn’t. You’re not a doctor. Where is Gibbs?”  
“Sussex State Prison. Interviewing Kyle Boone,” I explain to Ducky.  
“He said he wasn’t going.”  
“He wasn’t,” Tony informs him.  
“Until the SECNAV ordered him to,” McGee reports to Ducky.  
“Who’s with him?” Ducky asks us.  
“No-one.”  
“Have you any idea the effect that psychopath had on Gibbs ten years ago?”   
“Considering how open Gibbs is about his personal life, uh… no. not a clue,” Tony admits.  
“Yeah. He should not have gone alone.”  
“Well, Ducky, it’s Gibbs. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” McGee promises Ducky.  
“IT’s easy for you to say. You didn’t have to live through this the last time,” Ducky reminds us as Tony’s phone begins ringing.  
“DiNozzo. Where…? Yeah, I got it, boss. We’re on our way,” Tony says into his phone before hanging up and turning to Cassidy to say, “Cassidy, saddle up. Gibbs wants you in the field. Boone family farm.”  
“He wants me?” Cassidy asks in surprise.  
“That’s what he said! Let’s roll! The difference between ten years ago and today, Ducky? We have Gibbs back.”  
“There’s another difference, Tony. Ten years ago, Gibbs was a very different man,” Ducky explains as we get out gear and begin heading to the elevator.  
“You mean he was actually meaner?”  
“Oh, quite the opposite. He was… he was a lot like you,” Ducky explains making me pull a face, we only need one Tony in the universe for the whole of time.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do we got?” Tony asks when we arrive at the farmhouse to see Gibbs standing there.  
“I can save you time, Gibbs. My measurements are thirty-four,” Cassidy begins while she sees the measuring tape.  
“Twenty-six, thirty-four. A hundred and twenty pounds? I’m right, aren’t I?”  
“Did you weigh and measure me in my sleep?”  
“Why did he have access to your body when you were asleep?” I ask Cassidy, I know they are fucking but they don’t need to know I know that.  
“I’m a crime scene sketch expert. That’s what I do,” Tony defends himself while ignoring my probing question with nothing but a cheeky grin.  
“You’ll do,” Gibbs says to Cassidy   
“Gibbs, again. You have such a way of making a gal feel so special,” Cassidy says sarcastically.  
“Put this on. McGee?” Gibbs orders Cassidy while handing her overalls before turning to McGee.  
“Yeah, boss?” McGee asks Gibbs.   
“You might want to wear kneepads.”  
“DO we even have kneepads?” McGee asks us once Gibbs has walked away.  
“Equipment inventory is Kate’s job! You might want to ask,” Tony begins but when he looks at me and my sad face he remembers what happened to Kate again. Tony quickly leads me away from the truck before I start crying again, he leads me over to where Gibbs is, because Tony might not know I am dating Gibbs but he has seen how Gibbs is able to stop me from crying.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This place must have been gone over a dozen times, boss. There’s no way there’s any bodies in here,” Tony complains as we stand in front of the chimney where McGee is kneeling inside with Cassidy on his shoulders.  
“I’m not looking for bodies, Tony. He was raised here by his uncle. His mother was a prostitute. She let town when he was twelve,” Gibbs explains to Tony.  
“Then what are we looking for?”  
“Proof. Boone swears it’s here. The only place we didn’t look is inside this chimney.”  
“I think I got something. Owe! No. that’s just a dead bird,” Cassidy calls to us before dropping the bird onto McGee which making me chuckle behind my hand, but Gibbs does notice when he give me a smile.  
“Oh, that’s disgusting,” McGee complains.  
“I’ll bet this wasn’t in the brochure when you signed up for NCIS, probie,” Tony teases McGee.  
“You know you were wrong earlier.”  
“About what?”  
“She weighs more than a buck twenty.”  
“Oh!” Cassidy says while dropping her flash light on McGee’s head making me laugh again.  
“Owe!”  
“Sorry.”  
“She did that on purpose.”  
“Okay. Oh, no. I got it. It’s right here by the flue. I got it! I’m coming down,” Cassidy says while pulling something out of the chimney while climbing off McGee’s shoulder.  
“Finally. You could have taken your boots… oh, geez!”   
“My bad. Looks like a book,” Cassidy say before opening the book to see all the victims with their tongues cut out and hearts in their back. Cassidy says after a moment of silence, “There must be thirty pages there.”  
“More,” Tony corrects her.  
“What’s carved into their backs?” McGee asks us.  
“That’s his calling card,” Gibbs says tightly making me feel sick.  
“I don’t like this,” I mumble while grabbing a handful of Gibbs shirt, I can’t lose him, I need him. I continue, “Why would he give you this now? What is he planning? Why know?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“All right, listen up my little probationary field agents. You are about to witness the transfer of a maximum security prisoner to our humble facility. While he’s here, he’s our sole responsibility,” Tony rambles to the poor probies at ten o’clock at night in the NCIS garage. One of the probie’s yawns making Tony demand, “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I boring you?”   
“My god, does he ever stop?” Cassidy asks us while we watch Tony.  
“I’m just glad it’s not me,” McGee states without answering her.  
“It’s ten o’clock. It doesn’t make sense bringing Boone here now.”  
“Gibbs is trying to put him on unfamiliar ground. Throw him off balance,” I inform her.  
“Because what worked so well ten years ago? What’s different not?”   
“I am, Cassidy,” Gibbs informs her while walking up behind us.  
“Stand tall! Wake up, Probies!” Tony calls at the probies before the transport van arrives.  
“I knew I could count on you, Jethro. It’s good to be home again. Yeah, good to be home,” Kyle says while being removed off the van making me very uncomfortable, I didn’t think he would be so creepy so quickly. I thought it would take him time to work up to being creepy.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The guy’s been impersonating a statue all night. According to the watch, he hasn’t moved a muscle,” Tony reports to us the next morning as we sit in the squad room.  
“Yuck, he’s creepy. When is Gibbs going to start his interrogation?” Cassidy demands like a bitch.  
“When he’s ready,” I state while reading up on the original case from ten years ago, I never know a male could right so neatly. This case file was written by Gibbs, very neatly, so neat it looks like a computer wrote it but it was written by hand.  
“You might want to tell him to hurry. He’s got less than forty-eight hour before Boone’s scheduled to be executed.”  
“I’ve got a better idea, Paula. Why don’t you tell him?” Tony demands of her.  
“Because I’m not stupid,” Cassidy chuckles like someone who is better than us.  
“No. of all the things you are, stupid definitely isn’t one of them.”  
“Thank you. Okay, what’s that supposed to mean?”  
“You’re a hoe that has more STD’s then a street whore,” I explain to her without looking up but I can feel the glare she sent my way.  
“Nothing! By the way, how’s Bobert?” Tony asks Cassidy getting her to stop glaring at me, I’m just being honest.  
“Why, are you jealous?” Cassidy teases Tony while ignoring me for the moment.  
“Oh, of a lawyer? Give me a break.”  
“He’s very rich.”  
“Money isn’t everything.”  
“He’s got season tickets to the red skins. Private sky box.”  
“I’m happy for him.”  
“And I almost forget… he drives a Ferrari. Red.”  
“Like Magnum. Well, that’s nice.”  
“Isn’t it?”  
“You know what’s even nicer? My current view. Victoria’s secret? Agent Cassidy.”  
“Well, you enjoy it as long as you can, Agent DiNozzo, because that’s as close as you’re going to get.”  
“Cassidy? Check Boone’s security detail,” Gibbs orders her while walking over to us.  
“You got it.”  
“I’ll give her a hand with that,” Tony exclaims while going to follow Cassidy.  
“Wait,” Gibbs orders of Tony as Cassidy leave. Gibbs promptly hits Tony on the back of his head.  
“What was that for?”  
“Letting her get to you.”  
“Boss, I was not letting her get… I won’t let it happen again,” Tony promises before Gibbs hands him a coffee, “Thanks.”  
“It’s for Abby. Go find out how many victims she ID’d from Boone’s scrapbook.”  
“Are you alright?” I ask Gibbs once Tony walks away.  
“I’m fine,” Gibbs snaps tightly.  
“I’m worried about you. I can’t lose you to this guy,” I mumble in fear, I can’t lose anyone else.  
“I’m not going anywhere,” Gibbs promise me while leading me over to the observation room.  
“I’m… I can’t bury anyone else,” I inform him as we walk into the observation room to watch Boone.  
“I promise,” Gibbs promises again while placing his arm around my waist in a quick hug.  
Ducky walks into the observation room and I begin to leave the room to give them privacy but Gibbs holds me against him.  
“You don’t have to do this again, you know,” Ducky informs Gibbs while closing the door so no one walking past can hear what they are talking about.  
“You’re wrong, Duck. I do,” Gibbs defends himself.  
“He’s never going to tell you where those poor girls are.”  
“I know that.”  
“Then why?”  
“Because ten years ago I couldn’t break him.”  
“No, but you did what no one else could. You caught the son of bitch.”  
“I should have killed him.”  
“And in two days that will be rectified. I’m telling you as a friend. It’s time to let this one go.”  
“Not yet, Ducky.”  
“You already lost one relationship as a result of this case. She was a wonderful girl. And you neglected…”  
“She left me, Duck! I didn’t leave her!” Gibbs yells over Ducky while holding me tighter to his body.  
“No! You made it impossible for her to stay!” Ducky snaps at Gibbs before leaving the room, fluming.  
“Are you alright?” I ask Gibbs while looking over at him.  
“I’m fine,” Gibbs answers me tightly.  
“So, you don’t want coffee?”  
“Yes, I want coffee,” Gibbs agrees with me.  
“I’ll get coffee,” I promise Gibbs before placing a quick kiss on his check before leaving for coffee.  
I leave the building to the coffee shop and walk the five minutes to the best coffee shop near this building. I walk into the shop and order a coffee for Gibbs and myself before also deciding to buy a cookie each as well. Once I have the coffee and food I head back to the office.  
I return to see a lawyer looking person arrive as I walk through security making me pull a face, I bet he’s here for either Cassidy or Gibbs and I am hopping it is the first but I think it is the second.  
I walk into the office to hear Cassidy say into her phone, “Okay, send him up. Make sure he’s escorted. I’ll let Gibbs know.”  
“Comfortable?” Tony asks her because she is sitting at his desk.  
“Yeah, as a matter of fact.”  
“It was a rhetorical question, lady,” Tony informs him while I make my way back to observation room where I see Gibbs is still glaring at Kyle through the glass.  
“Here you go,” I say to Gibbs while handing him his coffee and cookie.  
“Thanks,” Gibbs says while taking the coffee but not the cookie yet.  
“Are you going to talk to him now?”  
“Yep,” Gibbs says while leaving observation to walk into integration room.  
“Finally. So where should we start this time, Jethro? My childhood?” Kyle asks Gibbs.  
“I didn’t bring you in here to talk, Boone,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“So you decided to let me see my photographs again?”  
“I told you that’s not going to happen.”  
“Interesting. May I ask why I’m here then?”  
“The state is hoping that I’ll get the location of your victims.”  
“I believe that requires some form of communication.”  
“I said the state. Me? I’m not even going to try.”  
“But you always try, Jethro. That’s why I like you.”  
“How gay is this guy?” I ask myself while eating my cookie.  
“I’ve taken you out of the system, Boone. You’re going to sit here, alone, without any human contact until you fry. The game ends now.”  
“This room brings back so many memories, doesn’t it?” Kyle attempts to get Gibbs to react as Cassidy walks into the room with me making me give her a look, what is she planning? And can I hit her for it?  
“Special Agent Gibbs, a word please?” Cassidy says into the intercom, maybe Gibbs while let me hit her now.  
“Sounds like you replaced your dead female. Any chance I can meet this one? Hmm? Well, I’ll be here if you need me,” Kyle rambles while Gibbs storms out in an angry, cute, huff.  
“What?!” Gibbs snaps at Cassidy when we meet in the corridor.  
“Boone’s attorney is here. The DA’s afraid if we deny him access to his client, he’ll find a sympathetic judge and have cause to have the execution delayed,” Cassidy reports.  
“I got it,” O’Neill, the lawyer, says into his phone before turning to Gibbs and saying, “Look, I need a privileged conversation with my client. Meaning, agent Gibbs, I want your observation room cleared and all microphones turned off.”  
“That’s it?” I ask him, what he doesn’t want our coffee or our lives?   
“For now, agent.”  
“Tony?” Gibbs snaps at his agent.  
“Yeah, hold on a second,” Tony say before turning to a guard to say, “Search him first… thoroughly.”  
“Agent Gibbs, if anything happens to my client while he’s here, I want you to know I am going to hold you personally responsible,” O’Neill makes a big man of himself, badly.  
“You have my word he will be in perfect health for his execution,” Gibbs promise while cutting him off before turning to Tony, “Escort Mister O’Neil out of my building, Special Agent Cassidy.”  
“You’ll be hearing from me.”  
“Let’s go,” Cassidy snaps at the lawyer while leading him out of the building.  
“What do you know, she is useful,” I mumble while watching Cassidy leave with the lawyer, but I wonder if he is the one she is fucking?  
“You going back in there, boss?” Tony asks Gibbs as Gibbs’ phone begins ring.  
“Yeah, maybe,” Gibbs says before answering his phone, “Gibbs.” He listens to the phone calls for a moment before turning to us and saying, “They think they may have found his dumping ground.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What am I looking at?” Gibbs asks Abby and McGee in the lab.  
“Take it away, Mick-Gee!” Abby exclaims but after a beat making her add, “I mean, very Special Agent McGee.”  
“Probable site where the victims were tortured, killed, perhaps buried,” McGee explains to us, while second guessing himself.  
“You want to know how we did it.”  
“Not really,” Gibbs and I answer together making Abby grin at us.  
“Good, because it was mostly luck.”  
“Where?” I ask her.  
“Wilderness area of Great Falls National Park,” McGee reports.  
“Tony, you lead the team. Alice go with him,” Gibbs orders Tony and me.  
“All right. Where are you going, boss?” Tony asks Gibbs as he leaves the lab.  
“After ten years I’ve finally got something on Boone he doesn’t already know about.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The site where the photos were taken is two hundred and sixty five feet on a track of three hundred ten degrees. We need to get through here,” McGee reports while looking at his PDA when we arrive at the clearing where the bodies are meant to be.   
“Okay. Remember what I told you about the poison ivy, all right? Don’t tell Cassidy,” Tony whispers to us.  
“What?” Cassidy snaps at him.  
“Nothing. Follow me,” Tony orders us before falling down the hill side making me laugh at him doing that again.  
“Should still be on sick leave,” I laugh at Tony making him fake glare at me.  
“I’m okay! I’m okay! This is steep. Watch yourself. Well, if this is the place I can see why Boone picked it. Off the beaten path, no hard surfaces to reflect sound. Those girls could scream their heads off and no one would hear. Yeah, this is the perfect spot.”  
“Guys, we’re in the right place,” McGee informs us while looking at his PDA.  
“No reception,” I comment while looking at my phone.  
“Spread out, tape it off. We’ll hike back and call Gibbs,” Tony orders us. We find a dead body in the clearing, Tony and McGee walk off to talk to someone, as I walk over to Cassidy who is staring at the body.  
“Are you all right?” Tony asks Cassidy while walking over to us.  
“I was… a little startled,” Cassidy informs him.  
“By what?”  
“Her.”  
“She couldn’t have been dead more than a few days,” McGee agrees with Cassidy.  
“Tony, you’re not going to believe this.”  
“Boone’s mark,” Tony guesses while looking at the girl.  
“I… I can’t get any reception out here,” Cassidy complains.  
“That’s not surprising. Butt-nowhere isn’t part of our coverage plan,” Tony jokes.  
“I’m going to head back to the truck and try and get the call through.”  
“Okay, tell Gibbs we’re going to need everything we have and everyone on this.”  
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”  
“I come with you,” I say to Cassidy while beginning to hike back to the lab.  
“Why?”  
“Because’ I left my coffee back in the truck,” I explain to her.  
“So it’s not because you like me?”  
“If I wasn’t afraid Ari’s not really dead but faked it again, I wouldn’t be here walking with you.”  
I ring Gibbs as Cassidy looks through the truck for something.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his phone.  
“Gibbs! We found Boone’s dumping ground,” I reports while reaching in and grabbing my coffee.  
“Good work. Tell tony he needs to call…”  
“We also found a fresh body. Female. Dead less than a week. She has Boone’s mark on her back. We think we’re definitely dealing with a copycat,” I report but my phones goes statically making me think Gibbs his gone, “Gibbs? Gibbs… Gibbs, can you hear me?”  
“Yeah, I heard you. I want the area sealed off. I’m on my way,” Gibbs orders me before hanging up his phone.  
“Gibbs is on his way,” I inform Cassidy while taking a sip of my coffee only to pull a face at the cold coffee.  
“Okay,” Cassidy says while hanging up her own phone, before she asks me, “What is your problem with me?”  
“We should get back.”  
“No, this time you are going to tell me,” Cassidy snaps at me while grabbing my arm stopping me from walking back.  
“You let a translator talk to a terrorist and to the point where they made a plan under your noise. Then you lied about it, making our case carry on longer then it needed to be. Every time you show up, we have a hell of a case. I wanted to have an easy day and I walked into the squad room and you were there. You don’t care about Kate and wanted her desk. It’s Kate’s desk.”  
“So you think everything that goes wrong is my fault?”  
“It does seem that way,” I explain to her as someone hit’s her over the head but because I have turned my back to walk away ii don’t see it but I do feel when they hit me, right before it turns dark.

Tony pov

“Cassidy! Alice! Great! Their list! Why didn’t you give them your GPS thingy, Probie?” I snap at McGee when we arrive at the truck and can’t see Alice or Cassidy, Gibbs is not going to like this. He is going to kill me if I don’t find Alice.  
“They’re not lost,” McGee exclaims while staring at something on the ground.  
“What’s going on?”  
“They’ve been kidnapped,” McGee explains while showing me a photo of them taped up and unconscious next to Alice’s coffee.  
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Gibb pov

“McGee, where is my list of every visitor and phone call Boone’s had since being in prison?” I snap at McGee, someone has my girl and no one has a lead since they took her from me. I shouldn’t have sent her out with Tony but I didn’t want to risk Kyle seeing or hurting her.  
“I’m working it, boss,” McGee says while typing away at his computer.  
“Tony? Tony! Back up teams in place?”  
“Yeah. I never should have let them take off like that alone, boss,” Tony says in compliantly truthful and serous, two thinks he doesn’t normally does.  
“The Polaroid of Cassidy, and Alice, is clean. There’s no prints, no DNA. I’m sorry, Gibbs. I screwed this whole thing up,” Abby cries at me in fear, not with tears but they are on the way.  
“You screwed it up?”  
“We should have known there was more than one killer. I only ran the Jane Doe up until the time Boone was captured. All four have gone missing the last three years.”  
“Concentrate on Boone’s contacts over the past three years,” I order McGee.  
“Yeah,” McGee agrees while doing that.  
“We can’t lose another agent. I can’t take this,” Abby informs us making me agree with her, and I know Alice will be terrified wherever she is.  
“Okay, our best bet is a guy named John Frederick Briggs. In the last three years he’s logged two hundred and twenty nine phone calls and visited Boone ninety six times.”  
“He’s writing Boone’s biography,” I inform him.  
“He’s living it,” Tony says.  
“He’s off to a good start. Dishonourable Discharge from the Army in ninety one. Arrested for Domestic Disturbance in two thousand for beating his girlfriend,” McGee reports to us.  
“Find him!” I order them.  
“Home address and cell phone number,” McGee says to me while handing them to me.  
“Find out if his cell has a GPS locator so,” Tony begins.  
“I checked the carrier it does and it can be remotely activated by the company if it’s reported stolen.”  
“Good job, McGee!” Tony and I say together.  
“Let’s roll,” I order them.  
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“Okay, Brigg’s cell provider is, relaying us his location. He’s in movement,” McGee informs us while we drive behind a car.  
“He’s headed out of DC on the one ninety one,” Abby reports to us.  
“He’s getting off the one ninety at Oakley. If you get off at MacArthur you might make it before him.”  
“How far ahead id he” I demand of them.  
“Less than a mile,” McGee reports before ending the call.  
“That’s got to be him,” Tony exclaims while pointing at the car driving in front of us.  
We drive up behind the car and make him pull over; we get out of the car and run up to the other car.  
“Keep your hands on the wheel! Keep them up!” I order him while pointing my gun in his face, no one takes my girl.  
“Okay, what the hell is going on here?” Brigg demands of us.  
“Where are they, Briggs?” I demand of him.  
“Okay. Okay, I have every right to be here! I heard from a guard you found the bodies. I want to see them.”  
“Shut up,” I order him while reaching into his car to open the trunk, but it’s empty.  
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Alice’s pov

“Hello,” O’Neill says to us while standing in front of us.  
“What did you do to me? And her?” Cassidy hisses at him as he grabs us, Cassidy by her arm while he grabs me by my long red hair and dragging us across the floor of the barn.  
“I hit you in the heads with a shovel, my dear,” O’Neill explains to her.  
“Owe, let go of my hair,” I hiss at the lawyer, I really don’t like lawyers. I then ask him, “Did you kill that woman we found?”  
“I did.”  
“How many more are there, O’Neill?” Cassidy demands.  
“Let’s see, there is uh… there’s one, there’s two, three, four. You will make five and six.”  
“How did Boone turn his lawyer into his replacement?” I ask him before adding, “Or a bigger criminal then the rest of the lawyers in the world?”  
“You really think I’m Boone’s lawyer by coincidence?” O’Neill asks us before shouting at us, “Come on! See, I… I sought Boone out.”  
“Why?” Cassidy demands of him.  
“So I could learn from him. Learn from the best. And you… you’re my graduation present,” O’Neil explains before punching Cassidy in the face.  
“You are such a man. You can’t even kill on your own so you have to live off the killing of another man,” I tease the lawyer to get him away from Cassidy. I might not like her but she doesn’t need to by punched and beat up because he’s a fucking idiot.  
“You know, you can scream if you want to. It’s allowed. Oh! Kyle says he wants Agent Gibbs to remember him for a long, long time after he’s gone. So you two and me… we’re going to take this nice and slow,” O’Neill explains to us before punching me in the chest making me gasp as the air leaves my lungs. O’Neill says, “Oh… Oh… a fighter, huh? I haven’t had one of those before.”  
“Try that thing again with that knife,” Cassidy says to O’Neill, right as there is a sound at the door into the barn, when O’Neill turns around to see Gibbs pointing a gun at him and pulling the trigger, killing the lawyer.  
“Are you alright?” Gibbs asks us while moving over to us.  
“I am having a bad day,” I complain to Gibbs.  
“Yeah,” Cassidy answers Gibbs as he and Tony come over to us and cut the ropes holding us.  
“Why do all lawyers turn out to be pain in the arse?” I ask Gibbs as he cuts my ropes making my arms fall lose.  
“I don’t know,” Gibbs says to me while helping me up. As he adds, “Come on, there is an ambulance out front.”  
“I split my coffee,” I mumble as I lean against Gibbs.  
“We’ll get you a new coffee,” Gibbs promise while helping me onto the ambulance bed to get checked out so I have to go with the hospital with Cassidy.  
“What’s with you and Gibbs?” Cassidy ask me as we travel in the hospital.  
“He promised to buy me a new coffee, since you cost me the last one,” I remind her.  
“How was that my fault?”  
“I wanted to go back to the crime scene but you insisted we talk about you.”  
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“You wanted to see your scrap book? Where is my agent?” Gibbs asks Kyle while holding the scrap book up above my lighter under it, while I stand in the observation room with the team and Cassidy watching for the moment.  
“Stop it. Stop it! Look, you don’t know what…. You don’t know what you’re doing. Jethro! Don’t! I don’t know where she is. How can I? Gibbs, please. Just let me see them one last time. Please?” Kyle attempt to stop begins before begging to cry, “I’m begging you!” Where… are they?”  
“We all know you can’t destroy evidence. Pathetic, Jethro. Did you really think that I need that to see them? When they’re all up here, anytime I want? Your agent is going to suffer. The obscenities unleashed on her, legendary. And you know why? Because you’re the one that stopped me. This is all your fault!” Kyle laughs at Gibbs making me want to punch the idiot, but Gibbs throws Kyle up against the wall, making Kyle continues, “He’s cutting her tongue out of her mouth right now. And you know the best part? After I’m gone, the bodies are just going to continue to pile up. I beat you,” Kyle taunt Gibbs making him put the gun to his head and pull the trigger but it just clicks because there isn’t any bullets in the chamber. Making him yell, “You’re supposed to shoot me, you idiot!”  
“That the big plan you spent ten years working on? Get me to murder you and ruin my own life? Wow.”  
“He’s craving your name in their back right now.”  
“Game’s over. Back to death roll!” Gibbs calls to him while leaving the integration room.  
Gibbs! The Governor call yet! Because they’re not going to kill me now. I’m the only one who can identify the killer. Do you think she screamed when he cut out her tongue, Jethro?” Kyle demands of Gibbs while being forced to follow him out into the squad room.  
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them yourself?”   
“I’m afraid your lawyer is going to miss your execution tomorrow,” Cassidy says to him as we leave observation room as Cassidy ended up with her arm in a sling.  
“He’s kind of dead,” Tony and I explain to him straight up.  
“Enjoy hell,” Gibbs orders him.  
“No! No! No!” Kyle throws a tantrum as he is lead away from us.  
“Can I have my coffee now?” I ask Gibbs.  
“Sure,” Gibbs laughs while leaving to get us both a coffee.  
“Gibbs is getting you a coffee?” Tony asks in surprise.  
“He promised me one,” I explain to Tony while slowly making our way back to the squad room.  
“Really, I should try that.”  
“The one time Gibbs offered you coffee, you freaked out,” I remind him making him node as we sit down at our desks, and begin working on the case file from this case.  
After a while Gibbs returns with my coffee which he quickly hands to me making me smile happily.  
“Out of my chair,” Gibbs orders me while pulling my arm softly to get me to stand up.  
“I’m on it,” I mumble while getting up so Gibbs can sit down. I go to sit on the ledge behind Gibbs desk while holding me head but it doesn’t go unnoticed by Gibbs.  
“What’s wrong with your head?” Gibbs asks me quietly while turning around so he is facing me.  
“Lawyer boy dragged me by my hair. It just hurts a little.”  
“Have you taken painkillers yet?”  
“No, I was working on my report,” I answer him making Gibbs open the draw he puts his gun in and get the painkillers out of it before handing me two.  
“Thanks,” I mumble while taking the pills from him and taking them straight away. I then add, “Why didn’t I go back to the crime scene when I wanted to but no I had to stay and talk with Cassidy,” I complain to Gibbs while trying to hide my grim of pain.  
“Come here,” Gibbs orders me softly while pulling me into his arms to give me a quick hug, but I end up sitting in his lap enjoying the hug as he turns back to his desk and glaring at Cassidy when she opens her mouth to comment on my spot in his arms with my head hidden in his neck.


	5. Silver War

“I friggin’ hate Mondays. Frigging fat Al’s All-you-can-eat Burrito Shack. More like Fat AL’s bacteria shack. Come on. I shouldn’t have come into work today. Gibbs sees me like this,” Tony complains as we exit the elevator together and walk into the squad room, making me laugh at him and almost snort my coffee back out of my noise because I just took a sip and he is shaving with an electric razor.  
“He’ll probably be as horrified as I am agent DiNozzo. You working undercover as a hobo?” Ziva ask Tony, making me realise the bitch is sitting at Kate’s desk. No one is to sit at Kate’s desk.  
“Why are you back? Here to kill more of us?” I demand of her while tighten my hold on the coffee cup, she has to move know, that’s Kate’s desk.  
“You mind tell me what you’re doing here… again?” Tony asks Ziva over me.  
“Um… waiting,” Ziva answers Tony.  
“Well, get out of that chair. You don’t deserve to be here, let alone in Kate’s desk since you helped in killing her,” I hiss at her while placing my coffee on Tony’s desk while rushing over to Ziva, trying to pull her out of the chair. That’s Kate desk, no one is allowed to sit there.  
“For what?” Tony demands of her while letting me do what I want to do; he knows how protective I am off Kate’s things, from her desk to her memory.  
“To start work. Does everyone always come in this late?” Ziva states making me angrier.  
“It’s zero seven hundred,” I snap at her while pulling on her arm, she has to get out know before I shot her like I wanted to do to her brother.  
“At Mossad we start at zero five hundred.”  
“Well, go back to Mossad and kill innocent people,” I yell at her in panic, she’s not leaving Kate’s desk.  
“Okay, let me rephrase the original question. What the hell are you doing here, Ziva?” Tony snaps at Ziva when she begins glaring at me for my comment, but I don’t care she is in Kate’s chair, she is the reason Kate is dead, it is all her fault, if she wasn’t here, Kate would still be here.  
“I see. Gibbs didn’t tell you?” Ziva ask us innocently but I don’t care, I want her gone, now.  
“Tell me what?”  
“Mossad’s assigned me to NCIS as a liaison officer. We’re going to be working together.”  
“No we’re not. I am not going to be the working with the person who planned my sister’s murder,” I yell at her in anger while kicking her in the leg in the hopes that she would move but she doesn’t, it just results in Tony grabbing me and moving me away from Ziva before I do something else.  
“Does Gibbs know about this?” Tony asks Ziva while holding me away from her, I want her dead and I want Kate back.  
“Do you think I’d be here if he didn’t?” Ziva asks us.  
“Yes. The director would do that. So why don’t you go join your brother,” I hiss at her while trying to lunge for her again.  
“You might want to do something about your hair. It’s sticking up like a pork-u-swine. Wrong word. Like a pork-u-pig? The little animal with the little spikes, yes?”  
“Porcupine,” McGee corrects her while looking confused why Ziva is here.  
“She wants to kill us all,” I explain to McGee making Ziva glare at me.  
“Porcupine! Thank you, special agent McGee. Hold that,” Ziva says to McGee making me glare at her while she takes a coffee from him, he is carrying one for each person on the team, so she took someone’s coffee and I am hopping it is Gibbs so she dies.  
“Sure,” McGee mumbles while continuing over to his desk.  
“Hmm. Anyone have the key for this this?” Ziva ask while pulling Kate’s desk daws.  
“Of course. Kate does, you know the women you get your brother to kill. Now get out of her chair,” I snap at her in anger.  
“Okay, but if I’m going to be a part of your team I would love to…”  
“Whoa! You’re part of our team?” McGee exclaims in surprise and disbelief.  
“Yes.”  
“Did Gibbs tell you about this?”   
“Nope,” Tony says.  
“Here are my orders. Signed by Director Shepard,” Ziva explains making me snort.  
“You think Gibbs knows?” McGee asks making me give him a look that says, ‘how stupid are you?’  
“So you got your girlfriend to sign you onto the team of the person you killed. Not Gibbs, Gibbs signatures not on this, he doesn’t know you’re here but I’m hoping he shoots you on sight,” I explain to her while glaring even more, she needs to get the fuck out of Kate’s chair.  
“I hope so. All my personal possessions are currently being shipped from Tel Aviv to Washington,” Ziva explains while leaning back further into Kate’s chair. I rush over to her again and try to pull her out, I want her out of my sisters chair, killing her apparently wasn’t enough. Now she wants her job.  
“I’d hold off on unpacking the waffle iron until you talk to him, Ziva,” Tony explains to him while ignoring me, until I use violence again.  
“When’s he coming in?”  
“Now,” Tony answers her as the elevator dings, signalling Gibbs arrival.  
“Now get out of Kate’s chair,” I yell at Ziva while bitting her arm.  
“Special agent Gibbs,” Ziva nodes at Gibbs as he pulls me off her for the moment.  
“Ziva,” Gibbs says while pulling me closer to his body when I lunge for Ziva. He demands tightly, “What are you doing here?”  
“Looking forward to being a member of your team,” Ziva answers making Gibbs releases me to storm up to talk to the new director’s office to talk to her. Making Ziva admit, “I stand corrected. It appears he didn’t know… I feel very much like a donkey’s butt.”  
“A donkey’s butt?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Cassidy,” I answer him while stomping over to Gibbs desk in anger, I want her gone.  
“I think she meant horse’s ass, McGee,” Tony agrees with me.  
“Yes. That, too,” Ziva exclaims making me glare at her in anger.  
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Gibbs pov

“Something I can help you with this morning, special agent Gibbs?” Shepard asks me without caring about what she has done to my team and what affect it would have on Alice; and the team as I take a seat next to her in MTAC.  
“Yeah. I’ve got a personnel issue. You know something about that?” I ask her while trying not to bite her head off.  
“I take it Ziva arrived a few days early? Right. Before we get into this, I’m going to need a refill,” Shepard stalls making me pour half my coffee into hers, I want Ziva gone before Alice’s does something I can’t protect her from, like say killing Ziva in a federal building, which is a bad idea, so is leaving those two together, now I think about it, I just hope Tony and McGee can stop Alice from doing something to Ziva for a little while. What I do, makes Shepard say, “That was sweet… not necessarily sanitary.”  
“What is she doing here, Jen?”  
“If we’re going to fight a global war on terror, we need to work closely with our allies.”  
“Well that sounds good. Put her on somebody else’s team.”  
“I want her with you, Jethro.”  
“Mossad trained her to spy and kill, not to investigate crime scenes. Send her to CIA,” I order her.  
“Just to be clear, this is not a request or a debate, agent Gibbs.”  
“Mmm. Anything else you want change about my team while I’m here?” I ask her while thinking she might want to get rid of Alice, that’s not going to happen in this life time.  
“Look, if anything, you’re lucky to have her. She’s one of the finest agents I ever worked with in Europe.”  
“Why didn’t you ask me first, Jen?”  
“And what would you have said?” Shepard asks me making me give her a look, “Exactly. And probationary agent Todd would have been very loud with her point of why Ziva can’t be on your team. Number eighteen, it’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.”  
“Oh, that’s real nice. Using the rules I taught you against me. Nice touch.”  
“I learned from the best, Jethro. I want Ziva to as well,” Shepard says to me making me leaving, Alice is not going to like this, and it might put her back into her mourning having to work with the person who helped to kill her sister and best friend; I wish I didn’t have to tell her this.  
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Alice’s pov

“You want something to read?” Tony asks Ziva is still sitting at Kate’s desk making me throw Ugly Tony’s food at her.  
“What do you have?” Ziva ask him while dodging my food, throwing. I need canned peas.  
“G.S.M. it’s a men’s magazine. Most women find it objectifies them.”  
“I read it on the plane. I especially like the article on page fifty-seven. In my experience, it works every time.”  
“I… I always thought that was urban legend,” Tony stutters our making Gibbs throw his coffee cup at Tony which then bounces off the back of Tony’s head. Tony exclaims, “Owe!”  
“What’s the verdict?” Ziva ask Gibbs making me look at him hopefully, but I get the look he gives me says he failed and she stays.  
“Pack your trash,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Not a problem. Most of it doesn’t arrive until next week. Nice seeing you again, Tony. McGee,” Ziva says to the boys while ignoring me before rushing off to the elevator making Gibbs follow her as I bang my head on his desk.

Gibbs pov

“I told you to pack your trash, Ziva. I don’t remember giving you permission to leave yet,” I snap at her while step into the elevator with her. I hit the emergency stop before asking her, “You requested this assignment?”  
“I did,” Ziva admits.  
“Why?”  
“I had to get away from Mossad for a while.”  
“Do you believe what Ari said about your father?”  
“No. Yes. Maybe.”  
“Your brother was a Svengali, Ziva.”  
“Like father. Like son.”  
“Does Mossad know you killed Ari?”  
“No. they believe your report. Only you and I know the truth. For that I thank you.”  
“I trust you. You know that. But when we leave this elevator…”  
“You start kicking my butt.”  
“I don’t kick butt,” I correct her while starting the elevator again. We all walk into the squad room where Tony and McGee are pretending to work while Alice is sitting at my desk staring at Ziva as she returns, so that she won’t sit at Kate’s desk again, I order Ziva when she does to sit at Kate’s desk again and Alice looks like she is ready to begin bitting and shotting the other lady, “Miss David will be with us for a while. That’s Kate’s desk. Yours is down at the end.”  
“He’s a tough one to read,” Ziva complains as I move over to my desk where Alice has her back pack open and I look down at it when I see Ugly Tony’s food inside making my shake my head, I don’t understand until today and I see dog food behind Kate’s desk. She offering to get up but I shake my head while sitting behind her on the ledge she normally sits on as I watch Ziva and Tony talk to each other.  
“You’ll find most NCIS agents are like that. It’s our training,” Tony explains to her making me roll my eyes.  
“Is that a fact?” Ziva ask him.  
“Mm-hmm. We never let the other people know what we’re thinking.”  
“Right now you’re thinking of doing page fifty seven with me.”  
“Boss, we have a situation at the Smithsonian Museum,” McGee reports while moving over to us.  
“What?” Alice and I ask him.  
“Well, it’s kind of complicated, but there may have been a murder.”  
“May have been, McGee?” Alice asks him in confusion.  
“Yeah, well they have a Union soldier who was dug up from a battlefield in Manassas. And now they think that he may be a marine.”  
“It was the Civil War, McGee. Marines fought on both sides,” I remind him.  
“Right. Yeah, I know. Bit this marine had dog tags. They didn’t exist back them. I know that you know that, being a marine,” McGee puts his foot in it making Alice laugh softly.  
“Get to the point, McGee!”  
“Well, they think that this Marine was killed recently and somehow buried in a way they can’t quite explain it but in a hundred and forty year old cast iron sarcophagus.”  
“Dressed as a Union soldier?” Alice asks him.  
“Basically, yeah.”  
“Gas the truck, McGee. DiNozzo!” I order them.  
“Yeah, boss?” Tony asks while turning around to face us from flirting with Ziva.  
“I’ve got a murder in your area of expertise.”  
“This happens a lot, me being a senior field agent and all,” Tony says to Ziva.  
“I’m sure it does,” Ziva says to him.  
“What do we got, Boss? Multiple homicides?”  
“No,” I answer him.  
“Gang related?”  
“Nope,” Alice laughs out.  
“Defenestration?”  
“The Civil War,” I say while taking pity on him for the millionth time, and Alice is going to want me to take a drug and alcohol test for begin drunk at work.  
“I can hardly wait. That’s my favourite subject.”  
“What about me?” Ziva asks me while ignoring Alice.  
“You’re coming alone strictly as an observer. Hand over all your weapons,” I order her.  
“Is that really necessary? Right?” Ziva ask but I just giver her that look making her pull her gun out and handing it to me where I unload it and place it in my desk draw.   
“And your backup.”  
“What backup?”  
“Left leg.”  
“Oh. That one,” Ziva says innocently while take the gun out and hand it to me where I unload it and put in in my desk draw.  
“And the knife concealed at your waist,” I order her making her hand it to me too, but I turn it around and give it back, “You can keep this. I just want you to know that I know.”  
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Alice pov

“According to his dog tags, the young man is Warren Sorrow, U.S.M.C,” Ducky informs us as we stand in the anthropology lab where our poor marine is laying for the moment.  
“How long has he been in there, Duck?” Gibbs asks him.  
“He’s remarkably well preserved. Could be months or even years. We’ll know more when we get him home. You know, in the nineteen seventies, grave-robbers raided a southern colonel’s cast iron casket. They took his weapons, his jewellery, and for some strange reason, the poor man’s head. When the local authorities found the hundred year old decomposing corpse, they assumed he was recently decapitated. They opened a murder investigation.”  
“This guy’s still got his head,” I remind Ducky.  
“We’re not local cops. I want to know how he died,” Gibbs adds.  
“I can help with that. Doctor Mallard, well how nice to see you again,” Burns, some girl, says to Ducky while Ducky turns to him.  
“Yes, it is. How are you?” Ducky ask her.  
“I still have that pukka shell necklace you gave me.”  
“Yes, quite the keepsake, aren’t that?”  
“Do you have information on how this man died, Doctor?” Gibbs asks Again but this time more annoyed at the delay in finding out from first Ducky and now Doctor Burn.  
“Ah, yes. We took the liberty of imaging the corpse before we knew for sure we were dealing with an actual homicide and not just some sick hoax,” Burns explains to us.  
“Meaning you disturbed our crime scene?” I ask her in surprise.  
“As a forensic anthropologist, I can assure you my examination was strictly non-evasive. There. Now I’ve seen several images like this in the past, but you can’t be certain until you get it out.”  
“Get what out?” Gibbs asks in confusion.  
“In my opinion, it’s a musket ball.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“DiNozzo and McGee. Report in,” Gibbs orders the boys making them jump too as we return to the crime scene where they are processing it whole Gibbs and I went to get fresh coffee and to clear the crime scene because the area is a little bit small for everyone.  
“Casket was uncovered by a housing project going up near the Bull Run battlefield in Manassas, boss. Got the name and address of the construction company. Scheduled an interview and sol test for tomorrow,” Tony reports like an excited puppy waiting for praise.  
“The only thing removed from the casket was one cell phone, damaged and non-operational. I’ve also got the prints of the lab workers to run against any we find in or around the body and tomb. And doctor Burns was wearing surgical gloves when she picked this up,” McGee reports next.  
“Good work. Miss David?” Gibbs ask her making me clench my teeth until I see she is wearing the hat Tony shot making me smirk.  
“I’m wondering why there’s a nine-millimetre hole in my hat,” Ziva admits.  
“Ventilation.”  
“Tony’s a bad shot,” I answer her over Gibbs making Tony give me a look.  
“Oh,” Ziva mumbles in surprise.  
“We’ll escort the casket back with Ducky,” Gibbs informs them.  
“Meet you back in the squad room,” I add as I follow him.  
“Agent Gibbs? I would also like to know if I could drive the truck back to base. It might make me feel as if I actually accomplished something today,” Ziva ask Gibbs making him node while leading me out of the room.  
“Why are you letting her drive?” I ask Gibbs as I whisper to him in annoyance, I don’t like her.  
“Because, it’s the least she can do. And the worst thing that can happen is she can kill them and I get a new team,” Gibbs whispers to me making me laugh.  
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“We ran his prints through AFIS. It is confirmed out union soldier is staff sergeant Warren Sorrow, an MSG instruct in Quantico,” McGee reports in the squad room.  
“MSG stands for,” Tony begins.”  
“Marine Security Guard. I’ve been to over two dozen embassies around the world, Tony,” Ziva cuts Tony off.  
“What do we have on the staff sergeant, McGee?” Gibbs demands of them from our spot behind his desk.  
“Reported UA about a year ago. I’m currently building a profile on what his life was like around the time of his disappearance,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Not anymore. I want you with Abby. Find out what was on the cell phone we found in the casket. Tony, you’re on the paper trail. I want to know everything about him by the time I get back. And you? You keep… you keep observing,” Gibbs orders Ziva before we get up.  
“What exactly, Gibbs?” Ziva ask him.  
“We don’t care. Just do it quietly and out of Kate’s area,” I snap at her while following Gibbs out of the building and over to his car. I ask him something, “Why do you trust Ziva?”   
“What makes you think that?” Gibbs asks me while starting the car.  
“Jethro, I know you. You aren’t being as hard on her as you were on McGee or Jimmy. Please talk to me.”  
“She helped me kill Ari, her own brother. But no one is to know she did that,” Gibbs admits making me look at him like he betrayed me.  
“But she killed Kate,” I mumble sadly, she was my only friends and I want her back.  
“Oh, I know baby. And I’m not saying you have to like her, just understand I didn’t want her on the team but there is nothing I can do. You can hate her until your hearts content, and I haven’t forgiven her for her involvement in that. I’m just giving her a chance to prove she is trustworthy,” Gibbs promise me while grabbing my hand and giving it a squiz.  
“I don’t like her; she keeps sitting in Kate’s chair.”  
“I’ll get her a new desk, so she won’t be sitting in Kate’s area.”  
“What would happen to Kate’s desk then?”  
“Well move it so you can sit at it.”  
“And Ziva won’t sit on Kate’s desk,” I mumble, I don’t want her in Kate’s desk, she is the reason Kate is dead and I don’t have any family that will speak to me that I grow up with.  
“Yeah, I promise,” Gibbs say while pulling up at the coffee shop to get a refill, we both exit the car and walk into the shop to order our drinks and I decide to also get a sandwich each together. Once the coffee and food is ready, we head back to work while eating the food in Gibbs’ car.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We arrive back at NCIS to see the redhead how used to pick Gibbs up making me want to leave to give them privacy but Gibbs doesn’t let me leave his side, not that I mind.  
“Where’s Gibbs, Tony?” I hear Ducky ask Tony making me pull on Gibbs hand before quietly walking over to him without Ducky seeing me.  
“You two o’clock,” Tony informs Ducky as Gibbs comes up behind me.  
“What’s wrong, Duck?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“I know how our stuff Sergeant died,” Ducky informs us.  
“From your look I’m guessing it wasn’t a musket ball,” I state making Ducky node at me making me pout; I want a case where the first impressions are right. We all head down to autopsy to look at the body while Ducky explains who the victim died, I hope it’s not something to bad/  
“At first one could assume that a projectile of such size and mass would produce almost instant death, but pre-civil war muskets were notoriously unreliable, and lost most of their velocity the first hundred meters. Out sergeant was grievously wounded by a musket ball, but his injury was not fatal,” Ducky reports to us.  
“Then how did he die, Doctor Mallard?” Ziva ask him.  
“His lung tissue was coated with an extremely fine film of rust particles. And one can only imagine how long he clawed at the iron sides of his casket.”  
“He was buried alive?” I ask him in surprise; that might just be worse way to die than being shot.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“She seems to be fitting in well,” Shepard comments to Gibbs in the stairwell as I stand behind him.  
“She almost killed my entire team yesterday,” Gibbs snaps at her in annoyance.  
“How?”  
“Driving back from the crime scene,” I state.  
“I should have warned you. I think she was an East European cabdriver in a past life.”  
“Yeah, well she wasn’t a cop. She obviously has no investigative or law enforcement experience, Jen,” Gibbs snaps at her in anger.  
“Neither did I when I first started with you.”  
“Yeah, well you were always a fast learner,” Gibbs says with a half-smile before leading me away from Shepard.  
“Why do you let her push you around?” I ask Gibbs, he didn’t let the last director push him around.  
“Because she is still my friend.”  
“You need better friends, first Fornell and then now the madam director.”  
“You sure you don’t want it back Tony? Most men usually don’t have a problem with my germs,” Ziva offers Tony’s sandwich back that she is eating, making me remember the time Tony ate Kate’s sandwich and they got into a fight over it and went to talk to Ducky for counselling.  
“I’ve got a lead on how our Staff Sergeant ended up in a Union Solder’s uniform. He was a member of a local C.W… C.W.R. out of Fairfax,” Tony informs everyone while not noticing Gibbs and me behind them.  
“C.W.R?”  
“Yeah. Civil war reenactors. Guys who het together dress up in period costume, re-enacting famous battles.”  
“Why?”  
“I’ve been asking my father that since I was ten years old.”  
“According to this, they’re preparing for one of those battles this week in Manassas. Quite the coincidence.”  
“In the immortal words of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, ‘I don’t believe in coincidences.’”  
“Is that a fact, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks Tony as we walk into the squad room now, after Gibbs spoke on his phone.  
“Hey boss. I was just telling Ziva about this lead that I…”  
“Yeah, we heard,” I cut Tony off making him jump because I’m still standing behind him making him turn around fast enough to get whip lash.  
“Come on. Abby’s found something. Let’s roll,” Gibbs orders us while leading us to the lab while smacking Tony on the back of his head on the way past as I follow him. Tony and Ziva talk about with themselves while following us.  
“Why does everyone call you Jethro if your first name is Leroy?” I ask Gibbs in the elevator with everyone while dragging Leroy out as long as I can.  
“Because I prefer Jethro,” Gibbs answers me.  
“I don’t know. Leroy is a nice name and everyone I have met with the name Leroy is nice.”  
“How many Leroy’s have you meant?”  
“Four, not counting you.”  
“Really, and who are they?”  
“The guy who gets our coffee at the coffee shop is named Leroy,” I begin making Gibbs node in agreement because he is nice, and makes the coffee right the first time. I continue, “The second is one of Kate’s boyfriends, he gave me chocolate and won me a teddy bear for me when they took me to the fair, even though I was fifteen. The next was my imaginary friend, he was really nice.”  
“Doesn’t her imaginary friend have to be nice?” I hear Ziva ask Tony making me blush, he was nice and he didn’t have to be.  
“Who was the last?” Gibbs asks me with barely concealed amusement, why are we having this conversation again?  
“Some guy on a beach, he helped me find shells, I like him. He knows where to find the prettiest shells,” I answer with a grin making Gibbs smirks but it’s a surprised and proud smirk.  
“That’s a very compelling argument for the name Leroy, I’ll give you that.”  
“Is she serious?” Ziva ask Tony again but before I can react we reach the lab and head in but we can’t see Abby.  
“Abs?” Gibbs calls out.  
“Abby?” I call out with him as we walk into the inner lab to see her hiding in the corner while in a professional suit and hugging Burt, the farting hippo.  
“I look like a freak. Well?” Abby ask us.  
“Whoa,” Tony mumbles in surprise as I rush from my spot beside Gibbs to in front of Abby to pull her into a needed hug.  
“See, I don’t think she really looks that bad,” McGee comments.  
“Is she making a reference to that strange tattoo on her neck?” Ziva ask making me glare at her.  
“It’s beautiful, not strange. Do not call Abby strange you I’ll stab you like Ari wouldn’t let me do to him,” I hiss at her while rubbing Abby’s back to calm her down.  
“Why?” Gibbs asks her in a fatherly tone.  
“One of the Director’s new admin weenies brought me this last night. It’s the NCIS dress code. He said I was in violation,” Abby informs Gibbs while handing the letter to him.  
“He did, did he?” I ask her in more anger; I don’t like Ziva or Shepard.  
“It’s bad enough that I have to wear a monkey suit for court appearances, but every day?”  
“I think you look nice, Abby,” Ziva says the wrong thing making me move away from Abby, she is going to lose it and I don’t want to be in the way.  
“Nice? You think I look nice? I look like… like…”  
“Career Girl Barbie,” Tony offers.  
“Kate. You look like Kate with a different face,” I correct Tony in the hopes that it calms Abby down.  
“Oh my god! I do! I can’t work like this, Gibbs,” Abby cries while responding to Tony and me making me feel worse, I don’t want bring her pain, she’s my friend but that’s what she reminds me of in those clothes.  
“I’ll take care of it, Abs,” Gibbs promises her.  
“I’m allergic to polyester. It makes me itch. It’s a medical condition. I could get a note from the doctor.”  
“Abby, I said I’ll take care of it,” Gibbs promises her again while placing his hands on her shoulders making her calm down.  
“Don’t ask,” Tony orders Ziva when Burt farts making me laugh, I love that oy and my Burt is at the end of Gibbs bed on the dresser.  
“Can we get back to work now?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Do I have to wear the shoes?” Abby ask but Gibbs shakes his head meaning she can kick the shoes off and she does.  
“I don’t know how anyone even wears them,” I state while staring at the high heels, I can only where low heels because I fall over when I’m bare foot.  
“The circuit board on the cell phone was damaged. But we managed to get it working again. The battery shut down on October third, two thousand hour,” Abby informs us while we move back into the front lab where she has the old phone, even older then Gibbs.  
“The last twenty two calls were made to nine-one-one,” McGee adds.  
“None of them went through.”  
“He was calling from inside the casket,” Tony states.  
“Yep, cast iron and buried underground,” McGee agrees with Tony.  
“I don’t think anyone’s calling plan extends that far, Tony,” Abby informs him.  
“What are the last entries here?” Gibbs and I ask her while looking at the random numbers in the list.  
“Uh… well, he was running low on oxygen, boss. I assume that he was trying to dial another time… hit random keys,” McGee explains.  
“Find out. What did you pull from the tomb, Abs?” Gibbs asks her.  
“There were traves of staff sergeant sorrow’s blood inside of the cover,” Abby explains.  
“Most likely from when he tried to claw his way out,” Ziva says, stating the obviously.  
“Since his singers were shredded, that must have been really hard to figure out… agent De-ved.”  
“It’s pronounced David. Or you can just call me Ziva.”  
“Or Ari’s bitch. Or Ari. Or the reason Kate’s dead, they all seem to work,” I offer to Abby making Ziva glare at me but I don’t care.  
“I also found two very distant types of dirt on the outside. One is red which is very common in Virginia. And the other had a high concentration of fertilizer,” Abby continues to explain while smiling at me. It would seem I have found a new person to piss off easily.  
“Tony, meet with the construction company that found this,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Zero nine hundred,” Tony states with him.  
“Take Ziva with you. See if there’s anything left of that crime scene.”  
“On it.”  
“Come on, McGee,” Abby calls out while leading him away after Tony and Ziva left. Gibbs leads me out of the lab to leave the lab to head to the squad room for a little work while we wait on a lead.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yes, and thanks to you we know that,” Tony says to a dirty Ziva as they return to the squad room after searching the construction company.  
“How’d it go?” Gibbs asks them as I take a sip of my coffee.  
“Nothing, boss. Building site was clean. Figuratively speaking.”  
“Very,” Ziva agrees with him.  
“We taped off the area, but we’re not going to find anything.”  
“Gibbs! We did it!” Abby exclaims while bouncing over to Gibbs desk.  
“Did what, Abs?” Gibbs and I ask her in confusion, what where they even working on?  
“Those random numbers weren’t random after all, boss,” McGee reports.  
“Staff sergeant Sorrow was leaving us a text message from the grave,” Abby explains.  
“Cool,” I exclaim in excitement, this is assume.  
“When you put it through the cell phone’s text converter, you get this,” Abby explains while pulling up the random numbers on the plasma screen until it converts to words.  
“’Only got half. Oxbow not on his side. Kearns, don’t let him get safety deposit box’” McGee reads the text message.  
“That’s it?” Tony complains.  
“He was buried alive, Tony. What did you expect? A soliloquy?” Ziva ask him.  
“We ran his social through the banking system. Staff sergeant Sorrow has a safe deposit box pain for five years at the north Virginia saving and trust,” Abby reports to Gibbs happily.  
“McGee, get me a warrant,” Gibbs orders them.  
“I already called it in, boss,” McGee reports.  
“DiNozzo, Oxbow and Kearns?”   
“On it,” Tony asks.  
“Get me into that safe deposit box. You take Ziva with you.”  
“Is there somewhere I can clean up?”  
“Yeah. Sure.”  
“Tonight when you go home, to Mossad,” I add making Gibbs giving me a quick smack on the leg for that comment, not that he minds. McGee and Ziva leave as I sit down on the ledge so that I can reach Gibbs’ computer, but I have to lean over him to reach it not that he minds.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Boss, I’m sorry. I screwed up and it won’t happen again,” McGee promise Gibbs after informing him that they lost the map form the safety deposit box.  
“It wasn’t your fault,” I correct McGee.  
“They used us. Used us to get into that safety deposit box for them,” Gibbs agrees with me.  
“Well, he knew exactly what he wanted. All he asked for was the map,” McGee reports.  
“Map? What map?” I ask him.  
“Map of what, McGee?” Gibbs adds again.  
“I don’t really get a look at it,” McGee admits.  
“Maybe it was a treasure map, probie? You know, like gold, diamonds, silver,” Tony offers his bad timed joke.  
“It wasn’t from one of your dumb ass movies, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps at Tony.  
“Sorry.”  
“We need to find this guy. Claimed he was staff sergeant Sorrow’s brother,” McGee state.  
“I might have a name for him. Been researching the words from Sorrow’s farewell message. Oxbow and Kearns.”  
“Oxbow is the name on the map.”  
“The other name might be his. Judd Kearns, a member of the same Civil War club our dead Staff Sergeant belonged too.”  
“Get an address?” Gibbs and I ask him together.  
“Yeah, but he’s not there. Their club is on their way to Manassas Battlefield Park for a re-enactment. Should be there this afternoon.”  
“McGee, what else do you remember about the map?” Gibbs orders him.  
“I think I can help with that. At Mossad, officers who failed to observe don’t generally last too long,” Ziva offers.  
“Is that why you’re here? So your father doesn’t have to bury another bad Mossad officer, child, thing?” I ask her sweetly making her glare at me.  
“Hmm. At NCIS they apparently get drop kicked into water fountains,” Tony teases them.  
“That would have never happened if I had my weapons,” Ziva complains.  
“McGee, find out what this is a map off,” Gibbs orders them.  
“I’m going to get right on it,” McGee promises while moving off to do it.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s French nineteenth century. Usually worn by southern gentlemen to telegraph welcome status. It’s in fantastic condition. Where’d you find it?” Burns ask us while looking at the ring off the mummy hand that was with the map that McGee and Ziva lost as we all stand around in the lab looking at a blown up photo of the ring on the plasma screen.  
“On a mummified hand in a safety deposit box, I’m afraid,” Ducky informs her.  
“Sounds like scavengers. Grave robbers. We’ve had more sites ruined by them than I care to remember.”  
“How about the map we found with it, Abs?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Certainly typical of the civil war period. ICF stands for Irregular Confederate Forces. Oxbow may be referring to a prominent Virginia family,” Burns informs us while looking at Ziva’s drawing of the map, since they lost it.  
“Where’d they live?” Abby ask her.  
“Manassas. Their mansion was destroyed in the Second Battle of Bull Run by the Union.”  
“Remember how we found Boone’s dumping grounds, Gibbs? I could run the vectors between these features and satellite imagery.”  
“Do it,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Well, if it is Manassas, I’ve had several digs there. I’d be more than willing to serve as a guide. That is if Doctor Mallard would be willing to accompany me,” Burns offer making me pull a face, she is flirting with me father and I don’t want her to take him from me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Boss, his club checked in with the Park Rangers. Judge Kearns is there now. Are we rolling?” Tony happily reports to the squad room.  
“No, not yet,” Gibbs says while pulling at Ziva’s weapons and hand them to her, “Gear up.” Once that order is handed to her with the weapons, she quickly and methodically puts everything away on her body.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Bring back memories for you, Tony?” McGee teases Tony while we arrived at the re-enactment battle field.  
“It looks like fun,” Ziva comments.  
“You know what Little Anthony DiNozzo’s job was during these re-enactments, Ziva?” Tony asks her.  
“Little drummer boy?”  
“No, I would carry around a bucket so these guys could take a dump. They called me ‘that little poo boy.’”  
“That’s better than the sex machine I guess, not much but still,” I state making Tony glare at me.  
“Kearns is out here somewhere dress as a Union Sergeant. You two with me. See if you match up any landmarks on the map,” Gibbs orders before we walk out of the group, I am in the group with Gibbs, McGee and Tony.  
“Boss, your three o’clock. Red stripes,” Tony informs us.  
“That’s the guy from the back video,” McGee agrees with Tony making us run after him.  
“Oh, he’s going! Fast!” Tony moans as we run after him.  
“You think? Son-of-a,” Gibbs snaps after him as we all try to get the suspect but Gibbs is the one to tackle the fake brother.  
“That’s not bad, Gibbs,” I gasp out, my lungs are still not perfect.  
“I thought you were still behind me until you tackled him,” Tony complains.  
“Not likely, DiNozzo,” Gibbs states.  
“What’s his excuse?”  
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Brett, the fake brother, defends himself.  
“How about resisting arrest, Kearns,” I ask him innocently.  
“And what’s that other charge, McGee?” Tony asks McGee.  
“Murdering Staff Sergeant Warren Sorrow,” McGee informs him.  
“Sorrow’s dead? No way. You guys can’t pin that on me! I wouldn’t! They told me he got scared and took off,” Brett defends himself.  
“He was buried alive in a coffin, dirt bag,” Gibbs snaps at her in anger.  
“I didn’t sign up for this. All she said I had to do was distract you.”  
“DiNozzo, Alice, come on,” Gibbs orders us while taking off running to where the other team is at.  
We run over to the grave site to see Ducky hit the ground and Ziva throws a knife at Burns, killing her out.  
“Remind me not to piss her off,” Tony complains.  
“Oh, DiNozzo, you have no idea,” Gibbs says.  
“I still don’t like her,” I state making Gibbs shake his head at me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We return to the squad room where Gibbs has had a new desk added for Ziva while Kate’s desk has been put under the plasma screen near Gibbs desk for me to use making the four desk configuration into a five desk configuration. Tony and McGee looks surprise, they didn’t think Gibbs would allow me to do that. We all walk over to our desk to get to work, but I hesitate before I sit down at Kate’s desk in Kate’s chair.  
I start Kate’s computer where I log into the computer and begin to write up the report for this case.   
“You know, I always thought you would kick Gibbs out of his desk before you got your own,” Tony jokes as Gibbs leaves to get coffee.  
“I tried, but he is an unmovable object. So I had to settle for a different desk,” I joke back.  
“Only took three years to give up.”  
“He has a very confinable chair.”  
“I wouldn’t know. And Fornell disagrees with you.”  
“Fornell thinks being dead is a good idea, I don’t think that’s a good idea. So he is opinion is irrelevant.”  
“You don’t like Fornell.”  
“Who’s Fornell?” Ziva ask innocently or as innocently as a murder can.  
“Gibbs’ dog,” I answer her straight you.  
“Not a very good dog,” Gibbs says while walking in carrying two coffees, one of which he hands to me and one for himself   
“Well, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”  
“I tried,” Gibbs defends himself as we all return to work when Gibbs orders us, “Get back to work.”   
“Why is every women Ducky is interested in always turns out to be the killer?” I ask the team making them all give me a look that says they don’t know.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs and I return to his house latter that night to have Ugly Tony great us at the door, jumping over our legs making me laugh as I pick her up happily. I love my dog and am glad I got her before Kate died.   
“Did you miss me today? I missed you,” I say to my dog in the tone of voice that you use for a baby.  
“Dinner while be ready in an hour,” Gibbs informs me while moving over to the kitchen to cook while I move up the stairs to give Ugly Tony a bath.  
“Okay,” I call to him before speaking to my dog, “Why do you stink, what have you been into?” I half fill the bath and place Tony into it making her whine in betray. But I wash her anyway without paying attention to her sounds, and once she is clean, I lift her straight out of the water and into a towel to dry her off as I head down to the kitchen to see dinner is ready. We eat in silence before making our way down into the basement where Gibbs works on his boat while I read the latest book I have brought down here.  
“Why do you really not get called Leroy by anyone?” I ask Gibbs again.  
“I only get call Leroy when I’m in trouble with my mother and father,” Gibbs admits.  
“Well, I do like Leroy more than Jethro.”  
“You know when you were talking about all the great men known as Leroy who helped you find shells?”   
“Yeah, why?” I ask him, he better not laugh at me or I while bite him.  
“Because I’m pretty sure it’s me. I was on the beach helping a pretty young girl find shells and she gave me half.”  
“How can that be you? You wouldn’t know where to find pretty shells,” I deny but he has always reminded me of that man, my kind man who found the shells.  
“Take that back,” Gibbs threats me while putting the tool down and walking towards me making me move out of the corner and put the boat between us.  
“Yep, your too old to be the man,” I joke but it does make sense as I begin running around the boat and so does Gibbs until he pins me between his body and the boat where he begins tickling my ribs.  
“Okay, okay. You can find pretty shells,” I squeak out throw my laughter.  
“See, that wasn’t so hard,” Gibbs says while stopping tickling me but he doesn’t move away from me.  
“If you were the man, what where you doing on the beach?” I ask him but a more pressuring question pops up in my head before Gibbs can answer, but he doesn’t look like he wants to answer that question anyway so I ask, “How did I surprise you? No one has ever surprised you.”  
“I was distracted,” Gibbs defends himself, but his tone of voice tells me to leave it because it hurts him.  
“Well, it can’t be you because I surprised you and that’s impossible,” I joke but it doesn’t work so I add, “Jethro, you don’t have to tell me. I believe it was you, just surprised me, what are the chances of meeting you twice in my life?”  
“I don’t… I,” Gibbs begins but I have hurt him and that hurts me, I didn’t mean to hurt him.  
“Please, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please,” I beg of him while pulling him into a hug in the hopes of stopping his pain that I coursed. I wish I didn’t mention it, I shouldn’t have asked because know he is hurting and it’s my entire fault. “Jethro. Please.”  
“Their gone,” Gibbs cries into my shoulder making me feel worse, I have made him cry, Gibbs doesn’t cry.  
“Jethro, please tell me how I can make it better,” I slowly move him over to my chair while I make him sit down and lean across him in the attempts to get him to talk to me, “Jethro, talk to me. What do you need?”  
“Stay,” Gibbs orders me brokenly when I go to move away from him so I step closer to him and pull him back into a hug. Gibbs holds me to his body tightly while trying to get his thoughts together before explaining to me, “I was going to kill myself.”  
“Well, you’re not allowed to do that, I need you.”  
“You stopped me, even back then,” Gibbs admits while I hold him, waiting for him to tell me why he was going to kill himself or change the conversation. Gibbs continues softly, “Their dead.”  
“Who?” I ask before adding, “You don’t have to tell me, if it hurts too much.”  
“My wife and daughter,” Gibbs informs me making me blink in surprise.  
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper to him while rubbing his hair waiting for him to talk to me if he wants to.  
“They were murdered.”  
“Did they catch who hurt them,” I ask him carefully.  
“No, he lives in Mexico. But he is dead.”  
“Did you do that?” I ask him and I have the feeling that he did the same thing he did to Ari.  
“Yeah. He killed them and the government wouldn’t help them,” Gibbs answers me while hiding his face in my chest.  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you Jethro. I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have asks.”  
“They were both so beautiful.”  
“I bet they were,” I mumble while rubbing his back.  
“You should have seen Kelly, my daughter,” Gibbs whispers to me.  
“DO you want to tell me about her? But you don’t have to if it hurts too much, but if you ever need to talk I am here.”


	6. Switch

“Hey, finish that database yet, probie?” Tony asks McGee as I work at ‘my’ desk.  
“Yesterday,” McGee answers him.  
“Well then it should have been on my desk yesterday, shouldn’t it?”   
“I didn’t realize a compilation of nudie bars was that urgent.”  
“Well it is.”  
“Why?”  
“I don’t have to explain myself to a junior agent.”  
“Okay, is this work related because…?”  
“But I will just this once. It’s a mercy mission, probie. A buddy of mine is getting married to a particularly unpleasant beast of a women.”  
“So?”  
“So? So the memory of his bachelor party will be the only thing that sustains him through the rest of his miserable existence.”  
“Or until he can get a divorce,” I remind Tony of his friends other alternative.  
“I will print it out as soon as I’m finished with this, okay?” McGee promise while typing away at his computer making me roll my eyes at the man-children.  
“Oh behalf of men everywhere we thank you, probie. What are you working on?” Tony asks McGee behind McGee to look over his shoulder.  
“I’m reviewing my credit card statement…. There appears to be some anomalies.”   
“Fifty DVD copies of Forrest Hump?”  
“Yeah, see I don’t even know what a Forrest hump is.”  
“Well, it’s like Forrest Gump with naked people, probie.”  
“What?”  
“It’s a porno… or so I’ve been told.”  
“It’s… it’s obviously an error with the credit card company.”  
“Or its identity theft!”  
“No. It’s not possible. I use a secure browser and the latest firewall protection.”  
“And who would want to steal McGee’s identity, I wouldn’t,” I add.  
“Look at that. A five thousand dollar charge from John Deere. A down payment on that combine you’ve always dreamed of, Probie,” Tony comments.  
“Put the farm equipment on hold. A sailor was shot on route two forty nine. Tony, grab the gear. Green Acres gas the truck. Where the hell is David?” Gibbs demands while sweeping throw the squad room to his desk making me blink at the fact Ziva’s not here, I didn’t even notice.  
“Ah, boss, Officer David is… uh” McGee stutters out.  
“Late. I took the wrong bus this morning. Had to walk from the eighteenth street stop,” Ziva cuts McGee off.  
“I thought Mossad starts at zero five hundred but you can’t get here at zero seven hundred,” I tease her.  
“That’s a tough part of town,” Tony says to Ziva who is glaring at me.  
“I’ve been in worse. Won’t happen again, Gibbs,” Ziva promises Gibbs while placing her bag behind her desk as we all get our gear to leave.  
“I know,” Gibbs says to her while leading up the elevator making Ziva run after us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Special Agent Gibbs?” Hampton, a local cop, asks Tony when we arrive at the road side where the victim’s car is.  
“No, he’s the older gentleman with the smile on his face,” Tony corrects him while pointing to Gibbs.  
“Agent Gibbs, car’s in the crevice at the bottom. The victim’s dead inside. Lieutenant Hampton, Virginia State police. The last few yards are pretty steep. One of the EMTs managed to make it all the way down. The fire department’s bringing in special equipment to extricate the body. It’s going to take a while.”  
“McGee,” Gibbs calls to one of his agents.  
“Yeah,” McGee asks.  
“Sketch. Get close enough without breaking your neck.”  
“On it.”  
“DiNozzo, photos. Is there a problem?”   
“You didn’t say anything about my neck,” Tony complains when he hesitate to go down the hill. He adds, “But I’ll be careful.”  
“Please don’t blow the crime scene up this time. I’m still not over the last shock wave,” I beg of Tony because this crime scene, or at least where the car is reminds me of the case where Ari tried to kill us.  
“What about me?” Ziva ask of Gibbs while ignoring my comment to Tony because she doesn’t understand the reference because it was from when the team had useful members, not just someone who fucked the director to get on.  
“Who called t in?” Gibbs asks Hampton while giving me a look because there is a very low chance of Tony blowing up to crime scenes in one year, but its Tony so he might just to prove a point.  
“His wife. She was on the phone with him when it happened,” Hampton reports to Gibbs.  
“Officer David, take her statement.”  
“I should warn you I’m not very good with women,” Ziva informs Gibbs making me roll my eyes.  
“Well that’ll make two things you’re not very good at today.”  
“And the first?”  
“Being on time. Being somewhere where the people want or like you. Not being a bitch,” I list off for her she can take her pick on which one she likes the most and it’s not that one as she walks away glaring at me but I don’t care anymore.  
“I’m sorry for the delay, Jethro,” Ducky apologies while walking up to us.  
“Traffic was murder. Sorry, poor choice of words there,” Jimmy says before adding, making me miss Gerald and his silence even more.  
“See what you can get, Duck. He’s trapped in there pretty good,” Gibbs says to Ducky politely while ignoring Jimmy.  
“Oh, we’ll do our best. But I hope you brought more appropriate footwear, Mister Palmer. Our journey to our Petty Officer looks rather challenging,” Ducky says to Jimmy as they walk away.  
“Why does the car have to be down the hillside?” I ask Gibbs ask I lean against his side, not that he minds and it’s a little bit chilly out.  
“I don’t know. But I don’t think Tony while blow this one up,” Gibbs whispers to me while looking around where the car went off the embankment.  
“I hope not.”  
“No skid marks. He didn’t attempt to control the car before it went over. They were having an argument over a six month anniversary. I don’t understand the half year thing. I thought perhaps,” Ziva begins.  
“I don’t understand anniversaries, period,” Gibbs cuts her off making me laugh at him snapping at her in anger.  
“Apparently, neither did her husband, she was screaming at him on the phone when she heard a loud gunshot followed by the crash.”   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“One in a million. You’ve got to see this, Gibbs. The grooves made that pattern. It’s the exact same design as the cover of Plastic Death’s second CD. Don’t even tell me you don’t know who Classic Death is because it’s only like my favourite,” Abby rambles on as we stand around in the lab where she is looking at the bullet on the plasma screen.  
“Not now, Abby,” Gibbs snaps at her while cutting her off.  
“But if could be a sign, Gibbs. Like that tortilla skillet with the image of Jesus in it. They thought that was a miracle.”  
“It’ll be a miracle if you still have a job if you don’t get back on topic.”  
“I see your point, o great one. This is me getting back on topic. Nine millimetres. A hundred and twenty grain. The window was rolled up when he was shot.”  
“Glass?” I ask her softly.  
“There’s traces in the rifling.”  
“Manufacturer,” Gibbs asks her next.  
“Can’t tell. I’m going to plug this into the FBI’s DRUGFIRE database, and see if I get a match. But…”  
“But it’s going to take a while,” Gibbs and I finish her.  
“See? Mind reading. There may be something supernatural going on here.”  
“Let me know when you have something,” Gibbs orders her before leading me out as Abby rambles on about eBay and a cheese sandwich.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Preliminary trajectory shows that the bullet passed straight through the driver’s side window. So I recommend we search the area along this path looking for spent brass,” McGee reports while playing the trajectory path on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“You won’t find it. Nine millimetre rounds are slow and only accurate to about thirty meters. The shooter was in a moving car that pulled up alongside,” Ziva corrects McGee making me rolling my eyes.  
“Yeah, that is one possibility, Ziva. But, you see, we’re investigators, which means we investigate things. We don’t assume,” Tony snaps at her.  
She’s right. Wife said she heard the gun shot over the phone,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Yeah, but she does the half year anniversaries thing, so she’s not very stable,” I remind Gibbs making him smirk at me before continuing.  
“The shooter had to be close.”  
“Thank you,” Ziva says to Gibbs.  
“What do we know about Petty Officer Smith?” I ask the team in all seriously.  
“Ah, ran his military I.D. He was a clerk at Norfolk. Had four months left before his discharge,” McGee reports.  
“Tony, take Ziva with you and check with the C.O. When you’re done with that, sweep the trajectory for brass,” Gibbs orders them.  
“But why? You just said,” Ziva ask in confusion.  
“Because DiNozzo’s right, too.”  
“What is the car had a passenger who shot the gun, not the driver?” I ask Ziva, making what she said wrong because the shell casing would have landed on the road but if the drive shot it would have landed in the car.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“More porno?” Tony asks McGee who just slammed his phone back into the cradle.  
“What do we have, McGee?” Gibbs asks while sweeping into the squad room and walking over to his desk.  
“Three more charges since yesterday. Sorry. Sorry, boss. Uh… uh… Cell phone records are downloading now. Okay, it looks like petty officer Smith… Petty officer Smith in the car not the one on base who’s the real Smith,” McGee stutters out.  
“Yeah, we got it, McGee,” I stop his stuttering.  
“Well he was definitely talking to Mrs Smith, if that is her real name.”  
“McGee!” Gibbs snaps at him before taking a sip of his coffee, that I have placed on his desk before Tony and Ziva got back to the squad room, so it probably is cold but he doesn’t care.  
“Ah… he was talking to her at their home from his cell just before she called in the accident. I’ve got an address here. It’s an apartment in Newport News. Lease is in the wife’s name.”  
“Ziva, Alice, you’re with me,” Gibbs orders us before leaving making me grab my stuff and follow him.  
“Possibly a point man for an operational reconnaissance of the Naval Base. I,” Ziva talks into her phone but Gibbs hangs it up on the way past making Ziva look confused but we don’t care.  
“That means you go with them,” Tony informs Ziva before we’re out of the hearing range and into the elevator and just before the door shuts Ziva slips through.  
“You just hung up on Director Shepard,” Ziva informs Gibbs.  
“Uh huh,” Gibbs says in a disinterested tone of voice.  
“In my country, the officer in charge is always treated with…”  
“In my country on my team working my cases, my people don’t bypass the chain of command.”  
“Which is?”  
“Me! Are we clear on that, Officer David?”  
“Crystal, Agent Gibbs,” Ziva says before shutting the power off on the elevator before adding, “Except she called me. What would you have me do?”  
“Smile. Talk about the weather. Tell her to call me.”  
“And if that doesn’t work?”  
“You’re a smart girl. Think of something.”  
“Or hang up on her, that’s what seems to work with the old, smarter director until he shot us in the foot,” I add making Ziva glare at me while Gibbs smirks because I did do that to the last director because he was boring me asking were Gibbs was over and over again. I reach over and turn the elevator back on as we go down to the ground level.  
“I am merely trying to do my job,” Ziva defends herself while turning the elevator back off.  
“Your job is to follow my instructions,” Gibbs snaps at her.  
“And I respect that. Is it too much to ask for some in return?”  
“No. it’s not,” Gibbs says after a long beat but I still don’t like her.  
“So that’s it?”  
“Mm-hmm.”  
“Don’t I even get a slap on the head?”  
“Don’t push it.”  
“Or I’ll shoot you,” I add.  
“Just to be clear, are there any more of these rules I should be aware of?” Ziva asks making me snort, there are loads.  
“About fifty of them,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Ha-ha! I don’t suppose they’re written down anywhere that I could…?”  
“No.”  
“Then how am I supposed to…”  
“My job is to teach them to you,” Gibbs snaps at her while starting the elevator again, this time it doesn’t stop again on our way down.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“No picture of your husband in uniform?” Gibbs comments while looking around Wendy, the victim’s wife’s house.  
“Jerry hated the navy. He only joined for the money they’d give him for college. But he couldn’t wait to get out. I was so mean to him on the phone. It was our half-anniversary,” Wendy explains.  
“We know. A very special occasion,” Ziva explains to her.  
“Why can’t men understand that?”  
“Your husband talk about his work much, ma’am?” I ask her softly.  
“Never. He wouldn’t even let me visit him on base or even call him there.”  
“You never saw him at his work?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“You never dropped him off?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I told you he hated the Navy. Every morning he’d put on his uniform and go off the office. As soon as he got home, couldn’t get out of it fast enough,” Wendy explains.  
“You didn’t know Jerry long before you married, did you?” Ziva asks Wendy.  
“Only three months. I know! It was crazy! It just felt right, you know? Jerry was the first truly decent man I’d ever met,” Wendy explains before looking at us before adding, “What’s going on here?”  
“This is Petty Officer Jerry Smith. He’s been working at Norfolk for about four months. His commanding Officer confirmed it,” Ziva explains while showing him the other petty officer Smith.  
“He look familiar?” I ask her softly in the hopes we don’t make her cry, I don’t want to make anyone else cry like I did to Gibbs.  
“I don’t know this man. I don’t understand,” Wendy cries making me feel worse, I move over to her pulling her into a hug, she needs comfort and I’ll give it to her.   
“Neither do we,” Ziva says to her while I hug the women and hold her until she calms down.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You know, this case reminds me of something my father used to tell me as a child. Really, Ziva? What was that? He would say that no one could ever truly know another person or their secret. I, of course, refused… to believe him. And now Ziva? As an adult, I believe he was never more honest with me. What do you believe, Gibbs?” Ziva has a whole conversation with herself, pretending to be Gibbs making me roll my eyes in the back as Gibbs drives the car back to the squad room.  
“I think I really got to get the radio in this car fixed,” Gibbs answers her making me smirk.  
“Yeah, Abby?” I ask Gibbs phone because he’s driving.  
“You’re answering Gibbs phone, it must be getting serious if you’re answering his phone,” Abby teases me.  
“He’s driving and I don’t want to die today. What you got?”  
“I’ve got a match of a dead guy’s prints, Alice. From the AFIS database.”  
“He’s in the military?” I ask her in surprise.  
“Anchors away, Alice.”  
“Who?”  
“You’re not going to believe it.”  
“Try me.”  
“You’re not.”  
“Abby, I’m in a car with someone who planned my sister’s murder and then stole her work life by fucking the director. Someone has taken McGee identity and ordered a shit tone of pornos. What the hell can surprise me? Who is our victim?”  
“Good point. Petty Officer Jerry Smith. He actually is Petty Officer Jerry Smith. He’s stationed at the Regional Supply Office in Norfolk,” Abby explains before I hang up.  
“Turns out our Petty Officer Smith is Petty Officer Smith,” I inform Gibbs while handing him his phone back.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Okay, the dead guy downstairs who we thought was impersonating Petty Officer Jerry Smith is actually the real Petty Officer Jerry Smith. And that Jerry Smith Tony and Ziva talk to Norfolk turns out to be the fake Jerry Smith and… it’s confusing,” McGee reports before confusing himself.  
“Kind of like the pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pastille; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true. Court Jester? Danny Jaye? Come on, guys, it’s a classic!” Tony rambles before Gibbs hits him on the back of the head, “Thank you, boss.”  
“Who is he, McGee?” Gibbs asks.  
“John Kirby. We lifted his prints from his desk at Norfolk,” McGee reports.  
“His empty desk. He didn’t report for duty today,” Tony adds.  
“He and Smith had overlapping tours at Jacksonville in oh-two. Kirby was discharged in oh-three.”  
“Honourably.”  
“Boss, these guys must’ve ha this planned from the first day of Smith’s new assignment.”  
“Think so, McGee?” I ask him in fake surprise.  
“I’m gonna need Kirby’s,” Gibbs continues.  
“Address. He lives on West Little Creek. Been there about a year. And the warrant,” McGee cuts him off while handing Gibbs the information he needs.  
“DiNozzo, David, take a ride.”  
“Put a BOLO out on Kirby with the FBI, local and state.”  
“Already down, boss.”  
“BOLO?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Be on the lookout,” Tony informs her.  
“Good job, McGee. Go on. Catch up to them,” Gibbs orders him making McGee run after the other two.  
“Ziva is leaving a lot,” I mumble but Gibbs gives me a look.  
“Would you rather she stays here?” Gibbs asks me.  
“I would rather she wasn’t here, she killed Kate.”  
“I know,” Gibbs says while pulling me into a hug when my eyes fill with tears, I miss my sister so much.  
“I miss Kate,” I cry into Gibbs chest while grabbing a handful of his shirt.  
“I know. I know you do. I do too,” Gibbs whispers to me while holding me until I stop crying.  
“Does it get easier?”  
“One day it wouldn’t be as hard,” Gibbs admits making me feel better.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What’d you find, Abs?” Gibbs asks as we walk into the garage to see her going over the car.  
“After the car crashed through the railing, it went end over end for about a hundred feet, before finally slamming to a stop up against a boulder which crushed the driver’s side door into his body, which led to a lot of blood. I also found these in the truck; three identical sets of Hawaiian shirts and khaki pants,” Abby reports to him but nothing useful.  
“Correction. Did you find anything useful?” I correct Gibbs’ question because it was too vague for Abby.  
“Maybe. But it’s probably nothing.”  
“Do not make me say a magic word now, Abs,” Gibbs says to her sweetly, almost begging her not to make him say please.  
“Of course nor. But it is a cool idea. It’s in the blood patterns. The residual splatter from where the blood struck is there. Exit wound splatter us there. Dropping suddenly from the angle of the impact.”  
“Normal when they pass through flesh.”  
“Very good, Gibbs! But that would be the case of a Senior Lead Special Agent who’s worked hundreds of crime-scene investigations throughout his stories career.”  
“I’d hate to start smacking you like I do, DiNozzo.”  
“You wouldn’t,” Abby says but Gibbs says nothing but give him that look she changes to, “You would?” Abby takes a photo of him up close and personally making me laugh because that would be a great photo because he has he caged against the victim’s car.  
“It won’t be on the head,” Gibbs adds.  
“Don’t test him, he does do it,” I warn Abby making her grin at me.  
“Really?” Abby ask me.  
“And it hurts.”  
“The blood here is darker, and the pattern is random.”  
“Skip to the probably nothing part, will you?” Gibbs asks her.  
“The trail of splattering is wider than you’d expect. And the blood is smeared somewhat here… like something brushed up against it,” Abby explains while I look in the other door while Gibbs and Abby is in the other door to look at the blood splatter.  
“What?” I ask her in confusion.  
“I have absolutely no idea. That would be the probably nothing part. But I haven’t analysed it in my computer yet.”  
“Do it,” Gibbs orders her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We know that your husband and John Kirby served together. And we also know that why switched places. It’s a Federal crime to impersonate military personnel,” Gibbs says to Wendy.  
“Which means that withholding any information is a chargeable offense. So what do you know, Mrs Smith?” I ask her softly.  
“I lied before. I saw the other man once,” Wendy admits.  
“When?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Um… right after we moved here from Hawaii. I came home early from yoga. I wasn’t feeling well. He was with Jerry in the den. Jerry was upset. It was clear I’d interrupted them. When he left, he said I should forget I ever saw him, and never tell anyone. Do you think he’s the one who killed my husband?”   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Kirby was getting emails from an anonymous internet account several times a week. Each one was just a time and a location,” McGee informs us in the lab.  
“The times were random all throughout the day and the locations were business and residential address all throughout Norfolk,” Abby adds.  
“How long have they been coming in?” Tony asks the nerds.  
“About four months.”  
“Some time Kirby’s been posing as Smith.”  
“You think Kirby was doing Smith’s job, while Smith was doing Kirby’s?” McGee asks.  
“I’ve seen communications like this before,” Ziva suddenly says.  
“So have I,” Gibbs agrees with her.  
“Many intelligence agencies use this technique for arranging a drop-off. I believe you refer to them as goblins.”  
“Spooks. The term is spooks,” Tony corrects Ziva.  
“According to this there’s a drop scheduled for this afternoon, Gibbs,” Abby informs us.  
“Where and when, Abs?” I ask her.  
“Granby and Harbor, southeast corner, fourteen hundred,” Abby reads off.  
“One of you is going to have to pose as Kirby,” Gibbs orders the other male agents.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Nah, that really doesn’t work for him,” Tony complains while looking at McGee in a Hawaiian shirt to go undercover as we all stand around in the squad room.  
“Boss, for once I’ve got to agree with Tony here. I don’t think I’m a Hawaiian shirt type,” McGee agrees.  
“You’re the closest we’ve got to age and looks to Smith and Kirby, McGee,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Which won’t matter if whoever he’s meeting with knows their face,” Ziva says.  
“No, it won’t. But if it doesn’t, we just might get something. Which is more than we have now. DiNozzo, you and Ziva while be here mobile on Granby, as far down as you can be while maintaining visual contact. I’ll be over here on Harbour with Alice. McGee, we do not know what we have here,” Gibbs orders us while pointing to the points on the map.  
“If it gets hinky, call it,” I remind McGee softly.  
“Hinky? What’s hinky?” Ziva asks us in confusion.  
“You know, like when your gut is telling you something?” Tony explains.  
“Oh, I see. In my country we refer to that as gas.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You got a visual, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks Tony as we all sit in our cars watching McGee stand on the corner nervously.  
“Affirmative, boss. Suck that gut in, probie,” Tony teases McGee over the intercom.  
“Guy with the briefcase,” McGee says while watching someone walk towards him.  
“We got him, McGee,” I say to McGee while watching the guy.  
“The logistics for the drop may only start here, McGee. Look for any sign,” Ziva informs McGee.  
“Like what?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“A hand gesture, the angle he holds his briefcase.”  
“It’s nothing, Boss,” McGee admits when the person walks past him before a truck blocks our view of McGee.  
“Lost the visual,” Tony informs us.  
“Some here, DiNozzo. Move up the block,” Gibbs orders of them.  
“There’s a park bench across the street from the Baltimore Museum of Art. Leave it underneath,” a young woman says to McGee.  
“Girl with the back,” Ziva says to us.  
“Wait McGee, for her to make the move,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Don’t be late,” the young woman continues to talk to McGee.  
“Right,” McGee agrees before Smith/Kirby walks around the corner to be seen by McGee and the young women see him and he takes off running in the opposite direction.  
“Kirby, my nine o’clock, boss!” Tony exclaims.  
“We got him! Get the girl!” Gibbs orders us as we all get out of the two cars and take off running for the two people, “Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!”  
“We lost her,” Tony reports when the woman gets away.  
“More like she lost us,” Ziva corrects him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“There are three wheels, numbered zero through nine each. That’s a thousand possibilities,” Abby informs us while we stand around the desk that is holding the briefcase that McGee got off the woman.  
“Then your fingers better get busy,” Gibbs says to her.  
“Wait, there’s more. The seams are filled with something that looks like an epoxy material. It may be for waterproofing.”  
“Or to hold explosive components in place until they’re exploded,” I finish for her.  
“Bada-boom.”  
“X-ray,” Gibbs asks her.  
“Didn’t penetrate. The metal’s high density steel, probably with a thin layer of lead sheeting. The nitrate sniffer came up negative as well.”  
“That’s because of the epoxy.”  
“Probably. Gibbs, it might not be rigged with a bomb, per se. I love saying per se. it’s one of those phrases nobody really knows what it means but you say it anyway. Am I off topic again?” Abby ask when we give her a look.  
“Big time,” I inform her.  
“Um… it could be armed with something like formic acid in a glass liner.”  
“Destroy the contacts if opened incorrectly,” Gibbs finishes for her.  
“There’s also the possibility it could be nothing. It’s just a while lot of bluffing to scare anyone from taking a peek inside.”  
“Do we have a bottom line here, Abs?” I ask her softly.  
“We do. Do you want to hear it?”  
“Yeas,” Gibbs says.  
“Nah, as long as there is one,” I say sarcastically.  
“The bomb squad is coming to pick this up. They’re going to do their thing and then I will get to the bottom of this, Gibbs. But…”  
“It’s going to take time,” Gibbs and I finish for her.  
“See? We are having a melding of the minds.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Uh… Tony?” McGee says over Tony as we walk into the squad room behind Tony’s desk without him seeing us.  
“Not now, probie. I’m almost done with this level,” Tony says while playing on his phone but Gibbs snatch the phone and drops it in Tony’s coffee. Making Tony sit up and ask, “Find out what was in the case yet, boss?”  
“Are you going to interrogate Kirby now?” Ziva asks Gibbs.  
“No,” Gibbs answers him tightly.  
“That is a mistake. The longer we wait, the more time he has to…”  
“I am going to be interrogating Kirby. You and DiNozzo will be observing.”  
“IT takes a while for him to warm up to people. Doesn’t it?”   
“Want to know the secret about getting on his good side?” Tony teases her.  
“Of course.”  
“Me, too.”  
“Bring him the perfect coffee. Worked for me,” I say to Tony as we follow Gibbs.  
“I didn’t kill Jerry,” Kirby informs us as Gibbs and I sit across from him in integration.  
“I know, we checked. You were on base when it happened,” I admit to him.  
“So… can I go now?”  
“Impersonating a Petty Officer. That’s a felony,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Lying during a Federal investigation. Felony,” I add.  
“Resisting arrest. That’s a misdemeanour.”  
“Not to mention what we have in that case downstairs.”  
“You looked in the case? Look, I was only trying to help. I swear to you. It wasn’t even my idea,” Kirby exclaims in fear.  
“Why did you two switch places?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Because Jerry… he couldn’t keep it in his damn pants.”  
“What happened?” I ask him.  
“He’s been fooling around with this officer’s wife over at Pearly. One night the officer came home early and caught him in the act. He got a good look at Jerry’s face and he didn’t recognize him. Jerry wasn’t worried. He knew he was shipping out the next week, and they’d never met before. That was the good news.”  
“Until he got the bad news,” Gibbs finishes for him.  
The husband was going to be his C.O. in Norfolk.”  
“Commander Morris,” I state.  
“Yes, ma’am. Jerry only had four months left to an honourable discharge. Morris would have made sure that didn’t happen.”  
“Who else know about it?” Gibbs asks him.  
“No one. That’s way Jerry begged me to switch place with him. Except I couldn’t leave my job.”  
“Delivering illegal goods,” I state.  
“Wait. I mean, I didn’t even know what was in the case. I was strictly transportation.”  
“Hey Kirby, they weren’t exactly using FedEx,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“It was stupid, I know.”  
“Yeah,” Gibbs agrees with a sexy chuckle.  
“But the money was really good. Life since the Navy is kind of hard on me.”  
“You never looked inside?” I ask him in surprise that would be the first thing I would do.  
“No. There were only two rules. Be on time and don’t look in the cases. Jerry… I guess he looked.”  
“Then they killed him for it,” Gibbs finishes.  
“I think… I think I want to get a lawyer now.”  
“Oh, yeah. You’re going to need one.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Remember that smeared area that I thought was probably nothing? Well, it probably might not be probably nothing,” Abby rambles while saying nothing when we return to the lab.  
“I’m not saying a magic word, Abs,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Okay, this is the windshield of the vehicle. See the smeared marks? There’s four of them, and they connect together. Now, step back and squint,” Abby says while moving away from the plasma screen to squint at the screen where the blood smears are on.  
“At what?” I ask her without squinting while just standing between Gibbs and Abby.  
“Just do it, Gibbs, Alice, like when you’re trying to figure out the hidden message in the bed three-D art at the fair. This is important. Try to see the bigger picture for one!” Abby says making us stand beside her and squint, Gibbs even throws his head forward to see it. After a moment Abby asks, “See it?”  
“Maybe an ‘M’” Gibbs answers her while squinting at the screen.  
“Yes, Gibbs, yes. Those smears were smeared on purpose. Now, there are the photographs of Petty Officer Smith’s body before it was washed. He has blood on his right index finger. There were no lacerations on that hand.”  
“Petty Officer Smith used his finger to write a message in his own blood,” I state.  
“Sometimes people in the throes of death try to communicate. Like that guy in L.A. Metrorail crashed? He wrote ‘I love you’ to his wife in his own blood.”  
“He did?” Gibbs asks her.  
“He did. But Petty Officer Smith is trying to tell us who killed him. What does ‘M’ mean?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Surveillance camera at the main gate has Commander Morris coming on base an hour before Smith’s time of death,” Ziva reports while standing around in the squad room after talking to Morris.  
“Leeway time of death?” Gibbs asks us.  
“Ducky says fifteen, maybe twenty minutes,” Tony answers him.  
“Drive time to the crime scene?” I ask while sitting on the ledge behind Gibbs even because I find it easier to see the plasma from there then ‘my’ desk.  
“Thirty minutes. Fifteen if you’re driving,” Tony says the last bit to Gibbs.  
“Seven sailors in his office all verify he was in the supply unit until we showed up,” Ziva adds.  
“Where in the supply unit?” Gibbs asks them.  
“Mostly in his private office, behind closed doors.”  
“Was there another exit?” I ask them.  
“Could he have left unseen through a window?” Gibbs adds.  
“Widows don’t open, boss. Solid plate glass,” Tony reports.  
“Commander Morris could have been at the crime scene,” McGee informs Gibbs.  
“I know that, McGee,” Gibbs snaps at McGee.  
“He knows that, McGee!” Tony repeats to McGee.  
“His murder has to be related to the delivery service,” Ziva says.  
“Which we know nothing about.”  
“Kirby claims he didn’t even know who he was working for,” McGee reports.  
“Was Petty Officer Smith wearing his crashed?” Gibbs asks while getting up and walking over to the plasma screen. When he doesn’t get an answer he almost yells, “Was Petty Officer Smith wearing a seatbelt?”  
“No! He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt in the crash!” We all answer him together.  
“He was in an unnaturally contorted position!” Gibbs says while bending his body in the hopes of looking at the photo upside down.  
“Yes. Very… very unusual,” McGee agrees before adding, “I can flip the image,” Making Gibbs stand up and glare at McGee as he slowly finished, “Only if you want.” McGee types away on his computer making the photo flip over to the other way around.  
“W” Ziva reads the letter that our victim wrote.  
“What was the wife’s name again?” Tony asks us.  
“It’s Wendy,” Ziva answers him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You discovered your husband was cheating on you, Wendy,” Gibbs states as we are in her living room.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wendy denies it.  
“Must have been a real shock. You were so much in love with him,” Ziva says.  
“The one decent man you’ve ever met… wasn’t really decent at all, was he?” I ask him.  
“That’s not true,” Wendy denies it again.  
“He called you on the way to work. You weren’t home, were you?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I was! He called me at home.”  
“Phone records show you forwarded your home phone to your cell,” Ziva informs her.  
“He had no idea you followed him, Wendy,” I say to her next.  
“He only worked a couple of days a week. I wonder what he did with all the rest of that free time?”   
“Did you know he cheated on our wedding day? Our wedding day,” Wendy yells in anger after a long beat.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Great, thank you,” McGee says into his desk phone for hanging up and turning to Tony and saying, “Well, that takes care of them all. Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, Diners. Old cards cancelled, new ones reissued and it only took me two hundred phone calls.”  
“You know what I find really interesting?” Tony teases her.  
“What?”  
“That you actually have Diners.”  
“What’s wrong with that?”  
“Nothing. It’s just I’ve never met anyone who used Diners club who wasn’t wearing Depends.”  
“It’s a very hip piece of plastic, Tony.”  
“Yes, in the year nineteen twenty seven.”  
“Good news and bad news, Gibbs. The good news is I’m still cute. Bad news… the bomb squad got a little trigger happy,” Abby explains while showing us the exploded briefcase.  
“They blew up the metal box?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Do you have any idea what’s beyond smithereens?”  
“Not a clue.”  
“Me neither. That’s what we’ve got. There’s not much I can do.”  
“Nope. Except put it back together.”  
“Gibbs it’s in like a jillion pieces! That would take months!”   
“It’s the only link we have to that delivery service, Abby,” Ziva reminds her while I walk over to Abby.  
“Yeah? Well you’re not the one that has to put it back together, Officer David,” Abby snaps at her in a puppy huff.  
“Well, I’m good at jigsaw puzzles, the one with four pieces,” I joke with Abby.  
“What about the one’s with five?” Gibbs asks me making me look innocent.  
“They end up in the fire,” I tell him before walking away with Abby.  
“Are you going home?” Abby asks Ziva as she slides into the elevator making me pray she is.  
“Not yet. I thought I might be able to help you with… that,” Ziva says to Abby making me what to hit her but I hold my tongue and fist because we do need to building this case to catch the delivery service as fast of possible.  
“Do you have a degree in forensic science?”  
“No. but I’m very good at jigsaw puzzles as well.”  
“We’ll see.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“So how did that dress work?” Abby asks me as we all try putting the briefcase back together back in the lab with Abby music playing but it is loud enough to hear but we can still talk.  
“It worked a treat. He loved it,” I answers her making Ziva look confused because she didn’t even know I was dating someone, I don’t act like someone who is taken.  
“You have a boyfriend?” Ziva asks me in surprise.  
“Why does that surprise you?”  
“Because I didn’t think your father would let you date.”  
“My father. What the HELL does my father have to do with this?” I demand of her because my father is a heartless bastard while Ducky is my dad.  
“I didn’t think he would let me you date. He seems pretty protective of you.”  
“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK MY FATHER IS?”  
“Agent Gibbs,” Ziva answers making Abby and I lose it because Gibbs isn’t my father he is my boyfriend.  
“Ducky. Ducky is my dad,” I correct Ziva through the laughter, this is amusing and her confused face us even better.  
“How did you get to Gibbs being her father?” Abby asks her in confusion once she finished laughing at Ziva’s wrong footed.  
“Well, he is very protected off her, and she doesn’t get in trouble from him. It’s just the way he treats her,” Ziva defends himself.  
“You should see him when she wears a revealing outfit,” Abby says before turning to me and saying, “You should wear that dress to work.”  
“And get desk work for a week. Hell no, I’m starter then that,” I answer her making her laugh at me.  
“That would be hell for all of us.”  
“Yep because we all know I will drag you down with me and if that’s my punishment image what yours is.”  
“Let’s not do it. It’s not worth it,” Abby laughs at me while we work slowly through this puzzle.  
“So what is your boyfriend’s like?” Ziva asks but I just grin without answering her.  
“Did you hear about Tony’s latest play thing?” I ask Abby.  
“Which ones this one?” Abby asks me.  
“Young, redhead, dumber then she is pretty.”  
“Redhead this time. You think he’s trying to end up like Gibbs.”  
“I can’t picture Tony getting married to end up like Gibbs,” I correct Abby making Ziva look at us like we have three heads and no are very smart.  
“You two are wired,” Ziva says.  
“Thank you,” Abby says.  
“We do try,” I overlap her.  
“Why do you take that as something good?” Ziva asks us.  
“Because being normal is boring. I tried it once, worse three seconds of my life.”  
“Couldn’t of said it better myself,” Abby agrees with me.  
“How did you get here?” Ziva asks us.  
“Fill out paperwork.”  
“Two people had a drunken one night stand,” I overlap Abby.  
“I mean at NCIS and in forensics,” Ziva rephrases her question.  
“Oh, uh, when I was a kid, we lived near this lot where they brought all the burned out hulks from the narliest car wrecks. I used to sneak in there at night and take pictures. It wasn't about the gore. It was about figuring out how things happened. You know, like action and reaction and the science of the whole thing. I got hooked,” Abby explains to Ziva with a happy grin.  
“That so sounds like something you would do,” I laugh at Abby ask I fit two more pieces together.  
“What about you?” Ziva asks me.  
“Gibbs ordered me to bring coffee,” I answer her like it makes sense.  
“What?”  
“Really that’s how you got the job. I always thought it was because you could work his computer,” Abby laughs at me.  
“That came later. Not much, but later,” I explain to her with amusement at the conversation. I then add, “But how you got into NCIS is amusing too.”  
“Who told you that?”  
“It’s in a report under the name of Mick Franks.”   
“Why did you read that file if you didn’t know the name?”  
“I was bored and it was on Gibbs computer. I was hoping it was about Tony but I was wrong.”  
“Why would it be about Tony?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How was the puzzle?” Gibbs asks when Abby drops me home to see him working on his boat.  
“Tiring. We didn’t seem to get anywhere,” I inform him while walking up behind him and hugging his back, as he sands the boat rib.  
“Did you have s fun at least?”  
“It would have been more fun if Ziva wasn’t there.”  
“I know, but she doesn’t want Abby to hate her.”  
“So I can hate her, you, can hate her and everyone can hate her but not Abby. She really does want my sister’s life,” I hiss while tightening my arms around him in anger at Tony.  
“Don’t worry. She’ll never take Kate’s place.”  
“Promise?”  
“Promise, no one while take her place.”  
“Good,” I mumble while holding him tightly and feeling his muscles work and move with every swipe of the sander.  
“Do you want to help?” Gibbs asks me when I finally let him go to get coffee for use.  
“Nope,” I state while handing him his coffee.  
“Why do you come down here if you don’t want to help?”  
“I like the sensory.”  
“What sensory?”  
“It’s a female thing. Don’t worry your handsome head about it,” I say to him while walking past him to my spot on the wooden horse in the corner.


	7. The Voyeur's Web

“Now listen, sweetheart, I need a table on the terrace for Friday at nine o’clock. It’s not negotiable. Tell Valentino its Agent DiNozzo, we’re friends,” Tony says into his phone before talking in Italian, “Grazie, mi amore. Ciao.”  
“Valentina’s, huh? Must be a special occasion,” McGee comments while looking at Tony from his desk where he just sat down while I work away at my computer.  
“I’m taking Monica for her birthday.”  
“You know, I know a great place in Georgetown. Just as romantic, half the price.”  
“That’s a good idea, probie, but Monica’s not exactly the Applebee’s type.”  
“I’ve never seen you like this, Tony. You must really like this girl.”  
“I have. She was young and beautiful. Big airbags front and back. Left him for his friend after he got his bone. Back when I was still in school and Kate was the probie,” I explain to McGee.  
“Well, she’s got the whole package; beauty, class, sophistication. All that’s left is to decide on the perfect gift,” Tony explains.  
“I thought you gave all your girls Honey Dust?” Ziva says in confusion.  
“What? No that’s just for Gibbs. You Intel is wrong again,” I explain to Ziva in annoyance.  
“How do you…”? Probie, something you want to tell me?” Tony demands of McGee because he knows I wouldn’t tell Ziva anything about how to make the perfect boiled water, let anything else.  
“It’s not my fault,” McGee defends himself.  
“Don’t be embarrassed, Tony. I find the taste of Honey Dust to be extremely erotic,” Ziva teases Tony making me throw a paper ball at her but when she dodges it making her get hit with the tin of dog food I throw a second later.  
“What a coincidence, so do I,” Tony says to Ziva while ignoring the fact I just throw dog food at her again.  
“I don’t. Gear up. We’re heading to Dumfries. A corporal’s wife is missing. Local police think she may have been abducted,” Gibbs says while walking over to his desk and giving me a look for the dog food but I look innocently.  
“I do,” I inform Gibbs making him give me a look for that comment as I grab my stuff.  
“What did I tell you about my personal life?” Tony demand of McGee.  
“I’m sorry. She tricked me again,” McGee informs him.  
“Hey, next time, why don’t you tell her how I lost my virginity?”  
“I’ve been meaning to ask her about that, Tony. How does a fifteen year old boy go about meeting a coquette?” Ziva asks him as we step into the elevator as I lean against the wall walk Gibbs so I don’t bite Ziva.  
“She means Rockette, boss,” McGee corrects her while Gibbs gives Tony a look as the door closes.  
“When did you taste Honey Dust?” Tony asks me while getting the topic off of his life.  
“Abby doubled down dared me and Kate after the plague insistent,” I explain to him innocently making Tony pull a pervy grin.  
“Why wasn’t I invited?”  
“Because you have a cock and it was a no penis party,” I explain to him right before Gibbs hits Tony’s head when his grin gets bigger.  
“Thank you, boss.”  
“Does Monica use S&M on you? Because not only do you seem to enjoy pain but you always thank Gibbs for it,” I tease Tony making Gibbs smack my ass to get me to behave.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Where did all these people come from?” Ziva asks us when we get to the crime scene to see everyone walking in the street.  
“Didn’t you see the signs? Its yard sale day,” Tony states as we walk into over to the victim’s house.  
“I see. And do marines sell their yards often?”  
“No, it’s actually when people gather stuff they don’t want anymore, and sell it in their yards,” McGee explains to her.  
“Why would anyone want to buy somebody else’s junk?”  
“I’ve been asking myself that since Mossad have us their shit,” I explain to Ziva making her glare at me.  
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” Tony explains to Ziva over the top of me to stop me from insulting her again.  
“In Israel, we have a saying ‘Zevel Ze Zevel.’ Crap is crap,” Ziva informs him.  
“Her name is Jamie Carr. Police got a call from the next door neighbour. No one’s seen her in two weeks,” Gibbs informs us while walking up to us making us become serious.  
“Why are they assuming abduction?”  
“Back door’s kicked in. McGee, you take the perimeter.”  
“On it,” McGee agrees with Gibbs before moving off to do just that.  
“Ziva, check with the neighbour who called it in. Tony, Alice, you’re with me.”  
“Is there a reason I’m always the one taking statements?” Ziva asks Gibbs.  
“Obviously you’re good at getting people to talk,” Tony says to her sourly.  
“Don’t blame McGee. I was merely being curious.”  
“About my sex life?” Tony snaps at Ziva as Gibbs and I walk away from them towards the house.  
“Those two better not ever fuck. It would need messy,” I say to Gibbs.  
“There’s a rule against dating co-workers,” Gibbs reminds me.  
“You mean the one we are breaking?”  
“I’m the boss, I can do what I want to,” Gibbs says to me before calling to Tony, “Today, DiNozzo!”   
“On your six, boss!” Tony calls to him before jogging to catch up to us. I open the door to the house and we step into the living room. As we look around to see it is beautifully decorated but Tony comments, “Ooh, I feel like I just walked into page eight of IKEA catalog. Used to shop there when I was in college. Really reasonable prices.”  
“Get to work, DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders him as we look around the crime scene.  
“Yeah,” Tony says but he is still looking around before adding, “I take it the husband’s deployed.”  
“Iraq. Six months into his second tour.”  
“They bringing him home?” I ask Gibbs because I would hate to be called home to an empty home when I left it with someone who loved me in.  
“Depends what we find here,” Gibbs says while he and I walk into the bedroom too see a bit of carpet that is discoloured. “DiNozzo, have McGee break out the Luminol.”  
“You got blood?” Tony calls to us while walking in through the door.  
“Someone decided to clean up a twelve inch spot on this carpet. What do you think?”   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Huh. So much for gone but not forgotten,” Tony says as we look around the bedroom and Tony finds the husband’s photo is face down on the bedside table.  
“Husband’s away at war, Tony. People cope in different ways,” Gibbs states while looking around the room.  
“She’s found at least one way to cope,” Tony says while picking up her perfume.  
“Careful. You could pole an eye out with that. Twist the end, Tony. Haviar Christian Number Five. It’s a perfume. Big in France,” Ziva explains to Tony while taking the perfume off Tony making me give her a look, if she thinks I’m going to let her hurt him she is wrong.  
“Maybe that’s what I’ll get Monica for her birthday.”  
“It’s two thousand dollars an ounce, Tony.”  
“Sounds steep,” I state while pulling a face, what is the point of perfume, let alone on more expansive then Gibbs’ car.  
“Yeah, she’s not really a perfume kind of gal.”  
“She meant for a Corporal’s wife, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Or for something you only use to attract the oppose sex. You could put a down payment onto a house with that in your hand,” I add making Ziva give me a look because of me not understanding the need for most people to wear makeup and perfume.  
“I knew that,” Tony defends himself.  
“I found some blood drops out back. Hidden underneath some bags of mulch. Looks consistent with a dragged body, boss,” McGee reports while walking into the room, looking like a stunted fish.  
“Where exactly, McGee?” Gibbs asks him.  
“On the concrete patio. I taped –off the area,” McGee informs us before Gibbs leaves and I follow him because the room is getting to crowded and I am not going to be responsible for having to call Ducky out for a body in a crime scene.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Doesn’t look like a hoax to me, McGee,” I state as we watch our victim get murder on a video off McGee’s emails that he failed to tell Gibbs about when he got it early this week.  
“Boss, I’m sorry. It didn’t occur to me,” McGee attempts to apologizes to Gibbs but he’s not listening he is too pissed.  
“Abby, talk to me,” Gibbs cuts McGee off while turning to Abby after glaring at McGee.  
“I was analysing the file, Gibbs. It’s compressed MPEG-Four, both fields are rendered using a Kodak that scales down the number of colours in,” Abby rambles.  
“In English, Abby,” Gibbs cuts him off.  
“Please,” I add.  
“Well, from what I can tell, it looks like the image is real. There’s no signs of layered special effects or tampering. Sorry, McGee,” Abby reports in English so that we can understand.  
“I want to know where it came from. You’ve got an hour,” Gibbs informs the nerds.  
“Fine boss, I don’t need an hour. I scanned through Jamie’s hard drive. I found it. That is Jamie Carr, or ‘Rain,’ on the right. Her webcam ran a direct feed into this website,” McGee says to Gibbs, stopping him from walking out of the lab. McGee has put a sex site on the plasma where our victim is one of the girls on the background.  
“It’s the scarlet secret all over again,” I complain.  
“She was running a sex site from her bedroom, Gibbs,” Abby adds to McGee while grinning at me as she remembers that case and how horrified Kate was.  
“And her murder was recorded during a live session, and distributed throughout the net,” McGee continues.  
“By who?” Gibbs and I ask them making Abby grin at us, she does love when we do that.  
“Anyone that could have been logged on to the site at the time. It could be hundreds of people.”  
“Or thousands, Gibbs. There’s a big market for desperate housewives performing behind closed doors. Some of these ladies get rich doing it,” Abby informs us.  
“Or dead,” I remind her of the other opinion.  
“Who’s the other girl?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Net name’s ‘Skyler.’ She runs the site. I traced her webcam feed back to the same neighbourhood as Jamie Car.”  
“It’s the residence of Sergeant Jake Roberts, also deployed in Iraq. His wife, Leanne, lives there alone,” McGee reports.  
“Get the car,” Gibbs orders him.  
“You got it, boss,” McGee agrees while leaving the lab.  
“You know, it’s not his fault, Gibbs. If we investigated every weird video on the internet, I mean, you know? Okay, you don’t, but trust me. Cyberspace is crammed full of all kinds of bizarre things. It’s a whole world in there, Gibbs, and a lot of it ain’t pretty,” Abby attempts to defend McGee.  
“What so is trying to say is that these videos are like scuttle bud,” I explain to Gibbs in his own lingo.  
“You can say the same thing about this one, Abs,” Gibbs says to her before leading me out of the lab.  
“Bye, bye,” I wave to Abby happily making her laugh as she gets back to work.  
“How many of these videos have you seen?” Gibbs asks me when we get into the lab.  
“I once saw one where this guy’s head got blown off, turns out it was a water melon dyed to look like brain matter. It was very effective,” I explain to Gibbs before I decide there is something better than talking about the internet with Gibbs. I add, “Don’t worry about it,” I then go to place a kiss on his cheek but Gibbs turns his head and catch me lips in a kiss. He backs me up against the wall of the elevator while hitting the emergency stop so we won’t be interrupted. The kiss is getting very heated and my hands are in his beautiful not-grey hair, and one of his hands are under my shirt on my waste while the other one is holding the back of my head. I press my body against Gibbs body as the kiss get even more heated when he slides his leg between my legs putting pressure where I need it. The kiss is broken by Gibbs’ phone ringing making me pout, every time that thing stops all the fun.  
“Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his phone while moving away from me which I don’t want him to do but we do have to investigate the case, and not make out in the elevator like a couple of teenagers, even if it is more fun. And to think I was just kissing his cheek because he looked so confused about the videos on the internet, but I can’t complain with were it went.  
“Why does your phone always ring?” I complain as I turn the elevator back on and Gibbs straightens his hair that I messed up. I tuck my shirt back into my pants, I didn’t even feel him untacking it but I did feel his hands on my lower back, and I have to deal with my hair but because it is down past my ass it is knotty making me give up quickly and tie it into a messy bun.  
“Because people complain to the director when the elevator stops,” Gibbs answers me while smirking at me.  
“What?”   
“Nothing. That looks good on you.”  
“Yeah, well bun’s aren’t my things. They take too long to wrap my hair into it.”  
“Why don’t you cut it if it’s too long?” Gibbs ask me as we step out of the elevator and begin walking to the car McGee should have gotten ready.  
“Because, when I was younger mum used to cut it like all the boys, short and boyish. When I was about seven I said I didn’t want to have my hair like that anymore…”  
“And she didn’t take that well?”  
“She was furious. Kate arrived as I said it, I remember hiding behind her and she was just a teenage but she took over all my caring. She still lived at home,” I begin but I stop for a moment as Gibbs stops walking because he knows I haven’t told anyone but for him how my family treated me and I don’t want Ziva to know anything. I tear up, thinking about my bug sister making Gibbs pull me into a hug again.  
“Alice, baby. You don’t have to tell me,” Gibbs whispers to me.  
“She looked after me, even back then. She helped me grow it out, you know all those old tricks to help hair grow quicker and stronger. I can’t cut it,” I cry into Gibbs chest as I explain why I don’t cut my hair and how it got so long.  
“That’s okay. That’s okay, don’t cry,” Gibbs whispers to me while rubbing my back. I don’t want to keep crying every time I talk or think about my sister and I feel so guilty every time I do something and don’t think about her for a while like with Gibbs. My emotions are screwed up and I hate it because Gibbs takes the blunt of that because one moment I can be happily making out with him and the next I’m crying, and it hurts every time that happens.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I can’t believe I didn’t call it in,” McGee exclaims in disappointment with himself because he should have called it in and Gibbs wants his head on a silver plate as we stand in the street where the second lady on the sex site lives but it is night out which I still can’t stand making me want Gibbs here but he walked off ahead of us.  
“Don’t beat yourself up, probie. Same thing happened to me once,” Tony says to him in complete honesty but I’m waiting for the rug pull.  
“Really? When?”  
“Last month frat brother emailed me a video of a dachshund skateboarding. I was positive it was a fake. Then I turned on the TV a few nights ago, saw the exact some dog skateboarding on Letterman.”  
“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”  
“Probably not as much as you did when you told Ziva my life story.”  
“If you tell her anything about me, I shoot you, twice,” I threaten McGee making him node in fear because he knows if I do and Gibbs wouldn’t stop me.   
“Yes ma’am,” McGee agrees with me.  
“There’s nobody home. Hasn’t been for a while,” Gibbs informs us right as a glass breaks inside making me pull a face because who can no one be home and a glass randomly breaks. We all pull our guns and burst open and run inside the house, only to see a cat that screeches at us.  
“Clear!” Gibbs calls from in front of me.  
“Clear,” McGee calls back.  
“IT’s going to be a long night, McGee,” Tony complains when we find a broken glass table and lots of blood.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We have two crim scenes, one website, zero bodies. I want some answers,” Gibbs orders us all back in the squad room the next morning where we are all sit at our desk while Tony is standing in front of Gibbs desk.  
“Jamie Carr, Leanne Roberts, started the ‘naughty-naughty-neighbours’ website nine months ago. The site has over two thousand member and records about fifty-thousand hits a day,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Is that a lot?”  
“Well, let me give you some scope here. Playboy dot com five million hits a day. The official NCIS website…. Less than four hundred.”  
“Which proves what I’ve long suspected. Despite the conservative image, Americans really love their porn. I mean, I was just saying basically that Americans,” Ziva ramble about something that’s not our case.  
“Continue, DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders Tony while cutting Ziva off.  
“When naughty-naughty-neighbour’ debuted, it was nothing more than a couple girls in lingerie. Membership fee was nine bucks which is about average for this kind of content. As the clothes came off, the admission fee went up. And up. And up. Today the fee stands at twenty three ninety five which is kind of high. But platinum membership? We’re talking private chats and shows… they want forty five bucks a month. I mean, can anyone say rip off?” Tony reports but we all give him looks, but all I can think is the comment’s Kate would have made about him knowing this. After a moment Tony asks, “What?”  
“That’s a lot of research, Tony,” Ziva comments but it’s not very witty or anything.  
“I want details profiles of anyone who’s ever been a member or is a member of that site,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“That’s like thousands of people, boss,” Tony reminds him.  
“Then you better get started, huh?” I laugh at Tony’s hard job.  
“You really believe this is an obsessed voyeur? The women’s identities were protected by mask,” Ziva asks Gibbs.  
“Half a mask.”  
“Still the odds of us finding him off a list that size are…”  
“Are better than the odds of you winning this argument,” Gibbs cuts her off.  
“Good news, boss. Naughty-naught-neighbours’ has a webmaster,” McGee reports while walking up from the lab to Gibbs desk.  
“Web what?”  
“Webmaster. It’s a person that is hired to design and update the page. His name is Carter Finch.”  
“Is this guy like a super fly cyber pimp?” Tony asks McGee.  
“Not exactly. I just got off the phone with his mother. He lives in her basement.”  
“Gibbs, McGee found you a friend besides Fornell,” I inform Gibbs making me roll his eyes at me because I’m picking on the boat again, or at least where the boat is in his house.  
“Oh, that’s kind of depressing,” Tony comments while grinning at me, because he knows that no one is able to say that sort of this to Gibbs but me.  
“Tony, take Ziva with you. McGee, pull financial records on both women,” Gibbs orders the boys making Ziva and Tony get up to leave straight away.  
“Already done. They both have joint accounts with their husbands. Neither has any indication of any additional income,” McGee reports.  
“Profits?” I ask him because there as to be profits for a porno.  
“Probably routed through a third party.”  
“Oh, the page-master?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Who?”  
“This guy?” Gibbs yells while holding up the photo of the webmaster.  
“Uh, yeah. Uh, no. Definitely not. No, he has less than two hundred dollars in his account. Been that way for the past year so the money could be anywhere,” McGee reads the states of the webmaster off to us. When he stops talking Gibbs glares at him making McGee add, “I’m going to find it. I have no idea how.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yes. You know, the fighting went far beyond the beaches, lasted for weeks. My uncle was there, Major Monty Mallard. Yes, fatigued and injured, he turned to his troops and said,” Ducky tells the story to Jimmy as we walk into autopsy.  
“The French wine in this particular region is terribly overrated,” Gibbs cuts him off while finishing the story for him.  
“Anyone would think you’d heard that story before.”  
“What do you make of the video?” I ask Ducky while looking at the screen shots that he has laid out on the autopsy bed.  
“We’re dealing with an amateur. Anyone with any kind of training would have used far more pressure, making sure the trachea was severed.”  
“She survives long, Duck?” Gibbs asks his old friend.  
“Yeah, well a cut that shallow, the victim would go in and out of consciousness for several minutes. The poor girl died a slow and excruciating death.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey Abby,” I say while walking into the lab where she is watching porn on the plasma screen.  
“Hey Alice,” Abby says to me while watching the porn and eating her popcorn, I sit next to her and grab a handful of the popcorn.  
“I’m surprised there are no men in here.”  
“Me too.”  
“So how’s life?”  
“Good, I’ve sent the day watching porn.”  
“I’ve spent the day trying not to jump Jethro.”  
“How’d that go?” Abby asks me with a grin.  
“Okay-ish. Better than yesterday.”  
“What happened yesterday?”  
“I am going to shoot his phone one day,” I say making her laugh with me because she might not know the details but she gets that we did something, somewhere.  
“So, why you down here?”  
“We’re waiting on a lead, McGee, Tony and Bitch has the job and I was doing paper work so I decide you might need more help than the paperwork.”  
“I’ll never say no to help,” Abby laughs while we finish this video.  
“I didn’t know the human body can do that,” I comment while looking at the passion of the women on the video of the two women.  
“Me neither,” Abby agrees with me.  
“So you seeing anyone?” I ask Abby when watching the porno of the latest video of girl on girl.  
“Nope. I would ask you but I know the answer to that, and I have the photo to prove it.”  
“I can’t believe you and Kate walked in right then,” I laugh at the memory of getting caught making out with my boss and then getting a lecture from my sister.  
“You seemed happy. It surprised me.”  
“Why?” I ask her as I eat more popcorn.  
“Because I bet it would be later in your life before you won Gibbs over. Cost me ten dollars.”  
“Who’d you bet with? And why wasn’t I involved.”  
“Kate. And Kate.”  
“Of course,” I node while enjoying my popcorn and porn in the middle of the day.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do you have, Abs?” Gibbs asks Abby as we return to the lab that night.  
“Um, a PHD in porn. I spent the last six hours searching through webcam files trying to find some kind of lead. And I have consumed more porn than Tony has in his lifetime. Okay, maybe not, but I have watched a lot of smut,” Abby informs us while bouncing on the spot making me galp in fear for her health.  
“You learn anything?” I ask her with a grin.  
“I’m not nearly as flexible as I should be.”  
“Anything about the case?” Gibbs redirects her.  
“Right. I was getting to that. I filtered through all of Jamie’s files, and I found the original feed of her murder.”  
“This helps?” I ask her in confusion.  
“That it does. By coordinating the original stream with the hard drive, I obtained the data and time that the file was written. I know when Jamie Carr was murdered! Eight days ago at nine pm. To you that would be twenty-one hundred hours, sir!” Abby reports.  
“That’s good work, Abby,” Gibbs says to her while kissing her cheek and handing her a caf-pow.  
We get back to the squad room before Gibbs phone begins ringing and it’s Abby.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Chow’s getting cold, McGee,” Tony says to McGee who is working away at his computer while leaving his food beside him, we are all eating while Gibbs is fighting with the director who has given Abby a new assistance when she asked for a raise it is the next morning meaning Abby has had this guy alone with her all night and I am worried.  
“No time. I have to find where all this naughty-naughty-neighbour’s website money went because if I font, Gibbs might actually decide to kill me this time,” McGee answers him without looking away from his computer.  
“He has an excellent point,” I say around my Chinese.  
“This doesn’t make sense. They made almost five hundred thousand dollars. It just can’t disappear.”  
“Money changes hands, McGee. Rarely does it disappear,” Ziva reminds him.  
“Money maybe, but there are only two people who had access to this cash, and both of them have vanished.”  
“Not anymore. Dumfries Police Department found Leanne Roberts,” Gibbs informs us while walking into the squad room and over to his desk to get his gear so we can go to the crime scene.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’m sorry, Jethro. There’s just too many parameters. Fully clothed, sealed in the back of a car. It’s been a pretty cool and dry week. I couldn’t even give you an educated guess as to when she died,” Ducky apologies when we are at a car junk yard where one of our victim’s just turned up.  
“The wound is deep,” Gibbs comments while looking at the poor girl in the trunk of the old car.  
“Yes. Consistent with a combat or hunting knife.”  
“Like the one on that snuff video,” I say to Ducky.  
“Yeah, it could be,” Dicky agrees with me with a smile while a dog barks.  
“DiNozzo! Ziva! We’re out of here!” Gibbs orders the two living agents, and not the walking dead one as.  
“Thank you, god,” Tony praise the lord making me smile sadly because Kate never got to see that happen when Hell freezes over.  
“What about me, boss?” McGee asks Gibbs.  
“You’re heading up the search. Find me that other body,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Why me? I’m not the newbie anymore. Don’t you think this is maybe a job for Ziva?”  
“I need a trained investigator running this site, McGee.”  
“Do you think the bitch fits that bill?” I add making Ziva glare at me for her newest nickname and I like it so I am sticking to it.  
“I guess not, boss,” McGee mumbles before we walk away.  
“You sticking with that nickname?” Gibbs asks me without really caring about that.  
“Yep. I like it and it suites her,” I answer him happily.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You’ve been through the wars, my dear. Murdered in your own home and then discarded like yesterday’s rubbish,” Ducky says to our poor victim as we walk into autopsy. Today I have dress up for a change meaning I am wearing a tight white shirt with skinny jeans that make my ass look great under my hair that I am wearing down in natural waves.  
“What’s the time of death, Duck?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Based on decomposition and bloating, ten, twelve days ago.”  
“She was killed prior to Jamie Carr,” I release.  
“X-ray, doctor,” Jimmy says while handing Ducky the x-rays.  
“Thank you,” Ducky says while looking at the x-ray.  
“What’s this translucent jell leaking onto the table?”   
“Silicone, Mister Palmer. It appears our young lady’s left implant ruptured. As I suspected, cause of death – compound fracture of the skull.”  
“My guess would have been on the eight inch gash across her throat.”  
“Then you’d have been wrong, Mister Palmer. Such a gash should have resulted in enough loss of blood that would have covered her entire torso.”  
“Should have, Duck?” Gibbs asks him in surprise.  
“Yes, when I cleaned the body there was little to no external blood. She died of blunt force trauma. Once her brain function ceased, the cardio vascular system shut down.”  
“Explaining the lack of blood loss,” I finish for him.  
“Indeed, Alice. Leanne Roberts died and then the knife was taken to her neck.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I want you to understand, ma’am. Sergeant Roberts is a good man,” Caldwell, Jeanne’s husbands’ CO informs us in MTAC.  
“Understood, Captain, but my people still need to talk to him about his wife,” Shepard says to him.  
“I’d like them to do more than just talk, ma’am. They have to stop him.”  
“From doing what, captain?” Gibbs asks him.  
“From ruining his life, sir. My sergeant major told me to contact you, special agent Gibbs. Sergeant Roberts requested emergency leave two days ago.”  
“We just found his wife’s body. Who’s that possible?” I ask him in confusion who could he know about that too asked for leave already.  
“H doesn’t know she’s dead yet, sir. He requested leave for another reason.”  
“Which was?” Shepard asks him politicly.  
“A personal matter, ma’am.”  
“We know about the sex site, captain,” Gibbs reports to him.  
“Well, then you should know that sergeant Roberts blames one of his neighbours for it. According to his squad, he’s planning on killing the man.”  
“And you sent him home to do it, captain?” Shepard asks him.  
“I was unaware of his intentions until of this morning, ma’am. Look, I just need your help. Now, the neighbours name is Bart Powell.”  
“When is the Sergeant scheduled to land, captain?” I ask him in fear for the neighbour and the sergeant’s life.  
“Tomorrow, ma’am.”  
“Check his flight manifest,” Shepard orders one of the tecs.  
“He just needs a cool down period, agent Gibbs. And like I said, he’s a good man, and an even better marine.”  
“We’re on it, captain. We’ll pick him up at the airport,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Thank you, sir. My sergeant major said that we could count on you.”  
“He get that bottle I sent him?”  
“He did. He told me to tell you to keep ‘em coming,” Caldwell informs Gibbs before ending the video call while leaving Gibbs chuckling to himself.  
“Alcohol is contraband in Iraq,” Shepard reminds Gibbs strictly like he is a little child getting in trouble with his mother or wife nagging her husband.  
“I thought it’d take longer, Jen,” Gibbs comments while losing his laughter.  
“Longer for what?”  
“For me to see you as a Director and not a Field Agent.”  
“Ma’am, sergeant Roberts changed his itinerary. He left West Germany last night,” Sumner, the Tec, informs us.  
“When’s he due in?” Shepard asks him.  
“He arrived two hours ago at Dulles.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We’re here to stop Sergeant Roberts, not kill him,” Gibbs says while pulling up at Powell’s house as Gibbs pulls the car to a stop.  
“But what if,” Ziva begins to argue.  
“I said stop him, Officer David.”  
“Got it,” Ziva relents before we hear shouting inside the house.  
“You take the right,” Gibbs orders us while grabbing my arm to pull me with him as we all pull our guns out.  
“I didn’t do anything!” Bert says to Robert in the back yard.  
“Where is she, Powell? Where’s my wife?” Robert asks him beating the crap at him.  
“I don’t know!”   
“Where’s my wife?”  
“I don’t know. I swear!”  
“She told me what you made her do! I’m going to guy you like the pig you are!”  
“Drop the knife, Sergeant! Special Agent Gibbs, Todd, NCIS. We’ll take it from here,” Gibbs calls out to our hurting marine as we point our guns at him for safety reasons.  
“Do you know what he did to my wife, Sir?”  
“We do. We’re here to take him into custody,” I say to him softly.  
“He deserves to die, ma’am!”  
“I can’t let you do that, Sergeant. Sergeant!” Gibbs calls when Roberts goes to kill the man anyway.  
“My house… there was police tape, blood inside. Leanne’s dead, isn’t she?”  
“We’re sorry, marine,” I apologise to him.  
“You ought to be killed,” Roberts yells at Powell making him shout in fear before Roberts lets him go. Roberts turns to us and asks, “What now, sir? What am I supposed to do now?” When he asks us that, I feel so bad because I have been asking myself and Gibbs that daily and he lost his wife, someone he loves and choice to be in his life.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I did not kill Leanne Roberts. This is… this is insane. I barely knew her!” Bart exclaims from his spot in integration while I am in observation room with Abby, McGee, and Shepard.  
“He wants you to run the tape,” McGee informs Abby when Gibbs gives us the signal he always uses to run the videos.  
“I guess it was worth it then,” Abby says while playing the video on the screen in integration room.  
“Worth what?”  
“Watching over twenty hours of porn with Chip.”  
“Who the hell is Chip?”  
“Her new assistant,” Shepard answers him.  
“Another thing we didn’t ask for. First a murdering bitch then an assistance,” I state making the director glare at me.  
“Did you talk to the last director like that?”  
“No. I respected him.”  
“That I didn’t ask for, madam Director,” Abby says to Shepard who is glaring at me for my comments.  
“Abby, it’s director or ma’am, not madam. How is Mister Sterling working out?” Shepard asks us.  
“He’s not staying, you might have won with the murdering bitch but you won’t win this time,” I answer for Abby making the director glare at me again but I don’t care, she put the person who murdered my sister on the same team as me, behind Gibbs back.   
“Barely knew her?” Gibbs asks him while the video plays, not knowing what is happening in the observation room.  
“All I see is some shadow climbing through her window,” Bert says.  
“What about know?” Abby asks when she plays the video but enhanced to see him climbing in the window.  
“Okay, so we had an affair. I mean, that’s not a crime.”  
“But you know what is? Blackmail. Sergeant Roberts got a letter in Iraq last week from his wife explaining everything,” Gibbs informs the idiot.  
“About what?”  
“You found out about her website and you threatened to tell her husband unless she’d sleep with you.”  
“Oh, god! No! No! I wouldn’t have! I was just fooling around!”  
“You killed her and you killed her website partner, Jamie Carr.”  
“No, I didn’t kill anyone!”  
“You’re a liar and you’re a predator! And you think anybody is going to believe what you have to say now?!”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in interrogation, Jethro. You haven’t lost you touch,” Shepard compliments Gibbs when he leaves into the hallway.  
“I should’ve let Sergeant Roberts kill him,” Gibbs states.  
“Bad news, boss. Powell’s alibi checked out. The week Leanne Roberts was murdered, he was at Disney World with his wife and kids,” Tony reports while walking up to us.  
“Did you tell Sergeant Roberts yet?” I ask Tony.  
“I thought it would be best if it came from a fellow marine. So if Powell didn’t do it, who did?”   
“That’s what we’re going to find out, Agent DiNozzo,” Shepard reminds him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What’s going on between you and Shepard today?” Gibbs asks me that night in the basement as he works on his boat.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say to him innocently.  
“Alice, you’re a bad liar.”  
“She is changing the team. She put a murder on the team and now she has given Abby an assistance. She didn’t even ask you about any of that,” I finally inform Gibbs because I don’t like change and I really don’t like it know that Kate’s not here to tell me I’m being silly.  
“I know you don’t like change, but you can’t piss her off.”  
“I don’t want her to change anything, I liked it the way it was before,” I snap before adding softly in the hopes he doesn’t hear it but I have to say it, “I don’t want her to take you from me.”  
“Oh, baby,” Gibbs says while walking over to me and pulling me into his strong arms before adding, “I’m not going anywhere. She’s not going to take me away from you.”  
“She likes you, and you have a past. I don’t want to lose you,” I mumble into his chest while holding his NIS shirt.  
“If I wanted her, I wouldn’t have let her get away. But I did and know I have you,” Gibbs promises me while holding me to his body until I calm down. After I begin to calm down Gibbs adds, “The only thing you’re going to lose me to is coffee and my boat.” This makes me laugh because that’s something I always say.  
“I don’t want her to keep changing everything,” I mumble into Gibbs chest because she is a nag and then wants Gibbs to just let her change everything. And she wants Gibbs; she is flirting with him or nagging him.  
“The assistant will be gone in a month. Ziva will be a little long.”  
“Maybe I can shot her and she’ll leave.”  
“I don’t think that’ll work,” Gibbs laughs at me while releasing me and heading back to the boat rib her is working on. After he picks the tool up he asks me, “Do you want to help me?”  
“I’m not very good with wood work. At school I almost burnt the wood shed down trying to paint the wood,” I explain to him making him laugh at me.  
“I’ll teach you,” Gibbs promises me while grabbing my hand pulling me off the wooden horse and leading me over to the rib of the boat. He stands behind me while placing the sander in my hands while standing right behind me with my back against his chest. He adds, “You go with the grain,” he then puts the sander on the wood and guides my hands as he does it. I am really bad at wood work but I don’t mind helping if I get to stand like this all the times.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Running a little late this morning?” Ziva asks Tony who rushes into the squad room the next morning as I sit at my desk with Ugly Tony on my lap, when Ziva went to pat her she bit Ziva making em love my rat thing even more.  
“Stopped at the mall to pick up Monica’s gift. It was completely packed. Scott Baio’s cutting the ribbon at a new Pottery Barn,” Tony informs her.  
“Who’s Scott Baio?”  
“Exactly. Morning Alice, Probie,” Tony says to McGee who ignores him. He turns to Ziva and asks, “What’s with him?”  
“He’s been that way all morning. I do not believe he went home last night.”  
“Ah. Where’s Gibbs?”  
“He left for coffee.”  
“What do you think?” Tony asks while pulling out a beautiful dress, thing.  
“It’s not your colour, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him while sweeping throw the squad room to his desk after handing me one of the coffees he is carrying.  
“Ah, I was just showing Ziva...”  
“You’re late.”  
“Yeah, I had to run an errand. It was important but it won’t” Tony rambles but Gibbs glares at him making him change it too, “Won’t happen again.”  
“That’s what you said when you where late after the polar bear. At least the phone isn’t ringing this time,” I remind him making Ziva and McGee look confused while Tony laughs at the memory while putting the dress away.  
“Boss, I located the money. They had a Cayman account set up to dump the funds into a US account on the fifteenth of every month,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Whose account?” Ziva asks him.  
Her name is Hazel Davenport.”  
“We got an address?”  
“Yeah, Royal Manor Retirement home. She’s eighty-six years old. She happens to be the maternal grandmother of Carter Finch,” McGee reports while informs us that the webmaster has the money.  
“See what happens when you show up to work on time, DiNozzo?” Gibbs says to Tony.  
“Yes,” Tony agrees with him.  
“He emptied the account last night and walked out with close to half a mil in cash,” McGee adds to his report.  
“What are you waiting for? Bring me Finch,” Gibbs orders them but when they didn’t move he shouts, “Now!”  
“Right,” Tony agrees before everyone leave while the squad room to get the asshole with the money.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Left in a hurry, boss,” McGee reports over the phone while looking at Finches basement home.  
“Did you talk to his mother?” Gibbs asks them.  
“Said that she hasn’t seen him since we talked to him.”  
“Tony and Ziva spooked him,” I state but I’m not really surprised.  
“You want us to set up surveillance, make sure that we’re here when he comes back?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I checked his cell phone records. He has not made or received a phone call since Wednesday of last week,” Ziva reports when they have returned to the squad room.  
“I can’t imagine he has a lot of friends.”  
“He doesn’t really need them, considering he has half a million dollars in cash,” McGee reminds him.  
“That he picked up over eighteen hours ago. Whoosh. I could be in Rio De Janeiro right now,” Ziva informs us.  
“Good thing he’s not you. Okay, this guy’s not smart enough to cover his tracks,” Tony comments.  
“He’s done pretty well so far,” McGee reminds us.  
“He does that online auctions from his laptop. Super Collectables…”  
“Ultra-Collectibles and Auction dot com. Can we trace him?” Ziva corrects Tony.  
“If we can pinpoint some of his items. Do you know what he sells?”  
“Star wars stuff,” Tony says unhelpfully.  
“That narrows it down to like fifty million people.”  
“Ah. Ah… some kind of figurine. There’s only three of them.”  
“Yoda? C-Three-P-Oh? Storm Trooper?”  
“Wookie. There’s a special edition prototype from nineteen seventy eight. It comes equipped with an ammo belt. There are only three in existence,” Ziva informs him.  
“You’re a star ways junky, huh?”  
“Not especially.”  
She has a photographic memory, probie. Not a social disorder,” Tony reminds him.  
“Her social disorder is willing killing innocent people to take their jobs and life,” I remind McGee while patting Ugly Tony who is on my lap.  
“Okay, there is one seventy eight Wookie posted. Only one with an ammo belt. High bid was over twelve hundred dollars,” McGee reports to us while ignoring our conversational and my dig at Ziva the bitch.  
“Was?” Tony asks in surprise and confusion.  
“He shut down the auction early this morning. Guess he no longer needed the cask.”  
“Can you find him?” I ask McGee while getting out of my chair with my dog as I walk over to McGee’s desk.  
“I’m tracing the host computer I.P. address now. Looks like he last logged on six hours ago. A broadband connection at the Freemont Inn in Woodbridge, Virginia.”  
“That’s twenty minutes from here. Ziva, you’re with me. McGee… Call Gibbs!” Tony orders us around.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Have you seen Gibbs?” McGee asks Abby when we get into the lab.  
“Hibbs, it’s Abby! I need to talk to you! Pronto!” Abby says into his phone before hanging up the phone and turning to us and asking, “Now you may speak, McGee!”  
“Do you know where Gibbs is?”   
“Last time I saw him he was with the Director.”  
“I really need to talk to him.”  
“Not as much as I do.”  
“You know what? He better have a good reason for not answering his phone,” McGee snaps as Gibbs walking into the lab without them noticing but because I’m watching the door knowing Gibbs while come down here soon.  
“I was briefing the Secretary of the Navy, McGee. Does that one work for you?” Gibbs informs him as he sweeps into the room making me smile at him.  
“Boss, I’m sorry. It’s just that we found Carter Finch. Tony and Ziva are probably there now.”  
“Gibbs, there’s more!” Abby bounces over to him.  
“Where?” Gibbs asks McGee.  
“The Fremont Inn,” McGee reports to him.  
“Hello? Gibbs?” Abby asks while waving her hands.  
“Get DiNozzo on the phone. Now,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
“Right,” McGee agrees with pulling his phone out to ring Tony.  
“Gibbs! I can’t work like this anymore,” Abby exclaims before slicing her own neck.  
“Abby,” I yell in fear, I can’t do this again, she is becoming my best friend, I can’t lose anyone more. I lung for her even though there is a desk between us, Gibbs and McGee has frozen is shock about what she just did.  
“The knife? It’s fake. Two hundred and forty three dollars at your local magic shop. Jamie Carr,” Abby says while shaking some fake blood onto her hand. I can’t stop the tears from falling, she might be alright but I have already seen Kate died and I thought I saw her die just now, I don’t think when I curl up against Gibbs chest because there is the fake blood down her neck still making her look like she is going to die still. Abby continues, “Faked her own death.”  
“The knife in the video is fake, DiNozzo. Jamie Carr,” Gibbs says into his phone as he holds me as I cry in shock and fear, I didn’t need to see Abby not kill herself. He continues, “What about…?”  
“Now you know how I feel, Gibbs,” Abby says when Gibbs hangs up on Tony who already knows about Jamie and her not death.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“She claims it was an accident. They fought when your wife wanted out… tell you about the internet site,” Gibbs tells Roberts as we stand in observation room looking in at Jamie.  
“It’s my fault. I was away for too damn long, sir,” Roberts says.  
“Please don’t blame yourself for someone else’s action,” I beg of the marine.  
“Trust me, marine. None of this is your fault,” Gibbs agrees with me.  
“Leanne wanted to start a family. And I told her we couldn’t afford it. Maybe when I made Staff Sergeant, you know? I never thought that she’d,” Roberts says but he trails off.  
“I know exactly how you feel.”  
“How do you… how do you live with it, sir?”  
“Sergeant, you ask yourself that question every day until you find the answer.”  
“And what did you find, sir?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How did Sergeant Roberts take it?” Shepard asks Gibbs that night as we finish our paper work in the squad room.  
“He’s on his way back to Iraq,” Gibbs answers him.  
“You think that’s wise sending a Marine who just lost his wife back into combat?”  
“Wise? No, that’s what I’d do.”  
“Are you heading out?”  
“Yeah,” Gibbs says while getting up and getting his gear to leave.   
“Good. I’ll walk you to your car,” Shepard says to Gibbs ask I also get up and grab my gear because Gibbs if my ride back to his car. We walk into the elevator in silence but Gibbs steps out for a moment and the door closes, she turns to me and demands, “What is that thing doing here?”  
“Ugly Tony is just hanging around,” I answer her while holding my dog tightly, Abby scared the crap out of me and I’m still shaking in fear for if she used the wrong knife.  
“This is a federal building you can’t bring pets in and dressed like a whore,” Shepard adds while looking at my jeans and white shirt that has a little bit of cleavage showing but not much.  
“I know. I have been here long enough to guess that with all the guns, and lack of personalities. But I guess the bright orange walls could have distracted me. That or the betrayal.”  
“The last director might have let you get away with doing your own thing, but I won’t let you run this building.”  
“I don’t want to run it. I have more brains then that,” I state as the door opens again and Gibbs steps in giving us both a look because we are not being nice to each other.  
“What’s going on here?” Gibbs asks us while hitting the button to go down to the garage.  
“Nothing,” Shepard denies.  
“I’m apparently dressed like a whore. I thought that was the bitch’s job,” I answer Gibbs making Shepard glare at me even more.  
“Jen use to dress more revealing clothing when she was a field agent,” Gibbs says while looking at the wall making Shepard give him a look for making her lie come out.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you alright, baby?” Gibbs asks me when we get back to his house because I didn’t say anything on the way home.  
“She… she didn’t have… I thought,” I mumble but I can’t get my words out because Abby just slit her throat in front of us and it scares me so much.  
“Oh, baby. Come here,” Gibbs says to me while opening his arms, I quickly curl up into his arms while holding his shirt tightly.  
“That scared me. I… Kate died in front of me, and then Abby…”  
“I know. She didn’t think that through but it got the point across.”  
“She… What if she picked up the wrong knife? What if it failed? She might not have been here anymore.”  
“Oh, baby,” Gibbs says to me while rubbing my hair to calm me down.  
“I was so scared. She could have hurt herself,” I cry into Gibbs chest.   
“It’s alright. She’s safe and nothing happened to anyone.”  
“I was so scared,” I mumble because I can’t live throw that every again.  
“I know. I know,” Gibbs says while rubbing my hair until I calm down when he leads me down into the basement where he pours me a glass of bourbon.


	8. Honor Code

“A whole hour for a lunch run, probie?” Tony complains when Ziva and McGee walks into the squad room.  
“Yeah, while Ziva and I were out, she asked me to show her the best routes to work. You know, her driving’s gotten a lot better. Barely broke any laws this time,” McGee informs Tony.  
“Let me get this straight. Ziva asked you, who can barely navigate the navy yard, to show her the best way to work?”  
“That’s right.”  
“Well, what about me? I know every shortcut in the metro area. I could shave ten minutes off her commute like that!”  
“I don’t know what to tell you.”  
“It doesn’t make any sense. Unless… maybe I intimidate her.”  
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”  
“I’ve seen it happen before. It’s a chemical thing. Hard to explain.”  
“I do hope you try,” Ziva says from behind Tony making him jump.  
“I told you not to do that again.”  
“Sorry. I was so intimidated in your presence, I must have forgotten. Seriously, Tony. I do apologise for not asking your advice on my commute.”  
“Don’t worry about it.”  
“IF I would have known you would have felt so… emasculated… is the word?”  
“Yes, it is,” McGee agrees with her.  
“Emasculated, I would have asked you first.”  
“It takes a little more than an exotic accent and some stealth ninja moves to emasculate me,” Tony informs her.  
“And you’re not smart or pretty enough to do it,” I add making Ziva glare at me.  
“Only a little more? How disappointing,” Ziva asks to Tony while ignoring me making McGee chuckle at them.  
“Don’t take sides, Probie!” Tony hisses at McGee.  
“Gear up. We have a missing person. Coleman Park Carousel in Arlington,” Gibbs orders us while walking over to his desk.  
“A child?” Ziva asks him while moving back over to her desk as we all get up and get our gear.  
“Father. Lieutenant Commander Alex Tanner. Disappeared an hour ago.”  
“Do you always respond to missing person’s cases so promptly?”  
“Special circumstances, Ziva. His six year old son called NCIS. He’s in the park, alone, waiting for us. DiNozzo, you drive,” Gibbs orders while throwing the key’s at Tony.  
“Ooh, I think McGee wants to drive, boss,” Tony says to Gibbs while throwing the key’s to McGee.  
“Ah, you know what, Tony? I would really rather have you drive,” McGee says while throwing the keys back.  
“Afraid you’re going to run over another fire hydrant? Because I’m sure that wasn’t your fault. Wait. It was, according to the police report.”  
“I’ll drive,” Ziva says while snatching the keys from the man-children.  
“One more word, you’re all walking,” Gibbs orders his children as we step into the elevator.  
“You got it, boss,” Tony agrees with him making Gibbs hits him in the back of the head making Tony add, “I deserved that.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Zach, hey. I’m special agent DiNozzo; you can call me Tony, okay? That’s a smart thing to do, calling NCIS. Good boy. All right, I know this really scary, but I want you to be brave. Can you do that? Okay, I want you to think back to what happened today. Try to remember the details. There’s no wrong answer here,” Tony says to the boy how doesn’t say anything, but he is a little cute. Tony gets us to talk to Gibbs while I squat down in front of the boy.  
“What do we know?” Gibbs asks Tony.  
“Hey my names Alice,” I say to the boy while making sure he’s not hurt.  
“Nothing. I think the kid’s in shock,” Tony says to Gibbs.  
“No, I’m not. I’m waiting for Agent DiNozzo to ask me a question,” Zach exclaims at Tony in defence.  
“What kinds of questions was I supposed to ask?”   
“What I saw. Why I called NCIS.”  
“What did you see, Zach?” Gibbs asks the little cutie while squatting next to me.  
“Two men were watching us. I think they kidnapped my dad.”  
“Can you describe them?” I ask the boy softly.  
“Dark glasses. One had a military haircut. One had a shaved head.”  
“How old?” Tony asks the boy.  
“About your age. They had IPod, too.”  
“It’s like a Walkman, boss. IPod,” Tony explains to Gibbs how looks confused.  
“You did really good,” I say to Zach as Gibbs and Tony walk away to talk amongst themselves.  
“Really?” Zach asks me.  
“Yep. You want an ice cream? Because I want an ice cream?”   
“Yeah.”  
“Okay, come on,” I laugh at him while standing up and holding my hand out for him to grab. We walk across the area to an ice cream truck where I buy two ice cream cones to eat.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“These guys are definitely pros. They keep their faces from the camera. All we’re got to go on is the kid’s description of them,” Tony reports as we watch the video Ziva got of the kidnapping on the plasma screen above my desk.  
“It’s doesn’t look like a kidnapping to me. They don’t have any guns. They barely touched the commander,” McGee says when two men talk to the commander before he walks away with him leaving the boy on his own.  
“They could have threatened his son,” Gibbs reminds us.  
“Explains why they left him alone in the park,” Tony says.  
“What do we know about Commander Tanner?” I ask the boys while looking at the poor boy’s face on the video.  
“Well, boss, he is a brilliant man. A dual PhD from Caltech in Number and Chaos Theory. I was actually reading his thesis online; he manages to link non-relativistic quantum effects,” McGee rambles.  
“Well, that’s useful to this case, McGee!” Gibbs cuts him off.  
“Uh… the last three years he has been the navy’s liaison with a defence contractor, Q and R software. Been the project lead on something called ‘Honour.’”  
“Which is?” I ask him in confusion.  
“Classified. Uh… I put a call into the head of security over there. No one’s gotten back to me. So I thought I would pay them a visit.”  
“Yeah, that’s a good answer. Tony, go with him,” Gibbs orders them.  
“The sketch artist is down with Zach’s descriptions. The boy has remarkable memory. There’s also someone here from Social Security to pick him up,” Ziva informs us while slowing us the drawing of the two men.  
“Services, Ziva. Social security is for Gibbs, social services is for children,” I correct her making Gibbs smack my ass on the way past. Making me add, “What?”  
“Noted. Do you want me to tell the boy?” Ziva asks Gibbs.  
“No, I’ll handle it. Here. Sit down. Put out a BOLO on the composites,” Gibbs orders Ziva ask we walk over to Zach. Gibbs says to the boy, “Hey Zach, good job on the sketches, man.”  
“Thanks. That’s social services, huh?” Zach asks Gibbs while looking at the uptight person.  
“Mm-hmm. Yeah, they’re going to take care of you until we get your dad back,” I say to the boy while squatting down to his high.  
“I can take care of myself.”  
“I don’t doubt that,” Gibbs says to the boy from his spot kneeling beside me.  
“But I still have to go.”  
“Yeah, just for a while. Come on.”  
“What if you… what if you don’t find my dad, Agent Gibbs?” Zack ask as Gibbs gets up and begins walking toward the social services lady.  
“I’ll find him, Zach. I’ll find him. Hey, if you ever need me or even if you just want to talk, you call, okay?” Gibbs says to Zach while handing him his card making me smile. Gibbs is too good with children and makes it look easy.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his phone while driving at to Zach to deliver his IPod that Gibbs his holding, “May have…? What’s it supposed to do…? Well Yeah, DiNozzo. I’d say that sounds like a problem… all right. I’m heading your way. Just got to drop off Zach’s pod thing first.” He hangs up his phone on Tony and his phone rings again, “Are you calling about your pod thing you left on my desk...?” Let me talk to your social worker, Zach… where are you…? Zach, I’m a few blocks from you. Stay right where you are Zach, listen to me! I need you to… Zach!” Gibbs yells into the phone before hanging it up.  
“Help! Help!” Zach yells out as we stop outside of the social services office.  
“NCIS! Let the kid go!” Gibbs orders the man as we point our guns at the guy who is holding Zach.  
“Gibbs!” Zach yells.  
“Ah, you little bastard!” The guy exclaims when Zach bites him making him release Zach how I grab as Gibbs runs after the guy when I hear a gunshot making me pull Zach into my body to protect him but the guy gets away.  
“IT’s okay,” Gibbs says to Zack as I pick him up. He looks so scared and no one is going to hurt this kid.  
“You’re okay. You’re okay,” I mumble while checking him over but he’s not hurt. Gibbs opens the back door and I place Zach inside his car but there’s no buster seat for Zach to sit in.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We are in the squad room where Zach is sitting at Gibbs desk as Gibbs blows up a rubber glove into a balloon.  
Tony, Ziva and Shepard are standing on the stairs talking while watching us. I laugh at Gibbs blowing up the balloon while I eat my chocolate that I got when I got Zach chips and a soft drink to make him happy again because sweets always makes people happy.  
“What did the director want?” Gibbs asks his team as they walk into the squad room while he ties the glove so the air doesn’t get out.  
“You… upstairs. I better check on those sketches,” Ziva answers while Gibbs hands Zach the balloon glove.  
“I got a BOLO out on a black Chevy Suburban, boss. But without plates?” Tony says while they all move over to their own desks.  
“DiNozzo, you will spend the next twenty four personally checking each one in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C,” Gibbs orders him.  
“That’s like an impossible,” Tony begins but Gibbs glares at him making Tony add, “I’m on that.”  
“You keep an eye on him for me. I’ll be right back,” Gibbs says to Zach making Zach get off Gibbs chair and walk over to watch Tony closely.  
“You know, he was just kidding about keeping an eye on me,” Tony informs Zach once Gibbs walks up the stairs.  
“I couldn’t remember when Gibbs and Alice asked me, but I think I got it right,” Zach informs Tony making me look at the child; he is too strong for his age.  
“Got what right?” Tony asks Zach.  
“The numbers… on the license plate. I was scared, but I remember most of the numbers.”  
“That’s okay, Zach. Gibbs didn’t get them. I didn’t get them. But if you tell us, it’ll help us find your daddy faster,” I say to Zach while walking over to the little boy and getting down to his height.  
“Oh right, Zach! My man! Come on. Give me five! Come on, meet me up high! All right. We’ll work on that. Good job,” Tony exclaims while holding his hand up for a high five but Zach doesn’t give it to him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Always admired your way with children. Ever think of having any of your own?” Shepard says to me as we stand in the hallway.  
“Is that an offer, Jen?” I ask her but I can’t help thinking about another redhead pregnant with my children.  
“No, it wasn’t an offer, Jethro. It was merely an observation,” Shepard answers me but I’m not really paying attention to that.  
“You know why I get along with kids so well? Because when they lie they don’t have the guile to get away with it. You wanted to see me?”  
“I have spent the last hour on video-conference with the directors of the FBI, NSA, and Homeland Security.”  
“You kind of tea party.”  
“If project Honour’s compromised, it will cripple our intelligence networks. They all want jurisdiction on this one.”  
“And you said…”  
“I have my best agent working on it. Now tell me you have something.”  
“The same men who kidnapped the commander went after his son.”  
“Have you considered that Commander Tanner might not have been kidnapped?”  
“I have.”  
“And?”  
“I don’t buy it.”  
“Your famous gut again?”  
“No. His son.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abs, give me good news,” I say to Abby as I walk into the lab while wishing Alice had come with me but she is staying with Zach because she doesn’t trust Tony with children or Ziva.  
“Oh my god, I got this email that says I may have already won fifty million dollars. And I’m really, really psyched,” Abby says but I give her the look making her get on topic, “Oh, you mean about the case? I’ve been going through Q and R security logs. It’s like the Fort Knox of computer systems.”  
“Next generation anti-virus software, intrusion detection,” McGee continues for her.  
“Crypto processors, ACLs, firewall up the wazoo.”  
“Hey, hey,” I yells to get them to talk what I can understand.  
“Uh… okay. No one can penetrate the system, Gibbs. It could be disabled if someone had a high enough clearance.”  
“IT’s an inside job.”  
“Q and R is monitored twenty four seven. All the employees have passwords to gain access to the systems.”  
“Like digital fingerprints. Every keystroke recorded for posterity,” McGee adds.  
“At three a.m. this morning, someone planted a virus into the network. It shut down the security system for exactly one hour.”  
“Long enough for our hacker to breach the network remove the software and plant the viruses.”  
“Who?” I ask them.  
“The virus originated from Commander Tanner’s terminal, sir,” Chip, Abby’s unwanted assistance, informs me.  
“Someone else could have used it.”  
“No, sir. The data is very clear. Simply pointing out that Q and R’s security system was designed to be accurate under the circumstances, sir.”  
“Chip!” Abby hisses at the guy when I glare at him.  
“He’s right about the design, though, boss,” McGee informs me.  
“Who designed it?” I demand of them.  
“Uh, Q and R’s risk management team. But all of their people are former law enforcement and military, vetted at the highest level.”  
“Commander Tanner was vetted at the highest level, too.”  
“Tony is reviewing statements from the employees. I’m reviewing the computer terminals, but the virus wiped a lot of files. It doesn’t look good for the commander, boss.”  
“Wipe that dirt of your lip!” I order chip as I leave the lab.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Where’ve you been? I could have used your help with those interviews,” Tony says to Ziva after doing his interviews when she disappeared.  
“And why did you return?” I ask her because I like it when she’s not here.  
“Oh? You look like you had your hands full with her,” Ziva answers him while ignoring me as I watch Zach plays a game on my computer.  
“Watch your sexual innuendo around the kid. He’s had a hard day,” Tony hisses at Ziva while looking over at Zach.  
“He’s taking it better than most adults. He’s resilient.”  
“Do you see the way he’s been acting around me?”  
“I think it’s because he doesn’t like you, Tony.”  
“Kids dig me.”  
“A grave,” I finish for Tony making him fake laugh at me.  
“No they don’t!” Ziva overlaps me.  
“Zach. Zacharoo, buddy! Come on over here, man. I was going to wait until tomorrow when everyone was here… but considering what a brave little boy you’ve been and how much you’ve helped us. I’m going to make you an honorary NCIS Agent,” Tony says to Zach when he gets up off my computer.  
“Thanks. I’ve got to go to the head,” Zach says while walking past Tony making me and Ziva laugh at the fail.  
“Yes, Tony. I was mistaken. Your way with children is only rivalled by your way with women.”  
“He’s under a lot of stress,” Tony defends his fail.  
“Where is Zach?” Gibbs asks while walking into the squad room.  
“Head,” I answer him.  
“Potty break, boss,” Tony answers at the same time.  
“You gonna speak?” Gibbs demands of Ziva when she hesitant slightly.  
“I got an I.D. on one of our suspects. His name is Vincent Pazzo. Italian born. Freelance mercenary. Black ops, mostly. Some wet work,” Ziva reports while holding up one of the drawings.  
“How’d you find out about that?” Tony demands of her.  
“I sent Zach’s sketches to some people who owe me a favour.”  
“Well, if he’s got the Honour program and the guy who knows how to make it work, then why’d they go after the kid?”  
“To force him to cooperate,” Gibbs and I say together because that makes sense why they need the kid.  
“Then there’s a possibility that Commander Tanner set this up to make it look like kidnapping,” Ziva says making me glare at her.  
“Keep your voice down, bitch,” I hiss at her, I have seen that before and I don’t want this boy to feel that pain as well.  
“Shh!” Tony hushes her.  
“That’s what I would do if it were my op. the authorities are looking for a kidnapper when they should be looking for a traitor,” Ziva says making me glare harder.  
“It doesn’t feel right, Ziva,” Gibbs states.  
“It doesn’t have to feel right to be right, Gibbs.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
That night the boys are down working on Gibbs boat as I cook dinner, I cook spaghetti because it something easy that I know tastes good when I cook it.  
“Boys dinner’s ready,” I call done stairs while placing the food on the table to eat together. Gibbs and Zach walk up the stairs into the kitchen and they are both covered in sawdust making me laugh.  
“What’d you make?” Gibbs asks while walking over to kitchen sink to wash his hands before he eats.  
“Spaghetti. It’s good, unless your herbs are bad,” I inform him while placing the cautery next to the plates.  
“Looks good,” Gibbs says while taking a seat next to Zach who is already digging into his food.  
“It’ll taste better,” I promise while taking a seat myself and eating the food I cooked.  
After Dinner, Zach has a bath while Gibbs sets up a bed for him to sleep in. Once he has finished bathing he heads to bed for the night while Gibbs returns to his boat.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Good job, McGee,” Gibbs says when we walk into the squad room to hear that they found the car that was used for the failed kidnapping of Zach.  
“What?” McGee says in confusion.  
“Come on, let’s roll!”   
“Where’s the child?” Ziva asks him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Got it, boss. Black SUV, no rear window. One visible suspect in the vehicle. Should we take him now?” Tony asks us over the radio as we all get into position for the tack down in the garage.  
“Wait. We’re almost in position here,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Copy,” Tony say to us.  
“I’m in position, boss,” McGee says to us.  
“Take him down!” Gibbs orders us and we all rush the car. As we look inside the vehicle and open the door only to see that the person inside is already dead.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We walk into the autopsy to hear Ducky humming as he looks over our car victim.  
“Ah Ziva, what a pleasure!” Ducky says to Ziva when he sees her.  
“Doctor Mallard,” Ziva greets him.  
“Oh Ducky, please.”  
“Ducky!”  
“Are you two done with the name game?” Gibbs snaps at them.  
“Our guest departed this world only a few hours ago, but he was in a great deal of pain before he died. Seems he was wounded. Single round. The bullet lodged under his scapula. The shoulder blade,” Ducky reports to us.  
“Duck, I’m going to guess that slug’s from my safe.”  
“As to the fatal injury, this circular burn around the entry wound suggests…”  
“A silencer was used. It was done in haste by someone with little, if any, experience. If a professional did this, he would have not left his weapon. It’s untidy. Marks of an amateur. If it were me? I would not have been so obvious. There are literally dozens of effective ways to eliminate a target without raising suspicions. Heroin overdose is popular, but it requires a history of prior use. Of course something like insulin or potassium can be using suggest death by natural causes,” Ziva cuts him off while with her own rambling.  
“I really must ask you over to dinner. Mother would love to talk with you.”  
“They cleaned house. I wounded him when he tried to grab Zach. After that he was a liability,” Gibbs informs Ducky.  
“Once again, I suggest Commander Tanner may be involved. All the evidence says he stole the software. He cleared out his bank accounts. He likely killed this man. You have to admit from an investigator’s point of view, the pieces fit together quite well,” Ziva says again but Gibbs just walks away from her making her add, “Or not.”  
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“Abby,” Gibbs calls out when we walk into the lab.  
“Ballistics lab, sir,” Chip reports while standing at attention.  
“Are you serving in the military?” I ask Chip in distaste, he shouldn’t be here.  
“No ma’am. I was denied that…”  
“Stop standing at attention.”  
“I just believe its good posture, ma’am.”  
“What? No Zachster?” Abby asks us while she walks over to us.  
“Abby, you’re yelling,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Oh, sorry. Where is he?” Abby says while removing ear protection.  
“He’s upstairs,” I say with a grin because she looks so said that we didn’t bring him.  
“He’s a cool kid. Remind me of you. He’s like a mini-Gibbs. Austin Powers?”  
“You calling Zack a mini-me?” Gibbs asks her making us both so proud of our marine.  
“Gibbs, I am so impressed with your pop culture reference!”  
“Tell me about the weapon.”  
“All right. It’s a Makarov Three Eighty. It matches the hollow point’s slugs from the body downstairs. And this bad boy that we pulled from his shoulder matches your sig.”  
“Any prints on the three eighty?” I ask Abby.  
“Only from the dead guy.”  
“Tell me you have something else,” Gibbs begs of her.  
“I have something else.”  
“What is it?” We ask her.  
“Chip shaved his mustache.”  
“I didn’t notice,” Gibbs says while leading me out of the lab. We get to the elevator where the madam director is, making Gibbs says, “You getting off, director?”  
“Looking for you actually. I saw Ducky’s report on the body downstairs,” Shepard says to him as we get onto the elevator as the door shuts.  
“That was fast, madam director” I state making Shepard give me a look for calling her madam director and because she wants to talk to Gibbs and not without me.  
“One of the perks of being director. I get to read all the good reports. What next, Jethro?” Shepard asks Gibbs as we arrive at the squad room level.  
“Finishing this conversation,” Gibbs says smartly while walking out of the elevator.  
“Don’t give me a hard time.”  
“I didn’t realise I was.”  
“The man who supposedly kidnapped Commander Tanner is lying dead in our autopsy room. Tanner is looking less and less like a victim.”  
“You want back in the field again, Jen?”  
“Tanner has technology that could set back our intelligence monitoring thirty years. Pardon me for taking an interest,” Shepard says without answering Gibbs question.  
“And here I thought you just wanted an excuse to spend time together,” Gibbs says to her making me not like this, I don’t want them to be alone.  
“I just want to know that this about more than a fatherless child to you.”  
“Boss!” McGee exclaims while rushing up to us, cutting the director off, not that I care.  
“Didn’t you notice that we’re in the middle of a conversation, agent McGee?”  
“Sorry. Should I come back?”  
“No,” Gibbs answers him.  
“Yes,” Shepard overlaps him.  
“So let me get this straight, you want us to solve this case. But not when you are having a conversation about something that is your personal opinion but when someone has a lead on the case, and it’s inconvenient for you, it doesn’t matter,” I snap at the madam director, because this is about the case and she want’s McGee to leave because it’s inconvenient.  
“I’m simply trying to solve your case here, Director,” Gibbs agrees with me making her face goes almost as red as her hair in anger.  
“Speak,” Shepard orders McGee while glaring at me.  
“Commander Wilder is here. He works with Commander Tanner at Q and R,” McGee reports to Gibbs. We go our separate ways; the director goes off to destroy someone else’s case while not letting them work on it, while we go into the squad room to see the commander.  
“Commander Wilder,” Gibbs greets him as we arrive.  
“I went by his house to grab some stuff for him. Your agents wouldn’t let me in. so I brought him a Nintendo to play with,” Wilder says while looking at Zach.  
“That’s the D.S. It’s an excellent system. I’ve heard,” McGee corrects him.  
“This is a hell of a situation. Zach’s been through so much in his life already.”  
“Is there a reason you wanted to see me?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Commander Tanner is a close friend. I was hoping for information. Over at Q and R they’re saying he’s a suspect. Do you know the sacrifices he’s made to serve our country?”  
“I do.”  
“I don’t care what the computer log says. Commander Tanner is no traitor. What’s it going to take to prove that?”  
“Finding who is,” I answer him.  
“Then you should be looking at Q and R’s civilian employees, because right now they’re falling all over themselves to try and protect their collective asses. What about Zach? Where’s he staying?”  
“With me,” Gibbs answers him.  
“I’m the closest thing he has to family. I can take him home with me.”  
“Can’t do that. He’s under protective custody.”  
“You mean they’re after Zach, too?”  
“We’ll take good care of him, Commander.”  
“I’m just going to say goodbye,” Wilder says before walking over to Zach.  
“Boss, so did you tell him we think Tanner’s innocent?” McGee asks Gibbs.  
“We don’t know he is. Do you have something to say, McGee?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“I’ve been going through the evidence we bagged from the vehicle, boss. Prepaid burn phone. Guess whose numbers on the caller I.D.? Frank Connell, Q and R officer.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What the hell are you doing here?” Frank asks his assistant as she leads us throw the door into his private office.  
“I couldn’t stop him, Mister Connell,” Laura, Frank’s assistant, answers to him.  
“It’s not her fault. She was overwhelmed by a Federal search warrant,” Tony defends the girl as we walk into the room behind her.  
“This is completely out of like. I have been nothing but cooperative,” Frank snaps at us.  
“Explain why you called the kidnappers from this office the day the Honour Code went missing.”  
“That’s a ridiculous accusation.”  
“Denying you were here?”  
“I said in my statement I was working late that night.”  
“So you made the call,” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Someone’s tampered with this hard drive. Tried to erase the command logs the morning of the robbery,” McGee reports while looking at the commander’s computer.  
“We had a virus. It corrupted thousands of files,” Frank defends himself.  
“Is that what happened, McGee?” I ask McGee in confusion because I have never had a virus on my computer.  
“I can’t tell ‘till we get back to the lab,” McGee informs me while not answering me.  
“Okay, bag and tag,” Gibbs orders him.  
“You cannot remove that computer from this building!” Frank snaps at us.  
“Don’t worry. You’re going with it,” Tony informs him.  
“Go up and call the lawyers,” Frank orders his assistant.  
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yeah. Yeah, at this rate we’ll have her seaworthy in no time,” Gibbs says to Zach who is helping him sand the boat.  
“Maybe my dad can help when he gets back,” Zach says excitedly making me smile sadly because that might not happen.  
“Hubba-hubba. Dinner at the White house?” Gibbs asks Shepard who just walked into the basement, dressed up to the nine and it makes me jealous because he never reacts to me like that.  
“A date, actually,” Shepard corrects him.  
“Must be an important guy for you to get all decked out.”  
“I’d prefer if you just told me that you liked my dress.”  
“I haven’t decided yet.”  
“Do you mind giving us a moment?” Shepard asks Zach.  
“Zach, Alice why don’t you go upstairs and grab a soda,” Gibbs offers to us making me get up and I grab Zach’s hand.  
“You don’t like that woman,” Zach says to me as I hand him a soda.  
“I don’t like a lot of things,” I state as we walk back towards the basement.  
“I don’t like her,” Zach informs me as we sneak into the basement.  
“You made a house call to reprimand me, Jen?” Gibbs demands of Shepard without releasing Zach and I have returned to the basement.  
“You’ve got Commander Tanner’s fingerprints on the bullets of the murder weapon,” Shepard snaps at him.  
“Well, I’m not sure he did it.”  
“Why? And don’t tell me your famous gut again. Zach is a great kid, Jethro. Doesn’t mean his father’s not a bastard.”  
“He might be, but Zach’s our only link to him.”  
“You think he might make another attempt to get Zach back?”  
“If he does I’ll be waiting for him.”  
“My dad didn’t do anything wrong!” Zach yells at the adults in anger in defence.  
“It’s a complicated situation,” Shepard says making the situation worse for the little boy.  
“It’s not!”  
“Zach…”  
“Zach, there is evidence he did something wrong,” Gibbs explains to the little boy.  
“It doesn’t matter. I know in my, my stomach he didn’t do anything wrong. You promised you’d bring him back to me, Gibbs. Please,” Zach exclaims before running away from them. I turn and follow the hurting boy so I don’t have to see my man flirt with his ex. I find Zach hiding in the bathroom.  
“Hey. Are you okay?” I ask Zach as I sit next to him.  
“He’s not guilty,” Zach informs me.  
“I know that. Gibbs knows that. But the director wouldn’t let us say that until we have clear evidence,” I inform the boy as I pull him into a hug.  
“He’s good,” Zach cries into my chest.  
“I know,” I mumble as I rub his back until he calms down.  
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I follow Zach and Alice into the bathroom to see her talking to him and holding him protectively. I can’t get the look on her face as she left the basement out of my head, I never meant to hurt her but I managed to hurt her and Zach.  
She manages to calm Zach down and to fall asleep in her arms. When she looks up and sees me she looks so broken as she stands up with Zach and walks past me without even talking to me or touching me.  
She lays Zach in the bed before she goes to leave the room but I won’t let her go without talking to her.  
“Alice, baby, speak to me,” I beg because she looks so sad and hurt.  
“Leave me alone,” Alice snaps at me while storming out of the room, but I wouldn’t let her get away from me.  
“Alice, talk to me,” I beg of her while grabbing her arm before she can leave the house and when I turn her around I see her eyes are full of tears. I add softly, “Alice. What did I do? How can I make you feel better?”  
“Tell me the truth. Do you want to fuck the director? Am I not good enough for you?” She demands of my while she rips her hands out of my arms.  
“Alice, where did you get that idea?”  
“You’re always flirting with her. You liked how she looked, but even when I try to get your attention, the moment she comes around, it’s like I don’t exist. Like I’m not good enough to hold your attention against her,” Alice exclaims in anger and pain, I made her hurt and it makes me feel like a bastard.  
“I don’t flirt with her.”  
“Yes, you do, I see it. I hear it.”  
“You really think I’m going to leave you? Why would I do that?”  
“Because you like how she looks like. You never react no matter how hard I try. And I do try and you never notice. I have tried everything but you don’t like me as much as you like her. if you don’t want me and only me, just end it because I can’t live with the worry that one day I’ll walk around a corner to see you doing something with the director, or just wake up and you don’t want me years in the future,” Alice yells at me because I hurt her that much, she turns around and leaves the house before I can stop her because I’m in shock, I can’t believe I put this much doubts in her head. When I follow her out, I see that she is gone and I don’t know where she is. When I ring her phone I see she left it on my table in front of my lounge chair.  
I sit in that chair and wait all night but Alice’s never comes back to the house and I can’t follow her because I don’t know where she is and I have to stay with Zach and keep him safe. If something happens to this kid I’ll hate myself and Alice would hate me more.   
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“Where’s Zach?” McGee asks me the next morning as I work at the squad room, hoping and praying Alice comes to work today, I need to see her, I can’t lose her.  
“Ducky’s,” I answer him tightly.  
“Listen, boss, I spent half the night taking Franks Connell’s hard drive apart. There was nothing. I think we need to accept that Commander Tanner sold the software.”  
“I’m not accepting anything.”  
“Boss…”  
“We need to look at this a different way.”  
“I agree. I just talked to the CIA. They were very cooperative,” Ziva says while walking into the squad room but she is not the female I want to see.  
“They were?” McGee asks in surprise.  
“He owed me a favour.”  
“How many people owe you favours?”  
“How many dates does Tony go on a month? This is from Kosovo in the late nineties. The man with the shaved head is Vincent Pazzo. The one on the left is Willis Hirst. They were mercenaries for the Kosovo Liberation Army,” Ziva informs us while showing us an old photo.  
“Freedom fighter.”  
“Not exactly. They worked for a warlord as specialists.”  
“What specialty?”  
“Coercion.”  
“Torture,” I state her words in layman’s terms.  
“But the evidence we have against Commander Tanner,” McGee exclaims because know the case isn’t as simple.  
“This is a covert operation. Take nothing at face value. They framed Commander Tanner as a diversion,” Ziva reminds him.  
“While they torture him for the access code,” I finish.  
“Maybe he won’t talk,” McGee says hopefully.  
“Have you ever been tortured, McGee? There’s only so much torment a human body can bear. Strong men break in a few days, but nobody can hold out forever. Not even Gibbs. With a trained interrogator, it can be done in less time. I can get that code in hours,” Ziva informs him.  
“They’ve had him for two days.”  
“He’s running out of time if he hasn’t talked already.”  
“A few hours, huh?” I ask.  
“Give or take.”  
“I’m putting you in a room with Frank Connell. You have forty minutes.”  
“I’d hold off on that, boss,” Tony says while rushing over to me with Alice following him, making me feel better when I see her, even if she isn’t looking at me.  
“DiNozzo, where have you been?” I demand of Tony while fighting myself from holding Alice because I thing she might bite and then shoot me if I tried.  
“Tracking down the convenience store where our dead guy purchased his cell phone. Not easy, by the way. The language barrier between me and Mister Singh was no piece of cake either. But once I convinced him I wasn’t going to shut down his convenience store, he gave me his surveillance video tape. Is this a poppy seed?” Tony asks while looking at the food he is eating.  
“Where is the video?” I snap at him.  
“Abby’s lab. Sorry, boss. She’s scanning the tapes now.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The phone was purchased with cash a week before Commander Tanner disappeared,” Abby informs me in the lab but Alice refused to some with us.  
“Pause the tape. That woman’s got four phones in her hands,” I order Abby while looking at the video.  
“Zoom in, Abs. oh, yeah. The lips are the angle of the chin, the curve of the neck,” Tony compliments the women making me think of what Alice said last night.  
“Okay, we got it, Tony. She attractive,” Abby says to her.  
“It’s Laura Osgood. Franks Connell’s assistant,” Tony says when Abby is talking we leave her alone.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What’s going on?” Laura demands of us when we arrive at Connell’s office.  
“You brought phones connected to a robbery, a kidnapping and a murder,” I snap at her, Alice has placed Ziva and McGee between her and me.  
“Gibbs, her number matches several calls on the kidnapper’s phone,” Ziva informs me while looking at her phone.  
“You’re done. Only way to help yourself is tell us everything you know,” Alice says to her.  
“I want a lawyer,” Laura says to us.  
“Commander Tanner’s been gone for forty seven hours,” I state.  
“If he’s not dead yet, he soon will be,” Ziva adds.  
“Maybe we can convince her to change her mind about the lawyer,” McGee says to us.  
“Oh, I can convince her far more than that.”  
“How long?” I ask her.  
“Not long.”  
“McGee, Alice, are you thirsty? Come on. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee,” I say to them as we leave the room, and Alice is still keeping McGee between us two, something she has never done before.  
“Boss, what exactly is Ziva doing in there?” McGee asks before adding, “I don’t want to know.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It was a three man team. I was on the inside. I put a trace commander Tanner’s computer to get his password. I planted the virus using his log-in,” Laura admits when we return to the office.  
“Keep going, Laura,” Ziva orders her.  
“Pazzo and Hirst grabbed Commander Tanner to get the access code.”  
“Who set it up?” McGee asks.  
“I don’t know. We were contacted separately. Money was wired. Instructions emailed on an anonymous server.”  
“Where is he?” I demand, I need this case to be over so I can talk to Alice before she hates me completely but she wouldn’t talk to me until Zach is back with his father.  
“Commander Tanner, where is he being tortured?” Ziva demands of him.  
“That wasn’t part of my assignment. Please, they’ll kill me. It’s a garage near Coleman Park,” Laura cries.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yeah?” Willis, one of the men holding Tanner, says into his phone. “All right. I’ll go clean up.”  
We kick the door in and rush in to shot a quick sprout of gunfire.  
“Clear! Commander Tanner,” I exclaims while looking at our missing commander.  
“Zach?” Tanner asks us.  
“He’s all right. He’s safe. We’ve got him,” Alice says to him, calming him down.  
“They told me they had him. If I didn’t give them the code, they were going to kill him.”  
“You have them the key?” I ask him in surprise and fear.  
“I had to. They had my son. They showed me proof.”  
“What proof?” Alice and I ask in confusion.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Agent Gibbs? What in the hell’s going on?” Wilder as us as we rush over to him. I knock him onto the ground making him exclaim, “I’m not resisting!”  
“Too bad,” I state.  
“I could have never hurt Zach. It was strictly business.”  
“We’ll be sure to let him know that,” Tony exclaims.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you okay?” I ask Zach who is sitting at my desk in the squad room.  
“I guess. Commander Wilder was my dad’s… he was my friend, Gibbs. I should have known. I shouldn’t have let him fool me like that,” Zach says to me in disappointment of himself.  
“Zach, sometimes really bad people are good at fooling you.”  
“Anybody bad every fool you?”  
“Oh, yeah. More than once.”  
“Someday I’m going to find them and put them all in jail.”  
“I believe you will,” I say to Zach as Tanner walks into the squad room.  
“Zach!” Tanner calls to his son.  
Dad! Daddy! Daddy! You’re all right. I knew you’d never leave me,” Zach shouts while running over to his father.  
“I’m alright, buddy. Everything’s all right.”  
“I love you, Daddy.”  
When Zach and Tanner leaves I go looking for my girl, I need to talk to her and this time I’m not going to let her get away. I find her in the stair case sitting on her own staring at a nothing looking so sad and hurt.  
“Hey,” I say to her and she doesn’t react but when I sit down next to her she moves away from me. But I push on, “Talk to me baby. I know you’re hurt. But don’t cut me out of my life.” I sit in silence waiting for her to talk to me.  
“I’m sorry. I over reacted,” Alice finally says after almost five minutes of silence. She continues softly, “I… I don’t want you to end it, but I can’t live with the question if I turn around, are you going to the director because I’m not going all the way with you. I am so scared about the future but I can’t lose you or live in doubt.”  
“Baby, listen to me,” I say to her making me pull her face to look at me, “I don’t want the director. I promise. I’ll stop from commenting on Jen’s appearance, would that make you feel better?”  
“I don’t want you to change, but I don’t want to lose you,” Alice cries and tries to hide her face. But I pull her into my chest, I never met to hurt her but I have.  
“Do you really think the director is better than you?”  
“You have a past with her and she’s your age. And how you look at her.”  
“Do you what to know why we broke up in the first place?” I ask her and when she nodes I tell her the truth, “She picked her job over my. And she wanted to take Shannon’s place and I wouldn’t let her do that. You wouldn’t do that, either then them.”  
“I don’t want to lose you but I don’t want to hold you back,” Alice cries into my chest while holding my shirt so I can’t get away, not that I want to.  
“You’re not holding me back, you’re helping me forward.”  
“I was so scared.”  
“I know you were. Where did you spend the night last night? I was so worried.”  
“I… I went to back to my mother’s but she wouldn’t answer the door for me. I went to Ducky’s but all the lights were off and I didn’t want to wake him.”  
“So where did you sleep?”  
“I went to Kate,” Alice admits making me feel worse, I slept on a coach and she slept on the ground next to her dead sister.  
“Oh baby. I didn’t know where to look; I was hoping you went to Ducky. Next time, don’t leave, or if you have to go to Ducky’s where you are safe,” I beg of her because I know I while screw this up again.  
“I don’t want you to hate me. Please don’t hate me for overrating.”  
“I can’t hate you. Besides it’s a natural reaction, you where jealous about your man talking to an ex. It’s normal,” I promise Alice. Once she stops crying I stand up with her and leading back into towards the squad room, but I redirector her to the back elevator when I see Jen in the squad room looking for me. I go down to autopsy and lead Alice to to my car throw where Ari got in originally.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We get home and I can tell Alice is still ashamed of how she acted last night, but I understand where she was coming from.  
“Why don’t you go for a nice hot bath,” I say to her while sending her the master bathroom. Once Alice is upstairs I head into the kitchen and cook something to eat for dinner. Once the food is made I make my way up the stairs and into the bad room only to hear crying form the bathroom. I put the food on the bed and rush into the bathroom to see Alice crying in the bath, and she looks so heart broken. There are bruises all over her body and she is crying because I hurt her and her mother wasn’t even there when she needed advice on her relationship, she must feel so alone in the world.  
“Alice, baby,” I say softly before placing my hands on her back where I rub up and down. I know she’s had a tough year and she was bound to break eventually and this last couple of days with Jen and me was enough to break the damn. She suddenly turns around to hug me to her body, getting water over me; I hug her in the hopes of calming her down because I don’t like seeing her cry, or hurting.  
Once she has calmed down and stopped crying. I get up and leave the bathroom for her to get dry and dressed for the night into my shirt that she as claimed as her sleeping clothes.  
“Alice, come here baby,” I say to her from my spot on the side of the bed. She walks over and sits beside me on the bed. I continue once she is seated, “We need to talk okay.”  
“About what? I said I was sorry. And I am sorry, so sorry,” Alice asks me softly.  
“I know you are. And I am too. But we can’t let it get this far gain. If you feel hurt or jealous, you have to promise you’ll tell me. Don’t let it get so far that it hurts you to the point of tears.”  
“I didn’t want you to feel bad. I didn’t want to hurt you.”  
“Alice, baby, I’m a big man, I can take it. I promise; if I hurt you, please tell me.”  
“I’ll try.”  
“I know you will. But just talk to me and well work it out.”  
“I don’t know who to do this. I never saw a function relationship, not even one of Kate’s.”  
“I know you didn’t. But you are doing so well. We’ll both just have to work on our talking skills.”  
“I don’t want to hurt you ever,” Alice mumbles as she looks so ashamed of herself because she did hurt me in her pain.   
“I know, but I don’t want to hurt you either,” I remind her before I hand her the food I cooked her. She takes the food and slowly eats it as I place a kiss on the top of his head before moving over to the shower to get clean myself.  
Once I am clean I make my way back out into the bed room to see Alice has finished eating and is taking the plate downstairs. She quietly returns to the bed room when I am already in the bed, but it hurts me too see her hesitate before she gets into be with me, like I’m going to hurt her. That tells me something happened last night after she left here and I bet it has something to do with Mr Todd. She slowly walks over to the bed giving me plenty of time to stop her. When she gets to the bed, she stops and waits her me to signal to get into bed, even when she is in the bed she lays right on the edge giving me the whole bed. But I quickly pull her back into my arms making her whole body against mine where she falls asleep holding my hand.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I wake up to fell Alice sleeping almost on top of me completely, the only are of her body that’s not on top of me is her right leg which is hanging off the side of the bed. I go to move her off my body but she grabs my shirt tightly so I can’t get away.   
I feel so bad for what she’s been throw and I made it worse. I wake Alice up slowly, and carefully.  
“Alice, baby, come on we have work today,” I mumble while waking her up.  
“Don’t wanna,” Alice mumbles to me making me laugh.  
“I know but if you go to work today, you can have two whole days off,” I promise her, finally getting her to wake up. I finally get her to wake up.  
“I want to say here, it’s comfortable,” Alice mumbles into my chest.  
“Thanks, are you calling me soft or fat,” I tease her making her go red before quickly rolling off my chest onto the bed making her dog squawk because it’s sleeping in my bed too.  
“Tony,” Alice exclaims while sitting up to check on her dog and I really wish she didn’t do that because the shirt she is wearing has ridden up giving me a view of her underwear that has ‘yes sir’ written across her ass making me groan.  
“Do you want coffee?” I ask her while getting up because I can’t stay here with her underwear on display without doing something I shouldn’t do with her this early in our relationship.


	9. Under Cover

“Oh, she’s very beautiful, Jethro,” Ducky says while looking at our victim, who Ziva is impersonating at a hotel.  
“Her name’s Sophie Ranier. She’s murdered over twenty five people, Ducky,” Gibbs informs Ducky.  
“Yeah, and her friend?”  
“Her husband. Jean Paul Ranier. Both Canadian citizens, both contract assassins,” I explain to my father.  
“She suffered extensive injuries. It may take quite a while to determine the actual cause of death.”  
“They were killed in a car accident two days ago outside of Kuwait International Airport. Here’s the accident report,” Gibbs informs Ducky while handing him the report.  
“I’m assuming this is urgent. I’ve waited three months to see Giselle.”  
“Yeah, apologies about the girlfriend, Duck. But I do need you to…”  
“Giselle’s a ballet, Gibbs. You really should get out of your basement more, Jethro. We need to know everything we can about these two, Ducky,” Shepard corrects Gibbs.  
“Why is NCIS investigating this?” Ducky asks in confusion.  
“Marine C.I.D. found two fake U.S. passports and two first-class tickets for Washington, D.C. in their luggage.”  
“They have reservation at the Barclay through November tenth,” I inform Ducky.  
“The Maine Corps’ birthday,” Ducky release why we are all so concerned.  
“They’re holding the ball there. Hosted by the commandant of the marine corps,” Gibbs informs Ducky.  
“Our top military leaders, congressmen and agency directors will be there, including me,” Shepard says while boosting her own importance.  
“Tony and Ziva have taken their room reservations at the Barclay. They’re there now pretending to be these two. They’re working blind, Duck.”  
“We’re counting on you to fill them in on some of the more personal details of our couple.”  
“Oh, though it may be common knowledge that I talk to my patients. Unfortunately, to date, none of them have answered me back,” Ducky informs us.  
“Listen harder,” Gibbs orders.  
“Well, one did. Then he held us hostage all day without any coffee, and he shot Gerald, Gibbs and me. Then because we didn’t kill him, he killed my sister to get his sister, her life,” I remind Ducky making him node at me in memory. I add, “If these two talk back, remove their organs. It would have fixed Ari and we wouldn’t have so many murderers on the team.” Because of my comments on Ari Gibbs and Ducky laugh at me while Shepard glares at me because I’m putting her girlfriend down again.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Comfortable, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks Tony from our spot in MTAC that night.  
“Well, yeah. I’m working on it. Why do you ask?”  
“We’re looking at you, Agent DiNozzo. All of you,” Shepard informs Tony.  
“Ah, sorry about that,” Tony says while covering his body.  
“DiNozzo, what the hell are you? You’re married assassins. You’re not visiting the Playboy mansion,” Gibbs snaps at Tony while tightening his grip on his coffee.  
“It was kind of Ziva’s idea, boss.”  
“So if Ziva tells you to kill yourself, would you just kill yourself?” I ask Tony because come on, she planned Kate’s murder and now Tony is doing anything she tells him.  
“Incoming call,” Tony says when the phone rings without commenting on my comment.  
“Have her answer it,” Shepard orders Tony.  
“Sweet cheeks, do you think you could go over and answer the phone for me while I pour us some champagne?” Tony says to Ziva who walks over to the phone making Tony add, “Thanks, honey.”  
“Yes… got it,” Ziva answers the phone. Ziva says to Tony, “The concierge. We were able to get into the dining room after all, my love. It looks like I’m getting dressed up for you tonight.”  
“That wasn’t the concierge. That was their contact,” I state making Gibbs node in agreement.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Don’t look at me that way, Gibbs. It was league night when I got your nine-one-one. I was two frames away from a perfect score. And just for the record, the stupid outfits were not my idea,” Abby says while walking into autopsy wearing, bowling shoes, striped socks, a poodle skirt, and pink blouse and jacket. Her hair is tied back with a pink chiffon ribbon, giving her a classic ‘50’s look.  
“I like it,” Gibbs says.  
“Me too,” I agree with Gibbs while looking at Abby’s outfit.  
“It is kind of cute, huh?” Abby agrees with giving us a twirl to make the dress fan out.  
“No sign of Mister Palmer I suppose,” Ducky informs us.  
“Not since this afternoon, Ducky.”  
“Abs, these are their personal effects. Get yourself wired so you can feed whatever you find directly to DiNozzo and David,” Gibbs orders Abby.  
“Looking for anything in particular?”  
“Yeah, anything that will help those two act like them,” I explain to Abby before leaving autopsy with Gibbs.  
“Are you alright?” Gibbs asks me when we get into the elevator.  
“It’s not fair that Abby looks good in everything she wears,” I complain making Gibbs laugh.  
“You do too.”  
“Thanks,” I say to him because he didn’t even hesitate for that complement like he was waiting to say that.  
“It’s true,” Gibbs promise me with a sexy smirk on his face.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Solid on the visuals, Tony,” Gibbs says over the radio as we watch them on the lab plasma screen.  
“There’s quite a crowd here tonight. See anyone you know, sweet cheeks?” Tony asks Ziva.  
“Not yet. But the night’s just getting started, my little hairy butt,” Ziva answers Tony making me pull a face, I didn’t need to know that. But I guess I already know that because I have seen Tony naked in Gitmo and early tonight.  
“Abs?” Gibbs calls out to Abby to do her bit.  
“I’m loading the phots into the computer,” Abby informs us while taking a photo of each person Tony looks at like with that stripper case with Kate and Tony.  
“Ducky, got any scoop of out married couple?” I ask Ducky as he walks into the lab.  
“I have the breakdown of the contents of their stomachs and intestines. If Mister Ranier had lived, I would have suggested a more fibre rich diet. His colon was almost impacted with faecal material,” Duck informs us.  
“Good evening, table for tow?” the water says to Tony and Ziva.  
“DO you think it’s too late to order a salad?” Tony asks Ziva.  
“I believe our food is here. Bon appetite Mon petit bout,” Ziva says to Tony.  
“McGee, report,” Gibbs orders his other agent.  
“I’ve got the restaurant covered from the entrance, boss,” McGee reports.  
“I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy,” Tony says while picking up the knife and forks.  
“Tony, the calluses on Mister Ranier’s hand suggest he was left handed,” Ducky informs Tony.  
“Switch hands, DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders his agent.  
“This is nice, isn’t it?” Ziva says to Tony while he switches hands to eat.  
“Yeah, a quiet little dinner… just the seven of us,” Tony bitches.  
“Our friend is calling,” Ziva informs us while answering the phone.  
“Abs. I want that number,” Gibbs orders Abby.  
“Got it. Starting the reverse search directory now,” Abby agrees while getting to work on it.  
“I’m glad you called. We were getting bored,” Ziva says into the phone. She continues, “He’s here…? Relax, I’m been flying for over twenty hours. And the restaurants packed. We will.”  
“Talk to me, Aby,” Gibbs orders Abby.  
“He’s calling from a pay phone. The address is coming up,” Abby reports to us.  
“You didn’t mention anything about being surrounded by U.S. Marine. It too dangerous for the sum you’re paying us… but you won’t pay us more,” Ziva says into the phone.  
“Got it! Two, two oh five, ‘M’ street. He’s calling from a pay phone inside the restaurant!” Abby informs us.  
“DiNozzo! McGee!” Gibbs orders the,.  
“Already moving,” McGee agrees with moving away.  
“I have to go to the little boy’s room,” Tony says to Ziva while getting up and moving off.  
“Do that. We’ll wait for you to… he hung up,” Ziva informs us.  
:Don’t move! Federal Agent!” McGee calls out.  
“It’s me, probie. He’s gone,” Tony says to McGee while turning around. Tony continues, “Must’ve slipped out through the kitchen. I don’t even get a look. You want us back at the squad room, boss?”  
“No. I want you and Ziva back in your room, maintaining your cover,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Oh, all night?” Tony ask s him hesitantly.  
“Do I stutter or something, DiNozzo?” Gibbs snaps at Tony before ending the radio transmission.  
“Hey Abs, what do you got?” I ask her.  
“I have a ‘whoopee’ and I have a ‘but’,” Abby informs us.  
“Abby,” Gibbs begins.  
“Whoopee I’ve got a photo of the man that Tony and Ziva are going to assassinate.”  
“But?” I ask her.  
“But… I have no idea which of these thirty two photos is him.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What makes you think he target’s a male? Did you forget I’ll be there?” Shepard asks Gibbs back in MTAC.  
“Nope,” Gibbs begins.  
“Who would want to assassinate you?” I ask her because every time we see her she makes a big think about herself, even with the last case she was so busy making a big thing of herself that she was going to let a lead simmer until she was ready.  
“Besides you?” Gibbs ask me with a smirk because I would kill her if I could get away with it.  
“I don’t want to kill her. I just don’t like her or want her to be the madam director because she changes things that don’t need changing,” I defend myself.  
“Whoever set up the hit referred to the collar as a man,” Gibbs explains to Shepard who is glaring at me because she really doesn’t like me but I don’t care.  
“You’ve made contact,” Shepard says to Gibbs while ignoring me again.  
“Ziva got a pay-phone call.”  
“You trace it?”  
“Gee, why didn’t you think of that?” I ask Gibbs while I snap my fingers in disappointment.  
“Gee, why did I think of that?” Gibbs says sarcastically at the same time.  
“Sorry, Jethro. I’m a little tired,” Shepard defends herself to him while ignoring me.  
“Yeah, well, you never could pace yourself very well.”  
“I have one word for you, Jethro.”  
“Hmm…”  
“Positano.”  
“Come on! That was a week after I took a bullet.”  
“Uh-huh. Where did the call originate?”  
“Pay phone in the hotel,” I state.  
“We got there. The guy was gone,” Gibbs adds.  
“At lease we know he’s here keeping tabs on the operation,” Shepard states.  
“Abby’s matching these photos with reservations in the restaurant. She’ll check the names against invites to the ball. It’ll narrow the target.”  
“What if the hit has nothing to do with the ball? Someone who’s a guest at the hotel?”  
“Ziva told him she didn’t know the target would be surrounded by marines.”  
“And he wasn’t surprised?”  
“No… Hey, nothing’s going to happen tonight. Tony and Ziva are hitting the rack. All the back-up teams are in place around the hotel. Why don’t you go grab forty on the couch in your office?”  
“No. I just need a little coffee?”  
“Yeah? And when the caffeine jolt ends?”   
“I’ll do what you do… get a refill.”  
“You’re not me.”  
“Chauvinist.”  
“Yeah. Yeah. I guess. Good night, Jen.”  
“Jethro…”  
“Uh huh…”  
“I need to bounce something off you.”  
“Okay, shoot.”  
“My director side is telling me to flood that hotel with security and notify the FBI of a potential terrorist attack. My agent side? If I do that, we lose the chance to take down an enemy cell operating inside the capitol. They’ll scatter. Of course, you’d stay the course. Trust your people to get the job done.”  
“Are you tell me what I’d do?”  
“Asking.”  
“If I was director, I’d give my people another twenty four. They can’t get the job done, I’d notify the FBI.”  
“You’d really do that?”  
“Nah. But that’s why I’ll never be director.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
That night we went home because Gibbs trust his team and there is no point being at the office waiting for something to happen.  
“Why do your team always get the overnight cases?” I ask Gibbs as he places the pizza on the table to eat for dinner.  
“Because we’re one of the best,” Gibbs answers me.  
“How? Tony’s been on the team for years.”  
“We do well even with that disability.”  
“Big disability,” I joke while I enjoy the pizza.  
“I’ll give you that,” Gibbs agrees with me while playing an old western on the TV. We silent watch the TV while eating the pizza. Once the food is gone I snuggle up into Gibbs arms, because even though he hurt me, he makes me feel safe and loved.  
“Why do you want this? Their so unrealised,” I ask Gibbs as he wraps his arms around my shoulder.  
“I like them,” Gibbs answers me while happily watching his TV show from the olden days when it was black and white.  
“No points for taste,” I mumble without thought because they are bad, and even the props are bad.  
“Yes there is, I picked you,” Gibbs whispers into my ear making my face heat up with a dark blush because that was too smooth.   
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I watch my western with my girl laying on my chest. I can’t believe she is willing to lay on my chest when I hurt her so much and she still likes me. I rub her hair as I watch the TV show, I can’t help it her hair is too smooth and long.   
As the move comes to the end, I expect Alice to get up but she doesn’t move. I look at her face to see she is sleeping, which I mean come on, it’s not that bad of a show.   
“Alice, baby wake up,” I say to her softly. She groans but doesn’t wake up, just snuggle closer into my chest. “Alice come on, let’s get.” I finally get Alice to wake up, but she looks so cute, half asleep and glaring at me for waking her up.  
“I was comfortable,” Alice complains.  
“I know. Come on, you can go for a bath, then go to bed,” I order her softly while leading her into the bedroom.  
While she is showing to get clean I fold down her side of the bed and place a bottle of water for her to drink tonight.  
Once Alice is out of the bathroom she climbs into the bed while I get clean and then put our clothes into the washing machine before joining her in the bed.  
“Night, Jethro,” Alice mumbles when I pull her into my arms, out of her pillow fort she is sleeping in.  
“Night, baby,” I mumble while pacing a quick kiss on her lips but Alice puts more pleasure behind it. The kiss doesn’t get heated but it is full of passion known the least.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXAlice pov  
.  
“Good morning, boss, Alice. Thank you. Hey boss, this was sitting on my front porch this morning,” McGee informs us while holding up a package for Ziva.  
“What is it?” I ask him in confusion.  
“It’s a package addressed to Ziva.”  
“Well, yeah. I can see that, McGee. What is in it?” Gibbs demands of Gibbs.  
“I wasn’t sure if I should open it.”  
“That’s probably why she’s using you as her mule,” Gibbs informs McGee before opening the box.  
“Sunglasses? With different lenses?”  
“Why?” I ask them.  
“To protect her eyes? You know what, I’m going to ask her. I’m going to find out.”  
“Yeah, good idea, McGee. Send them a wake-up call,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What have we found out, Duck?” Gibbs ask Ducky as we walk into autopsy.  
“That my assistant, mister Palmer here, should keep his cell phone with him and turned on at all times,” Ducky answers Gibbs.  
“What can you tell us about our assassins?” I correct Gibbs’ question.  
“Oh, Mister Ranier here had his appendix removed. Mrs had her left wrist broken as a child. We did, however, find some rather curious markings.”  
“Markings?” Gibbs asks Ducky in surprise.  
“Well, tattoos might be the more appropriate word. Almost invisible to the naked eye. On the inside of the fourth digit on both of their left hands.”  
“An eight?” I ask him because where I am standing it looks like an eight.  
“Or the sign for infinity.”  
“Some kind of terrorist cell I.D?” Gibbs asks him.  
“On their ring fingers, perhaps it means love forever. You know, I want to take another look at the x-rays, make sure I didn’t miss anything else.”  
“Yeah, do it. You missed a stitch there, Palmer,” Gibbs says to Jimmy before we leave autopsy.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Top floor, northwest corner, Gibbs. They have a laser trained on our room,” Ziva informs us as we stand in MTAC while wearing her new sunglasses McGee delivered to her.  
“I can’t believe that your sunglasses can detect different light spectrums, Ziva. That’s amazing,” McGee exclaims in surprise.  
“DiNozzo, we’re going to need a diversion,” Gibbs orders his agent.  
“IU think we can manage something, boss,” Tony agrees.  
“Let’s roll, McGee, Alice.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We’re in position, DiNozzo. Give it the big finish,” Gibbs orders Tony as we are in the hallway outside the room that is watching Tony and Ziva. Tony and Ziva pretend to have an orgasm right as we kick the door in and rush into the room.  
“Put them down!” Gibbs orders the other people in the room, because we all our guns trained on each other.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How do I explain to the Director of the FBI that we’re running an undercover op in his jurisdiction without informing him?” Shepard demands of Gibbs while we stand on the balcony looking down at the squad room.  
“With a smile,” Gibbs answers her from his spot leaning on the balcony railing.  
“It’s not funny, Gibbs.”  
“They has intel the two assassins were going to hit a target at the Marine Corps birthday call. Did you get that memo?”  
“No. why didn’t I think of that?”  
“Because you’re exhausted. I told you to get some sleep, and do that before you take on the Director of the FBI.”  
“I can’t, Jethro.”  
“I can fix this,” Gibbs offers while standing up straight.  
“How?”  
“You’re not the only one around here who knows how to play politics.”  
“You’re not serious? Your idea of politics usually involves some form of physical violence.”  
“Well, you know what they say, Jen. You can’t make an omelette unless you break a few eggs.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you free to go now?” Maya asks Gibbs back in the squad room.  
“Not yet. What the hell is NCIS doing at the Barclay, McGee?” Fornell demands of Gibbs.  
“Our job, Fornell,” Gibbs snaps at his friend.  
“Yeah? That involve jeopardizing our operation?”  
“That’s part of the fun, not the plan,” I explain to Fornell making him give me a look because I always likes running his day.  
“You’re damn lucky we didn’t blow these two away!” Gibbs says to Fornell while pointing to the two FBI agents who was watching Ziva and Tony.  
“Which wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t strayed into our jurisdiction!” Fornell snaps back at Gibbs.  
“Conference room. Now.”  
“So anxious to play with the big boys.”  
“Really? Big boys my ass,” Gibbs answers Fornell as they walk to the elevator.  
“Yeah, this is going to be ugly,” McGee comments.  
“Oh, yeah. Fornell hasn’t been this upset since,” Maya, the female agents, begins.  
“The last time we saw him,” Yussif, the male agent, finishes for him.  
“They’ll be fine. They both mostly adults,” I say to the boys while moving over to my computer making all the agents give me a look.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Gum?” Fornell offers me a pack of gum.  
“The big boys?” I ask him with laughter in my voice, that’s bad.  
“We really screwed this one up.”  
“Oh, you think, Tobias?”  
“The question is, how do we fix it without our Directors getting into a world class pissing match?”  
“Joint op. or let Alice go at the, she’ll piss them both of then bite them.”  
“Whose lead? And we’ll hold Alice in reserve for the backup plan.”  
“My team’s already in place.”  
“Did you find out who hired them yet?”  
“Not yet. Working on it.”  
“I need more than that if I’m going to tap dance at the hoover building, Jethro.”  
“Give us twenty four hours, then we flip.”  
“FBI gets operational control?”  
“Yeah, and credit for the collar.”  
“Agreed. The director get to save face and we…”  
“Get the job done.”  
“And people say we’re bastards?”  
“Only because they know us,” I answer him making Fornell chuckle at me.  
“So what’s going on between you and Miss Todd?”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”  
“Jethro, I know you better than that. What’s going on.”  
“She my girlfriend, don’t steal this one or I’ll shoot you.”  
“Don’t want her. She like pissing people off too much, she matches your personality more anyway.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Good, Chip. She’s pregnant,” Abby says to Chip the clip.  
“Who’s pregnant?” Gibbs asks Abby as we enter the lab.  
“Ziva. I mean, not Ziva, Ziva, but Sophie Ranier, our dead hit girl. She’s got a bun in the oven.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“In position, Boss,” McGee reports because Tony and Ziva is meeting with the person how hired them.  
“Your people, set Tobias?” Gibbs asks his old friend from our spot in MTAC.  
“Got four unmarked vehicles standing by. We’ll be able to follow them wherever they go,” Fornell reports to Gibbs from beside me.  
“Tony, Ziva, get ready to roll. Hour’s almost up.”  
“Roger that, boss.”  
“No sign of the Lincoln yet,” McGee informs us from his spot.  
“That’s a solid copy, McGee. We’re sending them down,” Gibbs says while I hold his hand because what if something happens to Tony, I can’t bury another friend and it keeps me grounded.  
“All mobile units prepare to roll on my mark,” Fornell orders his men.  
“This reminds me of our op in the former Czech Republic,” Shepard says to Gibbs.  
“You took a round in the thigh,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“I had the same bad feeling before that op, too.”  
“Tony, Bitch, we’re not taking any chances on this. First sign it goes bad you call it,” I say to my friend and my not friend.  
“Okay, black Lincoln just pulled up,” McGee reports to us.  
“Yeah, I got a visual on that, McGee.”  
“A man and a women just got out. Heading into the hotel. Car’s leaving.”  
“We can see that, McGee,” I snap at McGee we can see that we don’t need him to give a play by play.  
“All units, hold your positions. That’s not our Lincoln,” Fornell orders him team.  
“Tony, Ziva, do you copy? DiNozzo! I said, do you cope? McGee! What the hell is going on there?” Gibbs demands when we lose contact with our team. My second hand comes up and grips Gibbs upper arm in fear, I need my friends, and they can’t take another one from me.  
“Boss, they’re not in their room. They never arrived in the lobby,” McGee informs us making my breathing stop, no, no, no. this can’t and won’t happen.  
“My teams have the entire outside of the building covered. They didn’t leave the hotel, Gibbs, Fornell informs us.  
“Last contact was at the elevator. That leaves eleven floors they could have gotten off at,” Shepard reminds us but I just want to hear Tony’s voice or I’ll even settle for Ziva.  
“Eleven floors, McGee! How many rooms are we looking at?” Gibbs demands of our man.  
“Um… well if we don’t count individual bathrooms and closets,” McGee rambles.  
“McGee!” I snap at him, I can’t take rambling right now, I need my friends and useless information.  
“Two hundred, sixty four hotel rooms, twenty two utility rooms.”  
“They haven’t checked in because they can’t,” Gibbs states while holding my hand tightly.  
“They’re at the meet right now?” Shepard asks him.  
“They removed their earwigs and they dumped their com when it was changed to the hotel,” Gibbs offers a reason why we can’t talk to Tony and Ziva.  
“We go room by room. My people seal off the exterior,” Fornell begins planning a rescue mission.  
“No! we wait,” Shepard snaps at Fornell while cutting him off.  
“What for?”  
“For Ziva to contact us. We move now, we blow their cover, Fornell.”  
“And if their cover is already blown, director?”  
“She doesn’t care about the people, as long as she looks good to the other directors. This isn’t the first time she wants to hold off until she likes the time to act, no matter who’s life ends because of it. Even if that someone’s her girlfriend,” I explain to Fornell while trying not to let my voice shake.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s bad news. It’s very, very bad. Remember when we missed grabbing the guy in the restaurant?” Abby rambles when we walk into the lab, hoping she has something to find Tony and Ziva.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs says to her.  
“Well, Tony said he didn’t see anything. But the eye sees more than we think it does. It’s the brain that misses stuff. It has to do with the firing of the optic nerve and the visual cortex’s…”  
“You found something on Tony’s camera,” I cut Abby off.  
“Well, I went to the feed frame by frame. Now, Tony is looking at the pay phone because that’s where he things the target is. But a camera doesn’t think. It just records. So when he runs past the kitchen door of the restaurant, he got… this,” Abby informs us while showing us the video.  
“Our bad guy. Run it. I want a name,” Gibbs orders her.  
“I do. I did. Marcos Ceasan. He’s a contract assassin, Gibbs. He’s wanted in more than five countries. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would a killer hire other hillers to do a hit for him?” Abby gives the confusion information, making Gibbs give her a caf-pow as thanks before we leave the lab.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I found a chip in it,” Abby informs us while talking about a heart that Ducky found in Mrs Ranier’s eye.  
“Flash memory embedded underneath, sir. Five hundred megabyte capacity. Fifty MPS throughout,” Chip informs Gibbs.  
“Translation, it contains the Raniers’ personal data in two files. One has a list of numbered bank accounts, a deed for a restaurant, a house in Gilead, marine.”  
“We also ran the address. The phone service and cable are scheduled to be turned on next week, sir.”  
“Sounds like a retirement plan,” Fornell says what we are all hearing.  
“She was pregnant,” I inform Fornell, what he doesn’t know.  
“They were getting out of the business. What about the other file?” Gibbs adds.  
“It has a list of their clients: their names, addresses, phone numbers, all their information. Everything,” Abby informs us.  
“Insurance policy?” Fornell offers.  
“Their ticket out,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“They weren’t hired to make a hit, Gibbs.”  
“They are the hit.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I hope you weren’t counting on your backup, Mrs Ranier,” Marcos, one of the other hit men, says to Ziva ask they walk into Tony and Ziva’s hotel room.  
“He’s not my back up,” Ziva corrects him, giving Gibbs the changes to knock Marcos out and cuff him.  
“Tony?” I demand of her.  
“Third floor, room three five six,” Ziva answers me.  
“All teams, third floor, room three five six. Federal agent in distress,” Fornell says into his radio.  
“Copy. We’re moving,” one of his agents answer.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The emergency room seems to have done a pretty good job. How do you feel?” Ducky asks Tony who is at is desk in the squad room while dressed up to go somewhere.  
“Better, now that I can breathe,” Tony answers him.  
“There doesn’t appear to be ant permanent damage. How many times did he hit you?”  
“I wasn’t counting.”  
“Seven times,” Ziva informs him.  
“She was, of course.”  
“It was hard not to.”  
“Hey tony,” I call over to my friend-ish person making him look at me before I click my fingers in the same pattern as the good wife club case making him smile, his head might hurt but it was a small remind of the good times.  
“We’re going to take really good care of you, Tony. I had chip pull your car right around front,” Abby informs Tony while smiling because she has heard the story before.  
“He drove my car?” Tony asks while pointing at the unwanted assistant.  
“Just from your parking space. I took extra special care,” Chip promise Tony.  
“Oh, thanks,” Tony says while taking his keys off the chip the freak.  
“And uh… I’m driving you home,” Ziva informs Tony while snatching his keys.  
“Probie…”  
“Uh Ziva, actually you shouldn’t probably drive him home tonight,” McGee begins.  
“Why’s that?” Ziva demands.  
“Because you’re a murderer waiting for the moment to attack,” I offer.  
“Maybe he wants to live,” Abby overlaps me.  
“Yes, well however you get home, I suggest a couple of aspirin… yes, and perhaps some scotch,” Ducky informs Tony.  
“I thought doctors weren’t supposed to prescribe alcohol anymore, Duck,” Gibbs says to his old friend.  
“Well, it always seems to work for you.”  
“Did you get tickets to that gazelle thing again?”  
“It’s Giselle, Jethro. And no, that’s not tonight. Marine corps birthday. She didn’t tell you?” Ducky asks Gibbs before looking at Shepard who walking into the squad room dressed up to the nine. Ducky continue, “Our lovely Director has asked me to escort her.”  
“All right, good night, boss. All right, I’m good,” Tony says to Gibbs before stumbling out of the squad room.  
“Hey Gibbs, happy birthday,” Abby says to Gibbs before leaving too, leaving just Gibbs and me in the squad room together. I see that Gibbs needs a moment to himself so I head over to the head and wash my face and hand. I then walk to the office kitchen and get us both a crappy coffee before walking back into the squad room to see Gibbs is rubbing a silver pocket flask.  
“Hey,” I say to him softly so he can put the flask away if he wants to but he just takes another sip of it.  
“Hey,” Gibbs greets me back.  
“Crappy coffee?”  
“Thanks,” Gibbs mumbles while taking the coffee. We silently drink our coffee for a couple of minutes while Gibbs is looking at the flask, he suddenly says, “Shannon and Kelly gave me this.”  
‘Jethro, for good lick,  
Love  
Shannon and Kelly,’ is written on the flask with a bullet next to the word love.  
“It’s very pretty,” I say while looking at it but I wouldn’t touch it because I don’t want to take anything from Shannon or Kelly or Gibbs why touching their things or anything they touched.  
“They gave this to me, on the last marine corps birthday we spent together.”  
“Smart girls, I would have given you a cup of coffee and left it at that.”  
“They were very smart. I wish you could have meet them,” Gibbs says with tears gathering in his lower eye lids when he thinks about his family.  
“I would have liked to have meet them, even if I didn’t get to get you, I would have liked to meet someone who could make you so happy,” I admit.  
“You make me happy too,” Gibbs says.  
“Not like they did,” I say but I don’t mind because he deserves to be happy, even if I don’t get to be happy with him.  
“Of course you do,” Gibbs tries to convince me.  
“Jethro, I don’t mind that someone else made you happy, maybe happier than when you are with me. You deserve to me happy, and that family made you happy,” I explain to him while pointing at the flask while smiling at him so he understand that this doesn’t hurt me like Shepard does. I add, “No come on, I want to watch you not get anywhere with that boat of yours.”  
“I’m getting somewhere. Building a boat takes time,” Gibbs defends his boat with a smile like he’s heard my line before but I don’t care three years and he hasn’t gotten any further than the first time I walked down into the basement.


	10. Frame-Up

“Ooh, yeah, baby! Come on. Ooh. Come on, come on. Oh, yikes,” Tony says while clicking away at his computer as we work at our respective desk in the squad room while Ziva reads about American slang to understand Tony more easily. Today I decided to wear a white t-shirt with jeans and my horse belt that Gibbs replaced when Tony and Kate destroyed it.  
“I’m trying to concentrate,” Ziva demands of Tony.  
“That makes two of us, then, doesn’t it, Ziva?”  
“Yeah, me and McGee. Gibbs too if you count him,” I input into Tony and Ziva’s conversation without looking up from the computer I am working at.  
“Is it work-related?” Ziva asks Tony while ignoring me because she has finally worked out if she ignores me it is lease likely for me to throw my dog food at her.  
“Of course it’s work-related, Ziva,” Tony says to Ziva.  
“Judge My Trash-dot-com?” McGee reads out what has Tony’s attention.  
“Hey, a little privacy here, probie!” Tony exclaims while pushing McGee away from his desk, making McGee flash is ass from under his suit jacket making Ziva judge it.  
“I give it a four,” Ziva informs McGee.  
“Are you kidding? Four?” McGee exclaims in insult, how is his ass the topic of conversation?  
“Out of five, I think that’s good. Isn’t it?”  
“Out of five.”  
“What do you think about this one? Come on. Come on,” Tony ask while sticking his ass out making me roll my ass, I don’t want to see their asses, now if we… I were judging Gibbs ass that would be different and I would definitely want to touch it so I can give it an accurate ratting.  
“No. I will not get involved with this any further. Gibbs always seems to be just around the corner. No. no! no!” Ziva exclaims in fear of getting into trouble while talking over Tony.  
“Come on. Give me a little here. Give me a little something. Come on! What do you think? Rate it,” Tony orders Ziva over her exclaim of fear.  
“Fine. A two.”  
“A two???” Tony exclaims making McGee laughing at him. Tony says again in surprise and disappointment, “A two?”  
“What’s a two, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of his agent while walking over to his desk.  
“I was just explaining the rules to Ziva, boss.”  
“And number two is what?”  
“You know, I was a little fuzzy on two.”  
“Always wear gloves at a crime scene,” I read to Tony what Kate crochet onto pillows as a joke. I have all the pillows at work because their work related and they piss the director off. I throw rule two at Tony making the pillow contact with Tony’s head, making him give me a shocked look. I laugh at that because he looks like he woke up with a iguanas in his bed again.  
“Grab your gear. We’re going to Quantico,” Gibbs orders us while grabbing his gear and we all jump into action. Tony throws the pillow back to me where I put it on the ledge behind my desk under the plasma screen. “What was the two really for?” Gibbs asks me softly as he leads me to the elevator as Tony and Ziva talk when they bump into each other on the way to the elevator.  
“Ziva rated Tony and McGee’s asses. McGee’s a four out of five and Tony’s…”  
“A two,” Gibbs finishes for me with a node. He then asks me tightly, “So, what did they rate yours?”  
“No one rated my ass. I’m not letting them man-children look at my ass.”  
“Good.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Marines ran tactics through these woods every day, sir,” Brooks explains to us who the body parts was found.  
“What time yesterday?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Nineteen hundred.”  
“Ducky, where’s jimmy?”  
“Having a root canal. Allow me,” Ducky answers him.  
“Thank you,” Ziva says to Ducky who holds a tree branch back for her and me to walk past.  
“Thanks,” I say to him softly before Ducky lets the ranch go, making it almost smack McGee in the face.  
“Thank you,” McGee mumbles.  
“Oh, watch your step,” Ducky warns us when the rocks under us becomes lose.  
“Toda,” Ziva says to him in a Hebrew meaning ‘thank you.’  
“Al lo davar,” Ducky responds in Hebrew meaning ‘you’re welcome.’ He then returns to English when I look confused because I don’t understand and my father is talking to the person who killed my sister e continue, “Oh, let me give you a hand.”  
“No, no, no. it’s lovely that chivalry is not dead, Doctor. But in the army, I swam three miles across the red sea after scaling rough cliff without safety lines. I believe I can manage. Oh!” Ziva explains as we begin crossing the river but she is so busy boosting her training that she steps on a wet, slippy, rock nock Ducky an me into the cold water.  
“How refreshing. An independent woman,” Ducky laughs at Ziva while checking I’m okay, and moving faster than I have ever seen him move when he sees blood diluting the water to a reddy colour. He begins checking me over but it’s just my knee that I scraped. “Alice, does that hurt?”  
“My jeans, I love these jeans,” I complain. I don’t really care about the scrapped knee because my jeans now have a hole in them.  
“Are you aright, my dear?” Ducky repeats while checking my knee.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. But my jeans aren’t,” I answer my father as he looks at my knee before grabbing a alcohol clothe and cleaning the wound before covering it was a band aid out of his field kit. We get up from the water and I notice that my shit is see thru because it got wet. I blush while crossing my arms over my chest knowing Tony is standing on the edge of the river, and he can see my bra throw the white shirt.  
“What’s going on here?” Gibbs demands while storming over to us.  
“The bitch nocked everyone off the rocks because she wasn’t concentrating,” I explain to him while walking out of the cold water.  
“Really?” Gibbs asks me while removing his jacket and laying it over my shoulders, hiding the wet t-shirt before Tony can take a photo.  
“Yep. Thanks,” I add while holding the coat closed.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“They were under this bush here, until I… uh… moved one to here,” Brooks explains to us while showing us the legs that he found.  
“The teenagers?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Said they never noticed the legs.”  
“Tony, shoot. Ziva, bag and tag. McGee, samples.”  
“Got it,” McGee nodes while getting to it.  
“Well, I’m afraid a liver temp is out of the question,” Ducky informs us.  
“Well, talk to me, Duck,” Gibbs orders his old friend.  
“It’s very strange. The marbling on the skin indicates advanced decomposition. But the complete lack of insect activity on the moist are of the open thigh indicates a cessation of decay.”  
“Any idea how long?” I ask my father softly.  
“Well, the muscles have gone through all three stages of rigor mortis, so that give us at least forty eight hours. But Jethro, the leg is in pristine condition, apparently untouched by air, water, soil, or insect.”  
“Frozen?” Gibbs asks him.  
mm-mm. no ice crystals.”  
“Basement?” I guess next.  
“Well, if that’s the case, we are dealing with a dark sol… one who kills, cuts and keeps.”  
“I think we’re almost done here, Gibbs,” Ziva says to Gibbs while holding up a rubber glove tip.  
“No, I don’t think so. I want every paper, projectile, stomped-on leaf within a ten-foot radius of both legs,” Gibbs orders them making Ziva giggle at Tony’s face.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yes, nobody has the bad taste to verbalize such a thought until now. Now that you’ve come to mention it, they do look remarkably similar to Betty Grable’s,” Ducky says to Jimmy as we walk into autopsy to see that they are talking about the legs. I have changed out of my wet cloth into new jeans and a red shirt this time.  
“Betty?” Jimmy asks in confusion.  
“One of the all-time pin-up gals in the forties,” Gibbs informs Jimmy while announcing out presents.  
“Yeah, great gams,” Ducky agrees with Gibbs.  
“Gams?” Jimmy asks in confusion because he doesn’t understand the old time lingo.  
“Aren’t you a little young to remember Betty Grable, Jethro?”  
“My dad had her painted on the nose of his P-Fifty-One, Duck,” Gibbs explains how he knows who she was.  
“A P-Fifty-One?” Jimmy asks again but no-one listens.  
“Up to Abby. Quick as you can,” Ducky orders Jimmy while handing him the swab evidence from different parts of the legs.  
“Yes, Doctor,” Jimmy says while leaving the room.  
“What do we know about our Jane Doe?” I ask my father.  
“She was young. Look at her femur here. It’s one of the last bones in the body to develop fully. In the female , growth is complete around the age twenty five. I’d say our victim was between nineteen and twenty one,” Ducky informs us while showing us the bone.  
“I.D?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Without a toe print database, I’m afraid we’ll just have to rely on good old DNA.”  
“What about the splotch on her calf, Ducky?” I ask him while pointing to it.  
“Blood. I’d say the assailant’s. it’s on its way up to Abby’s mass spectrometer.”  
“Couldn’t be hers?” Gibbs ask him.  
“It could be. But she was dead long before she was dissected. Blood no longer pulsed through her veins, when, what I guess was a surgical saw, severed her thighs from her torso. Look, see how my glove sticks here? Also headed up to the mass spectrometer. Yes, but take a look at this.”  
“Skins been removed,” I mumble while looking at the legs, who could do this to someone, kill her, then take the legs off and then take some skin off the legs. That’s just wrong and this guy needs stopping.  
“Yes. A meticulously cut circle.”  
“Strange keepsake?” Gibbs asks him while placing his hand on my back softly.  
“Actually, I think it was the killer trying to remove his marks.”  
“Like all sex killers after Bundy?” I ask my father.  
“Yes, after Theodore Bundy was identified and caught by his brooked lover teeth, sadistic biters have been forced to excise their evidence. You know, I think I might be able to get an impression of teeth from the underlying damaged tissue.”  
“You could get me a bite mark?” Gibbs asks him in surprise, that would be very impressive from this mess of missing skin.  
“Worth a try.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“For a Caucasian female, a factor of two point nine oh is multiplied by the tibia length,” Ziva reads out to McGee from her spot behind him as he works away at his computer in the hopes of finding the victim’s height.  
“Okay, autopsy report says tibia is thirty eight point three four centimetres,” McGee reads out loud as he types it into his computer.  
“What are you doing?” Tony asks them in confusion.  
“We are calculating our Jane Doe’s probable height and weight.”  
“Why didn’t you ask me?”  
“Tony, these are complex equations we’re dealing with,” Ziva reminds him.  
“Whatever. She was what – five eight. So she’s line a hundred and twenty five, hundred twenty six pounds,” Tony guess before answering his ringing phone, “Hey.”  
“Okay. One eleven point one eight six for adipose. Density of musculature,” McGee says.  
“Let’s add sixty one point five three,” Ziva corrects him.  
“One seventy two point seven two centimetres for height.”  
“Ducky estimates fifty seven point zero kilograms in weight.”  
“Converting to imperial… and we’re done.”  
“She’s five foot eight,” Ziva reads off McGee computer.  
“One twenty five and a half pounds?” McGee finish reading it off making me laugh because Tony was right and they look so surprised.  
“Hold on a second,” Tony says into his phone with a proud grin on his face.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Gibbs!! All this evidence and a CAFF-POW! Is it my birthday?” Abby asks Gibbs while taking the caff-pow off of him as we walk into the lab that night.  
“Pretend it’s mine,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Okay, here what I have for you. The blood on the calf is different from the victim’s. I sent both off for processing. But here’s your real gift. I found a smudged print on the tip of the glove finger and clarified it into a partial print. Happy birthday.”  
“Got a match?” I ask her.  
“It’s running through AFIS now,” Abby informs us right as the computer beeps telling her it has a hit. She adds ,”Whoa.”  
“I must have ripped a glove at the scene, boss,” Tony defends himself because the fingerprint is his, so we called him down to the lab. We go throw the rubbish to find all the gloves used at the crime scene are in tacked making Tony change it too, “Like I was saying, I must’ve ripped a glove at the crime scene sometime before yesterday.”  
“When was the last time you worked a crime scene at Quantico?” I ask him because that’s not a really good excuse, even for Tony.  
“Napolitano case, boss.”  
“The computer only found three points from your fingerprint to the sample. Most prosecutors want eleven,” Abby say in the hopes of calming Tony down and giving him hope.  
“Well, technically, Abby, the minimum to go to court is one,” Chip say making me glare at him.  
“Chip, shut the fuck up,” I yell at him, Tony is a perv and a creep but he is innocent of this.  
“Well, I’m just saying that, you know, people have been convicted on less.”  
“Well, that’s great, Chipper. Team player,” Tony hisses at Chip while I lunge at Chip but Gibbs picks me up off the ground and against his chest.  
“I’m going to redo this by hand,” Abby promise Tony while doing it. We all watch her with batten breathe because we can’t lose another team member.  
“You set this up, didn’t you?” Tony accuses Ziva making me glare at her, daring her to admit to it.  
“I would never,” Ziva lies but when I scuff she changes it to, “Okay, maybe I would, but I didn’t.”  
“It matches Tony,” Abby informs Gibbs.  
“Put a rush on those blood samples,” Gibbs orders Abby while rubbing my arm to calm me down.  
“I did. But it’s a sixteen hour turnaround.”  
“Make it twelve,” Gibbs orders her before turning to Tony to ask, “When’s the last time you were at the dentist?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Coon’t yoo haa uused my een-all ray-corss?” Tony ask Ducky who is taking his dental impression, the translation is ‘Couldn’t you have used my dental records?’  
“Hold still. This is far faster and more accurate than your x-rays,” Ducky informs Tony while placing his hand on the top of Tony’s head and pulls the mould out of Tony’s mouth.  
“You’re not known for your bedside manner, are you there, Duck?”  
“You’re just upset that I didn’t have peppermint. McGee.”  
“Here’s Tony!” Abby says while pulling Tony’s impression into her computer and comparing it to the bite on the victim’s leg. Abby explains, “The program uses laser scans of three-D objects to create three-D images for comparison.”  
“Computer generated hollow volume overlay. Measures inter0tooth spacing, dental arch, tooth thickness,” Chip explains.  
“All right, enough of the geek speak,” Tony snaps because he’s too stressed.  
“Here’s Ducky’s muscle tissue scan. A little three-D magic for clarity. And I give you… the killer incisors. Next step… and don’t worry, Tony, chances of even one of your teeth matching are like a hundred thousand to one,” Abby explains while procrastinating doing the comparison.  
“Do it, Abby,” Gibbs orders her while I hold his hand and arm in fear. Abby begins doing it, we watch as the computer comprises the two images before it beeps letting us know it matches Tony making my head fall forward into Gibbs arm in fear and sadness. This is wrong and I don’t know how to prove it and Tony is going to go to prison.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Jethro, I know DiNozzo didn’t do this. But I also know that it would be political suicide if we got caught investigating one of our own agents. Appearances matter, Jethro. In this world, sometimes more than facts. It could ruin the agency. Look at Robert Novak and the CIA. You have a responsibility to your man, I know that. But I have a responsibility to the entire agency,” Shepard defends her bad decision she just made.  
“Jen,” I begin.  
“I’m not forgetting the time I stepped in it and you covered my ass until I could get out of it, but that was alone, undercover, and in the field. Half of NCIS already knows about this. I know what you have to do, Jethro, and I won’t stop you. But officially, I am suspending you from investigating this further, and I am turning it over to the FBI.”  
“I know. One request.”  
“I’ll see that Fornell runs the investigation. I always could read you mind.”  
“Not always, Jen,” I corrector her because she failed to do that in the undercover mission we worked together and she failed in respect to Alice.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Still waiting on Jane Doe’s DNA,” Abby reports to Gibbs on the landing outside the director’s office and MTAC.  
“Corporal at Quantico said that there were no missing female dependents or U.A. marines,” McGee adds.  
“Try the base hospital,” Gibbs orders them.  
“I checked missing person for Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. There were a few similar descriptions. Their DNA is headed over now,” Ziva informs him.  
“David Brant,” Gibbs greets someone he seems to know.  
“Gibbs,” Brant says to Gibbs in greeting.  
“I head you were quitting.”  
“I like to refer to it as a lateral move into the recreational sector, Jethro.”  
“I wish you luck with that.”  
“Lateral move into the recreational sector?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Yeah, it mostly means fishing and hitting a golf ball. DiNozzo?” Gibbs explains making me smile because that’s a funny way to say it. When he sits at his desk to see Tony writing away at his desk quietly.  
“Yeah, boss,” Tony ask.  
“What are you doing?” I ask him in confusion, I don’t like this, Tony doesn’t ever sit still or be quiet.  
“Somebody’s setting me up.”  
“Two surgically-removed legs dumped into a training area. Do you think?” Gibbs asks him sarcastically.  
“Yeah, I was trying to think of arrestees with grudges.”  
“Wouldn’t they all have grudges?” Ziva asks him.  
“You see my dilemma.”  
“Mike Masaluse?” McGee reads one of the mean names Tony has written down as a possible person to investigate in this case.  
“He’s the Mafia boss Tony busted in Baltimore,” Gibbs informs us.  
“They get a little touchy when they think of you as family and you turn out to be a cop,” Tony adds.  
“What about that forensics dweeb that you got fired?” Abby asks him.  
“I didn’t arrest him, Abby.”  
“Yeah, but you really, really, really pissed him off.”  
“Forensic tech set a killer free when he contaminated some blood samples. Tony reported him,” McGee comments.  
“Good old George Stewart,” Tony says while remembering the guy.  
“You know, maybe you should expand the list just to include people that just hate you.”  
“Let’s not. We don’t have enough trees in the world to write that list. Starting with Kate and me,” I cut in making Tony give me a look.  
“Hate me? Nobody hates me,” Tony explains before adding, “Kate and you don’t hate me.”  
“She stopped me from shooting you with your own gun.”  
“Paula Cassidy?” McGee offers to Tony.  
“Everyone hates her and she’s like Fornell, unimportant and unnoticed on a good day. This is not a good day, this is a bad day. It needs to sit in the corner and think about what it has done.”  
“Don’t go there. People like me. I’m a nice guy,” Tony defends himself while having to smile at my silliness about this day as I steal Tony’s coffee cup.  
“What about the woman who posted your picture on the herpes alert website?” McGee asks Tony making me put Tony’s coffee back down.  
“Lieutenant Pam Kim.”  
“She se went Fatal Attraction on you,” Abby laughs at Tony.  
“Boiled the bunny.”  
“What about the polar bear?” I ask Tony softly because she was crazy.  
“She got the message long ago.”  
“Nearly took your job for that to happen,” I laugh because it’s funny who far she went while Gibbs threaten to fire Tony because his phone just kept ringing.  
“Oh, don’t forget about Mrs Dean,” McGee reminds Tony.  
“Another girlfriend?” Ziva asks McGee and Tony in confusion.  
“No, she threatened to cut off his… when tony put her husband away for murdering his first wife.”  
“Speaking about wives. What about your ex-girlfriend, Monica?”   
“I always break up with them when I find out they’re married, Ziva,” Tony reminds her.  
“But do they feel the same. And what does the husband think?” I ask Tony.  
“Thank you all, but I think that’s enough.”  
“The personnel in the evidence garage?” Ziva adds.  
“What about them?”  
“They hate you.”  
“She’s right. You never wait your turn to check in evidence,” McGee adds to Ziva’s comment.  
“And women don’t appreciate being called ‘baggie bunnies.’”  
“They’re right, DiNozzo. Eight years. Three different forces,” Gibbs informs Tony making me laugh because he doesn’t normally get involved in our side conversations.  
“That’s a lot of names and people to remember, boss,” Tony complains.  
“Ziva, take the women. McGee, you take the man. Alice and I’ll pull the case files of the ones DiNozzo put away who aren’t on the list,” Gibbs splits up Tony’s life with ease.  
“Wait a minute, you two never do anything,” Tony exclaims while pointing to me and Gibbs making Gibbs slap the back of Tony’s head making him add, “because you’re such a good delegator.”  
“Oh, this is not good,” Abby cays when the elevator arrives with Fornell and an FBI agent.  
“Gibbs. DiNozzo. This is Special Agent Sacks,” Fornell introduce the other agent.  
“He’s being framed,” I inform Fornell while poking him in the chest with every word to make him understand me.  
“I believe you. I’ve been there myself, Alice. I’ll take care of him.”  
“I know, but I want to be kept in the loop,” Gibbs informs Fornell while moving me out of Fornell’s face because I might bite him because he is going to arrest Tony.  
“Oh, not I’m hurt. Are you saying you don’t trust me?”   
“Whoever set this up, Tobias is a pro. If this were to go to court right now, DiNozzo would not stand a chance.”  
“Well, I’ve got a take him into custody for questioning. Or, I guess, we could question him here.”  
“Tony, Fornell’s going to question you,” Gibbs calls to his agent, murderer, and womanizer.  
“You mean interrogate me,” Tony corrects Gibbs.  
“Questions,” I correct Tony.  
“Lie down,” Gibbs orders his agent before Tony and Fornell leave the squad room. Gibbs turns to his agents that are left and whispers “Are we covered on evidence?”   
“I’ll just need a few hours to copy the data from Tony’s hard drive, cell phone and…”  
“I’ll make duplicates of all,” Abby rambles.  
“Have Ducky do the same,” Gibbs orders them.  
“What can I do?” Ziva asks Gibbs.  
“Help. Help Abby. Help McGee. Help Ducky,” Gibbs snaps at her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The U.S. Attorney’s going to see this as a heinous crime, Jethro,” Fornell informs us after Sacks attempts to integrate Tony.  
“It is a heinous crime, Fornell. Tony didn’t do it,” Gibbs reminds Fornell.  
“Without an alibi, I’d be remiss if we didn’t detain him. People are going to think we’re orchestrating a cover-up,” Fornell say before letting us into the integration room where Tony is drumming on the table.  
“Finally! How’d I do?” Tony asks us.  
“Fine,” I answer him shortly.  
“Fine? I thought I was Oscar material.”  
“Fornell’s not going to book you,” Gibbs informs Tony.  
“Uh-huh.”  
“But he is going to take you into custody until we figure out a few things. Sorry,” I apologise to Tony.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you all right?” Gibbs asks Abby who is sitting at her desk in shock that night after Tony was arrested for possibly murder.  
“I must have screwed up, Gibbs,” Abby complains when everything came back to Tony.  
“You didn’t screw up, Abs,” I promise her.  
“And now I have all this evidence. Forensics. The thing that I love and I believe in. and it says Tony’s a murderer.”  
“”Tony’s not a murderer,” Gibbs promises her.  
“I know he’s isn’t. But something’s gotta give. I mean, either the forensics are wrong or it’s bad forensics! Or… we have to save him, Gibbs,” Abby cries making Gibbs pull her into a hug. I make it into a group hug by wrapping my arms around both of them because; we can’t lose another team member.  
“We will.”  
“Because is this goes to court with his fingerprint and his bite mark on the leg, Tony’s going to prison for the rest of his life. And I’ll be the one that put him there,” Abby complains while moving out of the hug while moving back over to her computer to try and prove Tony innocent.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I smelled you coming, boss. Pepperoni, sausage, extra cheese, right? My favourite. Thank you,” Tony rambles while taking the pizza off Gibbs hands. Tony is standing inside a cell while we stand on the other side; he is in blue prison issues clothing because his clothing might be evidence or help him escape. He continues to ramble to himself, “I'll save that for later. You know, I've been thinking. I'm a federal prosecutor's dream. ‘You do tend to date a lot, don't you, Mister DiNozzo?’ ‘Yeah. I do tend to date a lot but where does it say that dating, you know, a new girl every week is a crime?’ ‘No, it's not. But it does speak to your deep-seated psychological problems and commitment issues.’ ‘Really? So you're saying my intimacy issues stem from my mother who dressed me as a sailor until I was ten years old?!’ ‘Maybe! Well, I guess it might explain why you objectify women and treat them as sexual objects. While you're being so forthright and insightful, Mister DiNozzo, why did you sink your teeth into the victim's leg?’ ‘Because I'm angry, and I'm immature and I like control!’ ‘You have no alibi.’ ‘Alibi? How can I have an alibi when the murder doesn't even have a time or a date?’ ‘That's interesting. What about means? Latex glove? Scalpel? You could have gotten these things from ....work. No?’ ‘Right. Of course. Yes, I ripped a glove at the scene. It seems a little sloppy for a Federal agent who investigates crime scenes but, you know, those are the breaks when you're a homicidal maniac dumping butchered women's remains out in the woods in the middle of the night! Right?!’ I'm not getting out of this one, am I, Boss?” Gibbs shuts Tony up by slapping him on the back of the head, through the bars of the prison cell, Tony add, “Thank you, boss.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Mike Macaluso. Still in jail. My sources say, his family is very happy about it,” Ziva reports to Gibbs when we return to the squad room.  
“How is it you’ve been in this country only a couple months, and you already have courses?” McGee asks of Ziva.  
“Who says my sources are from this country, McGee?”  
“Yes, hi. Killed in prison? I’m very sorry for your loss. No, you’ll have to take that up with I.C.E,” McGee informs whoever he is talking to on his phone before turning to Gibbs to report, “Dead.”  
“Where are we?” I asks them.  
“Head of my suspects list is George Stewart. The forensic tech Tony got fired from Baltimore P.D. Lost everything when Tony accused him of contaminating blood samples in oh-two.”  
“Define everything,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Wife, house, kids. Fought the firing in court and he won but by then no one would hire him. Disappeared two years ago.”  
“Un-disappear him.”  
“And do it faster than you un-disappeared Ari,” I add making Gibbs node with me because it took them years and Kate’s death for him to be un-disappeared.  
“Right,” McGee mumbles while getting to it.  
“Lieutenant Pam Kim. Surgical nurse. Fully capable of slicing off the woman’s legs. Met Tony on the Jeremy Davison serial rapist case,” Ziva reports.  
“That was a creepy case,” I add to Ziva’s report, the fact Kate was disgusted the whole case was hilarious.  
“At Quantico,” Gibbs comments.  
“She’s the one that egged Tony’s car,” McGee reports to her.  
“Really?” Ziva asks him in surprise.  
“Where is she now?” I demand of her because Tony’s time as a free man is limited.  
“Virginia. Returned two weeks ago from a tour in Iraq. She’s on her honeymoon at the Greenbrier.”  
“Who’s she marry?” McGee asks her.  
“Scott Sparks.”  
“Gibbs, that’s the guy that she was engaged to when she met Tony,” I remind them.  
“Get her in here,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Oh it,” Ziva agrees with getting onto it.  
“Uh… boss?” McGee calls to Gibbs.  
“I was thinking, she’s… she’s on her honeymoon,” McGee reminds Gibbs making him turn from his agent with a smirk on his face.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Every heard of coitus interruptus, Special Agent Gibbs. Probationary Agent Todd,” Kim asks us bitchily.  
“Nope,” Gibbs answers her while popping the p.  
“Every been on a honeymoon?”  
“Yep,” Gibbs answers her happily.  
“Then you know I feel. Being dragged into NCIS for interrogation isn’t exactly the best way to start a marriage.”  
“Is your husband the same guy you dumbed for Tony DiNozzo last year?” I question her innocently.  
“Look. I has a fling with Tony and I regret every last minute of it,” Kim snaps at me.  
“Is that why you put him on the herpes website?” Gibbs demands if the bitchy woman.  
“I got a little emotional.”  
“A little emotional was egging his car. Putting in on the herpes website was,” I begin.  
“Bitchy. I know. Look. Tony could have turned me in when I was harassing him. He didn’t. If anything, I own him.”  
“When were you last at Quantico?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I’ve been on tour in Iraq for the last eight months.”  
“That’s not his question,” I remind her, she is fucking us around and Tony is low on time.  
“I checked in with my command ten days ago before I took leave to get married. Look, if someone brown-bagged Tony’s door or torched his car, it wasn’t me.”  
“Does your husband know about Tony?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Of course he knows, but Scott’s a lawyer. If he has a problem with someone, he sues them. Not Tony wasn’t murdered was he?”  
“No,” Gibbs and I answer her together.  
“Then what is this about?”  
“Lieutenant, you can return to your honeymoon, but if I need you,” Gibbs begins.  
“We’ll be at the Greenbrier for another week,” Kim informs us while collecting her gear before adding, “And next time, have your agent knock.” We leave integration behind her, while she leaves the building we head into the observation room where the rest of the team is.  
“Boss, do you really not know what coitus interruptus means?” McGee asks Gibbs in surprise while I stop in front of Gibbs facing the empty room.  
“Better question. Do you know what it means if you haven’t located Stewart?” Gibbs changes the conversation making me believe that he does know what she meant.  
“My father used to say,” Ziva says before rambling off in Hebrew, “Esh ktana sorefet herbe teerass.”  
“Translate,” I demand of her because what the hell does that mean.  
“A little fire burns a great deal of corn,” Shepard informs us while slipping into the room.  
“What?” Gibbs asks in confusion.  
“It never really made sense to me wither.”  
“It loses something in translation. Director,” Ziva defends herself.  
“I saw Lieutenant Kim leave. She have an alibi?”  
“No. she framed Tony but we just don’t care anymore,” I answer her sarcastically as McGee, Ziva and the tech leaves the room.  
“So George Stewart is…”  
“He’s next on my list,” Gibbs informs her while pulling me back putting more space between us.  
“You know, there’s no reason to be petulant, Jethro.”  
“Hey, the word’s pissed, Jen. You know what? You can drop the Director act. We’re alone.”  
“you think my job is an act?” Shepard demands of Gibbs ask I step back from her more and end up leaning against Gibbs to keep him calm before she takes him off the case for real.  
“No, not all of it. Ass-kissing on the hill is a skill.”  
“So is castration.”  
“I wear a cup,” Gibbs informs her before she thrust a piece of paper under his nose.  
“What is this?” I ask her while reading the paper I snatch from her.  
“George Stewart’s alias and work address. I managed to find between kissing asses,” Shepard informs Gibbs tightly.  
“It just proves you should have stayed a field agent,” Gibbs informs her while placing his big hand on my stomach as he begins looking over my shoulder at the paper.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“George Stewart?” Ziva asks the guy working in an autopsy for a different agency.  
“Petrie. I changed it legally. No sailors here,” George snaps at us tightly.  
“Any Jane Does?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Always got a couple of them.”  
“Could we see them?” Ziva asks him.  
“I told you. No sailors here.”  
“How do you know, if they’re Jane Does?” I ask him because that doesn’t make sense to me.  
“Look, what the hell do you three want?”  
“To see your Jane Does,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Got a warrant?”  
“No, do we need one?” I ask him.  
“Hell, yes. Now get out.”  
“Tony DiNozzo,” Gibbs says making freeze for a moment before turning to us.  
“What’d that bastard say about me now? I was exonerated!”  
“How were you exonerated?” I ask him.  
“Fourth Circuit Court. It wasn’t me that meed up that blood test. I sent it out to a lab.”  
“What’s the name of the lab?”  
“Pemberton Medical Analysis.”  
“Sure we can’t take a quick look around?” Ziva asks in in fake innocents because she is anything but innocent.  
“Not without a warrant! That’s what happened last time. Just a quick look around… a few question. Then I’m fired and my life is trashed. Now get out.”  
“We’ll be back, with a warrant,” Ziva promises before adding, “Psst!”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The blood on the severed leg – DNA came back with a match,” Fornell informs us when we arrived at the squad room.  
“It matched DiNozzo,” Gibbs states making Fornell nodes.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You matched my DNA with a par of disembodied legs? I’d fire whatever lab you’re using at NCIS, Agent Gibbs. I assure you they’re real and they’re mine,” Carla, the girl Abby matched Jane Doe’s bone marrow to, informs us as we stand around a hospital corridor while talking to her and she shows us her real legs.  
“Are you a bone marrow donor?” I ask her politely.  
“I volunteered for bone marrow, organs, blood. I believe in sharing my good health. But I draw the line at body parts… at least until I’m dead.”  
“We got the DNA match from a bone marrow database,” Ziva informs him.  
“I haven’t donated any bone marrow et. I did give blood to an accident victim a couple of weeks ago. She died on the operating table.”  
“Did she lose her legs?”  
“No. her chest was crushed.”  
“Where is her body now?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Either at our morgue or the state’s. she was a Jane Doe.”  
“is it standard operating procedure for nurses to give transfusions?” Ziva asks the nurse we’re talking to.  
“No. we were low on blood and I’m a universal donor. Identifying a pair of legs must be a first. Here it is. Jane doe was transferred to the Virginia Country Coroner’s office eight days ago.”  
“Who signed for the body?” I ask her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We have a warrant now,” Ziva snaps at George as we walk into his office because he is the one who signed for the Jane Doe.  
“For what? I didn’t do anything wrong!” George defends himself innocently.  
“No? I can think of at least two things. Framing an NCIS Agent for murder. And really, really, really, pissing him off. And she’s not far behind.”  
“Open it,” Gibbs orders him when we arrive at the refrigerator that has a padlock on it.  
“I strongly recommend you do what he says,” Ziva says to George before slapping him making him jump to action and opening the door. We all walk into the walk in refrigerator to see the dearly departed all hanging up covered in plastic making Ziva comments, “This explains why Jane Doe’s legs were in pristine condition.”  
“You think I cut off some girl’s legs?” George demands of us in disgust as Gibbs and I walk through the bodies checking they all have their legs.  
“Did you?”  
“No. Why would I ever do such a thing?”  
“I don’t know, but if you’re going to talk to me, please get a breath mint first. Please!” Ziva begs of him as Gibbs and I look at one of the female’s that is hanging up.  
“He’s doing it to me again! That bastard DiNozzo set me up,” George yells while we look at the girl without legs.  
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” Ziva says over him while leading him away.  
“How can anyone do that to another human being?” I ask Gibbs while looking at the poor girl.  
“Because he has nothing to lose,” Gibbs answers me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I didn’t doubt you for a second, boss. Well, maybe one second,” Tony says to us in the squad room that night after Fornell released Tony.  
“No, don’t thank me. It was all Abby,” Gibbs informs him.  
“The poor girl hasn’t slept since this entire affair began,” Ducky adds.  
“Where is she?” Tony asks us.  
“She’s probably passed on by now,” Ziva informs him making me glare at her because Abby isn’t allowed to die or I’ll kill her.  
“The term is passed out,” McGee corrects her.  
“Whatever. The girl is tired.”  
“She’s probably making sure there’s nothing else to in danger your innocents,” I inform Tony because Abby doesn’t want to be the reason her friend is imprisoned.  
“I got the court records from Stewart’s case against Baltimore unsealed,” Shepard informs us.  
“You’re a little late, Jen. Un… I mean, thank you, Director,” Gibbs says before changing it when she glares at him.  
“Better, Jethro,” Shepard says making Ziva laugh at him as I take the file of the director for the second time today, when I look at it I throw it at Gibbs while running off with Gibbs hot on my tail.  
“Jethro?” Shepard calls after us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abby!” Gibbs and I call together as we run into the lab to see Chip hog tied on the floor with duct tape as Abby looks tired with her hair all measured up.  
“Now can I work alone?” Abby asks Gibbs while pointing a knife at Chip who is the reason George lost his job because Chip is the one who screwed up the blood.  
“Yep. You couldn’t wait one more day, than you could have got rid of him without tiring him up,” I inform Abby while bouncing over to her and pulling her into another hug that she needs, and this time it has nothing to do with Tony. As I hold Abby, Tony, Ziva and McGee get rid of that unless, unwanted, unneeded assistance that Shepard forced a pond Abby. When it is Abby, Gibbs, Shepard and me left in the lab I ask her, “Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you?”  
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Abby promise me making me node.  
“Come on,” Gibbs says to Abby while pulling her into a Gibbs hug which is the best thing when you are scared or hurting, it makes it better.  
“You know. This whole case wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t change what didn’t need changing. Or if you just kept your nose out of this team,” I snap at the director because she is looking at Abby like she over reacted and it’s all Abby’s fault. I then add, “Or if you did a background check and called his past employers to see why he left.”  
“He didn’t have it on his resume,” Shepard defends herself.  
“Of course it wasn’t. If I get fired for contaminating evidence, I’m not going to tell my perspective new boss about it. That’s why they invented background checks and phones to ring ex-employers.”  
“I did my job.”  
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Your job is to fuck everyone over so that you can prove to your ex-boyfriend that you are mature, so he will take you back. That is sad. You hurt Abby, you hurt Tony, you hurt Gibbs, you hurt us and you don’t fucking care. As long as you get your way. Ziva and Chip was added to a team because you wanted it, one is a murdered and the other framed Tony, and almost killed Abby.”  
“Alice enough,” Gibbs orders me while pulling me away from the director before I do something that can get me fired, like shooting her.   
“Jethro, keep your agents in line,” Shepard orders Gibbs before turning and leaving.  
“I don’t like her,” I mumble while turning to check on Abby.  
“You don’t have to like her, just don’t get yourself fired. It’s not worth it,” Gibbs informs me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“To Tony’s freedom,” Abby toasts as we all drink at the bar, including Gibbs and Ducky.  
“To Tony,” we all toast to him before taking a sip of our drink.  
“I hear you went off on the director,” Tony grins at me making me give Abby a look but she just looks innocently back at me.  
“She deserved it,” I say innocently making Tony choked on the sip he just took.  
“You’re lucky she didn’t fire you.”  
“She’s lucky Gibbs stopped me from shooting her,” I correct him before taking a sip of my drink.  
“I would have paid to see you go off on her. I mean it was funny enough when you attacked Ziva, before you started throwing Ugly Tony’s food at her.  
We all drink and talk over the drinks, while having a good laugh as we relax for the first time in days.  
“On this is my song. Come on Alice,” Abby laughs while pulling me from my seat next to Gibbs and over onto the dance floor.  
“Abby’s I can’t dance,” I inform her over the beat music that you can feel in your chest with every drum beat.  
“Yes you can,” Abby corrects me while leading me into a dancing move that should be done between a man and a woman because I am basically grinding my ass into Abby’s crutch.  
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I can’t help but watch Alice on the dance floor with Abby, and she is teasing me without even releasing it. I love and hate that she is so innocent because she does somethings that is sexy, flirtation, or seductive without even releasing it making my life and other bits hard.  
“Need a refill?” I ask everyone when I release need to move away before I remove Alice from this bar back to my bedroom because she is having fun and just because I’m jealous because other people are looking at her, doesn’t give me a right to over react.  
“Yes please boss,” Tony says before everyone also agrees. I get up from my seat and slowly make my way throw the crowded bar over to the bar where I order refills for everyone including the two dancing girls.  
“Jethro, what is happening between you and Alice?” Ducky asks me as he arrives at my side.  
“Duck, what do you want me to say?” I ask him.  
“You’re one of my oldest friends. And she’s my daughter. I don’t want her to get hurt.”  
“I don’t want… I won’t hurt her; I’ll blow my own brains out before I do that. She’s my life, Duck. I can’t hurt her is my very life depends on it,” I promise to Ducky while looking over at her making sure she is alright and still having fun.  
“I know your track record with women Jethro. And if you hurt my daughter, I’ll do your autopsy… before your heart stops,” Ducky threats me because I know he would, he might have missed most of the life she has lived already but Ducky does love his daughter.  
“I know. I honestly don’t know why she’s with me; I’m too old for her, but as long as she’ll have me. I won’t hurt her, or leave her. I love her, Duck. And if I hurt her, I’ll do the first incision for you.”  
“As long as you understand what happens to you if she gets hurt because of you. I would have paid to see her pissed off at the director and yell at her.”  
“It was kind of hot. But I don’t want to be on the wrong side of that anger. I mean she just kept hitting more buttons then I know about.”  
“I bet she did. I’m surprised the director let her get away with it.”  
“She didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. And she didn’t do anything that warrants termination.”  
“She wouldn’t have done that with the old director,” Ducky says while grabbing a couple of drinks to help me carry them back over to our table.  
“Oh, she would have. She hung up on the old director on a weekly base. The only difference because she yells out her in person instead of over the phone,” I inform Ducky making him Smile at me.  
“Back on topic, I don’t think she is going to let you go until you die. Probably of worry for what she’s doing and how she’s annoying,” Ducky then informs me.  
“Don’t I know it,” I mumble as we all hand out the drinks and watch the girls dance. Ziva has gone over to the other girls and began dancing on her own.   
“Hey,” Alice says when the girls finish dancing and returned to the table. All three of the girls are covered in a thin layer of sweat because of dancing, and the body heat on the dance floor.  
“Have fun?” I ask her as she sits down and takes a sip of her drink.  
“Yep,” she answers me between her panting from all the dancing. She asks me then, “Are you having fun?”  
“Yep. I don’t mind watchin’ you shaking your body,” I whisper in her ear while the team members are talking amongst themselves and not paying attention to us. I add, “You know, if we won’t waiting for Tony, McGee and Ziva to figure out we’re together, I would have hit them on the back of the head so hard they would be in next year.”  
“Is my wittle marine jealous?” Alice teases me marine softly using the tone she uses with children.  
“I’m not wittle,” I inform her while indicting to below my belt.  
“If you say so. But I’ve seen your gun and that says one thing,” Alice teases me but I can see in her eyes that she doesn’t believe that.  
“I can prove it if you want?”  
“I’m good.”  
“No, you’re not,” I say while leaning away from her to drink my drink happily with the brush that has covered her cute little face.  
“You’re mean,” Alice mumbles while enjoying her own drink.


	11. Probie

“We’re moving, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs Tony as our party of people walking to the garage because we’re on security detail.  
“Coming out,” Tony says to him.  
“We’re on our way down,” I inform them.  
“Roger, Alice. The car’s ready,” McGee says.  
“Check the exit,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
“On it,” McGee says to us as we all walk toward the garage.  
“Boss, hold on one second,” McGee orders us making us all come to a stop.  
“What do you got, McGee?” I ask him.  
“I’m not sure.”  
“Talk to me, McGee,” Gibbs orders McGee but instead of an answer all we hear is gun fire. Making Gibbs orders us, “Go! Go! Go! Get him out of here! Through the front entrance! Go! Go! Go! Go!” We run out front and get the guy into a car as Gibbs and I run to the exist with our weapons at the ready. We get over to McGee how is checking a man’s pulse before looking at us in horror.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You find a weapon?” Ducky asks us in the alley way were McGee shot the guy.  
“Nope,” Gibbs answer him.  
“We’re done. Let’s bag him and tag him, Mister Palmer.”  
“Yes, sir,” Jimmy says while getting ready.  
“Do you think Mister Ryan was connected in any way to the death threat on the Chief of Naval Operations?”  
“Gonna find out,” I answer him.  
“It came from a human rights group protesting marine abuse of prisoners at Gitmo,” Gibbs informs Ducky while adding to my comment.  
“It’s ironic, isn’t it? A human rights group threatening to kill?” Ducky laughs at the situation.  
“Yeah, it’s no different than a right-to-lifer bombing a family planning clinic, Duck.”  
“Yes, we live in interesting times, Jethro.”  
“You think, Duck?”  
“Way to go, Probie! Three shots, three hits. I guess my instruction on the range paid off, huh?” Tony teases McGee.  
“Tony, I killed somebody, okay?” McGee exclaims in shock.  
“What about the CNO?” I ask them in the hopes of getting it off McGee until he’s pulled out of the shock.  
“Secured at home,” Ziva informs me.  
“Doubled his security detail,” Tony adds.  
“Did you find his weapon?” McGee begs of us.  
“No,” I state.  
“It’s got to be here. I identified myself as a Federal officer. He fired at me. I returned fire. The SUV drove off. Hiss weapon has got to be here.”  
“The SUV, McGee. Did you get the colour?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Number?” I add.  
“Make?”  
“Dark blue or black. Virginia plate. First two numbers eight nine. I don’t know the model,” McGee informs us.  
“Ziva, get out a BOLO,” Gibbs orders her.  
“On just that?” Ziva asks making Gibbs glare at her for questioning him. Making her add, “Right. BOLO.”  
“Hang on. Hey, I want to know everything about this guy. McGee, go back to where you fired from. DiNozzo!” Gibbs orders us before yelling at McGee, “Show me, McGee!”  
“Federal Officer! Drop your weapon!” McGee calls out while aiming where the body would have been standing from where he was standing; pointing his hands out the body like it was his gun.  
“Got it,” Tony says before turning to McGee in all seriousness, because he was in a similar situation not that long ago with Chip the asshole, while adding, “Don’t worry, McGee. I’ll find the slug.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The only Andrew Aidan Ryan I could find is three years and lives in Los Angeles. The address, if it existed, would be in the middle of the Potomac,” Ziva complains when she runs the guy McGee shot’s license.  
“Run his prints,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Why didn’t we think of that, Tony?”  
“Abby’s working on it. FBI’s identified three radical groups protesting prisoner abuse at Gitmo, Boss,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Catch anything with the BOLO, Officer David?” I ask her.  
“We did. Six hundred thousand SUVs,” Ziva answers me.  
“That are registered in Virginia,” Tony adds.  
“Yeah, so?” Gibbs asks in confusion, why aren’t they looking at every single one?  
“So we’re going to check them against radical groups,” Tony says before whispering something to Ziva.  
“Is something bothering you, Tony?” I ask him.  
“Ah…”  
“He doesn’t want to say what we’re all thinking,” Ziva cuts him off.  
“What, that where one unwanted team member down and one more to go?” I offer innocently.  
“Spit it out,” Gibbs orders her while ignoring me because I have a point, not a good or nice one but a point known the least.  
“McGee says he was shot at, but we can’t seem to find the slug, shell casing or a weapon,” Ziva explains to Gibbs.  
“Okay, let’s throw him under the bridge. We must only care about Tony because when he was accused of a crime and there was no evidence saying he was innocent, but we kept looking until we found it. But McGee doesn’t matter,” I snap at them because we did save Tony’s life and know we have to do the something with McGee.  
“Yeah, Gibbs… Be right up,” Gibbs answers his ringing phone. He hangs up and walks past Ziva and informs her softly, “McGee isn’t your father and he isn’t Ari. He doesn’t know how to lie.”  
“What’d he say?” Tony asks Ziva because he didn’t hear him.  
“Let’s go back to work,” Ziva answers him while giving me a look because I’m glaring at her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Go right in, Special Agent Gibbs,” Sumner, Shepard’s assistant, informs me.  
“Shut the door, Jethro,” Shepard orders me when I storm into her office. I turn around and shut the door with a load click. She then continues to talk, “I’m flashing back to Paris in ninety nine,” Shepard begins making me smirk because that was a good undercover case making her add, “Not what you’re thinking.”  
“No? Then what?” I ask her but I get a feeling I know what she is talking about.  
“I remember you covering for another agent… who messed up.”  
“What agent was that?” I ask her knowing she will have to admit I covered for her.  
“You know damn well what agent!”  
“Oh, you mean the time you shot that guy.”  
“Did McGee blow it?”  
“McGee is a probie. Probies make mistakes. Having said that, no, I don’t think he did.”  
“Where’s the gun? The slug that was fired…”  
“I don’t know, but I will find out.”  
“The CNO’s aide called me at seven a.m. this morning. Admiral Chapman wants to know what’s going on. He asked me… what are you thinking about?” Shepard demands when she sees that my mind has wondered off without her.  
“Paris,” I answer her straight up.  
“Get your mind out of the bedroom, Jethro. Let’s get some answers,” Shepard orders me angrily.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line. We’ll be with you in a moment,” a recorded voice informs Tony over his phone that is on speaker so he can work around his personal call.  
“You’ve been holding for fifteen minutes. It must be important,” Ziva comments.  
“Yep,” Tony comments while working with the bad hold music.  
“Sperm bank?”   
“Yeah.”  
“Why’d you do it? You didn’t need the money.”  
“It was easier than giving blood.”  
“And more enjoyable,” I add making Tony smirk at me.  
“You enjoy making those deposits,” Ziva chuckles at Tony before adding, “Was there a penalty for early withdrawal?”  
“You’re a sick chick, David,” Tony chuckles at her.  
“Thank you for holding,” The woman on the other end of the phone says before Tony picks it up so we can only hear half the conversation.  
“Hi, there. I received a certified letter requesting I call,” Tony says into the phone but sees Gibbs coming so he begins lying by adding, “Thanks agent Vandalay. You are the man! I owe you one.”  
“Doing anything useful, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of Tony while hanging up his phone for him.  
“Of the six hundred and twenty one thousand eight hundred SUVs registered in Virginia, approximately a hundred and twenty seven thousands of them are dark-coloured. Vanity plates aside, one in every hundred begins with the numbers eight nine. That’s over twelve hundred vehicles.”  
“We’re running the registered owners against the names on the list of protesters. It’s going to take a while,” Ziva adds.  
“What’s wrong?” I ask Abby and McGee who is looking at us in sadness.  
“I ran the fingerprint through AFIS. The victim’s real name is John Benedict,” Abby informs us.  
“Has he got a record?” Gibbs asks her in surprise.  
“He was a Metro detective. He was working undercover. I killed a cop, boss,” McGee reports making me roll my head down against me chest, this is going to get harder and another one of our agents might be arrested. I can’t live through his again, he is innocent and if Fornell gets involved he is toast and so is NCIS, because one agent being accused of killing someone on the same team is bad luck, two is a pattern.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Can I get you three anything?” Sumner asks us as we all wait to get into the director’s office to talk to her.  
“No, thanks,” Gibbs answers her.  
“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll send them in,” Sumner informs the director through her head set, and then she gets up to let us into the office.  
“Special Agent Gibbs, Todd, and McGee, this is Metro Police Captain Dan Karzin and Sergeant Keith Archer, the dead officer’s partner,” Shepard informs us while pointing to the two men in her office.  
“I’m sorry about,” McGee begins.  
“Director Shepard already gave us the official NCIS condolences, Special Agent McGee. We’re here to find out what happened,” Karzin snaps while cutting off McGee.  
“Please sit,” Shepard says while pointing to the desk with chairs all around a table. We all take a seat.  
“I’d like to ask Sergeant Archer some questions. Do you know why your partner was behind the hotel last night?” Gibbs asks him.  
“No. we were off duty,” Archer snaps at us tightly.  
“When did you last see him?” I ask him softly.  
“Yesterday about noon.”  
“They were working undercover Narcotics. Just got off a thirty six hour shift. I read your report. I’ve got some questions. You say you identified yourself?” Karzin interrogates McGee.  
“Yes, sir,” McGee agrees with him.  
“Loud enough to be heard?”  
“Definitely.”  
“And you contend that Lieutenant Benedict then turned and fired at you.”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“So why can’t you find a bullet or a weapon?”  
“We can’t answer that yet. This case has only begun,” I defend McGee.  
“Yeah, I can. Bennie wasn’t carrying one,” Archer snaps at him.  
“Are you sure it happened like that, son?” Karzin snaps at McGee trying to confuse him and make him the bad guy.  
“It happened the way that I reported it, captain,” McGee defends himself.  
“Because I know Lieutenant John Benedict maybe twenty years. He was a highly decorated officer. A great cop. And if agent McGee had properly identified himself the way that he claims, there’s no way that Bennie would have acted threateningly,” Karzin snaps at McGee and Shepard doesn’t step in to protector on of her employees.  
“Evidently he did,” Gibbs states.  
“I don’t believe it.”  
“Special Agent McGee, why don’t you return to the squad room? We’ll call you if we need you,” Shepard dismisses McGee.  
“I’m really sorry,” McGee says to the person who is accusing him before leaving the room.  
“With all due respect, Director Shepard, I think we all know what happened here. Nobody else saw another vehicle in the alley. A nervous rookie panicked. Fired prematurely. Killed a veteran cop,” Karzin snaps at Shepard in anger.  
“McGee’s young, but he’s a damn good agent. Are you sure your partner wasn’t carrying a weapon last night?” Gibbs defends his agent when the director doesn’t react, before turning it back to the correct topic.  
“It would have blown his cover on the case that we were working,” Archer snaps at Gibbs.  
“You said he was off duty just like you are right now,” I remind him.  
“Yeah.”  
“You’re carrying… in the small of your back. Your partner’s liver said he drank a lot,” Gibbs states.  
“Oh, go to hell,” Karzin snaps at us.  
“Gentlemen,” Shepard begins when the two local cops get up.  
“I’m not going to stand for a cover-up.”  
“And neither am I, Captain! I shared our preliminary report and you’ll have full access to our findings.”  
“I’m going to conduct my own investigation.”  
“That is your prerogative.”  
“And I want to interrogate McGee.”  
“That’s not going to happen!” Gibbs snaps at him in anger.  
“I’ll handle this, Special Agent Gibbs,” Shepard orders Gibbs.  
“McGee has made his statement. That’s not going to change,” I snap at the local cops and the director.  
“Thank you for coming. You’ll have NCIS’s full cooperation.”  
“Do I get to question Agent McGee?” Karzin demands of the director.  
“Yes. But not today,” Shepard says to them before they storm out making Shepard turn to Gibbs who is pissed making her add, “Before you jump down my throat, you think about what you would do if that cop shot McGee and McGee didn’t have a weapon!”  
“We don’t have to think about that, that happened and you put the killer’s sister on our team. And we never got to see him in person until he died,” I snap at the director before storming out of her office with Gibbs following me.   
“DiNozzo! David! Get back in that alley. Find that damn bullet! Do it now!” Gibbs yells out them as he storms into the squad room with me.  
“Boss, we spent hours. We covered every inch of where McGee was standing when he,” Tony begins but when Gibbs glares at him and I threaten him with a can of dog food he changes it too, “We’ll maybe find something in daylight.”  
“We’re working the protester angle,” Ziva reminds Gibbs.  
“I don’t think that cop being there had anything to do with the threat against that CNO. Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on here? First, Abby’s lab nerd frames DiNozzo for murder, and then McGee kills a cop! Did somebody break a mirror?” Gibbs yells in anger.  
“Boss, can I go with Tony and Ziva? An extra set of eyes might help,” McGee offers to Gibbs.  
“No! Metro P.D. is out to get you. You find the bullet, it’s compromised evidence. Hey, DiNozzo! While you’re there, see if anyone saw Benedict in the area last night,” I inform them softly.  
“Got it,” Tony agrees with us before leaving the squad room to find the missing bullet.  
“What should I do?” McGee asks Gibbs next.  
“Find the SUV,” Gibbs orders him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
It’s night time and this case has not moved anymore all day so Gibbs sent everyone to get some sleep and start again tomorrow. Gibbs is closing down the squad room and turning off Tony’s light only to laugh when he finds the sperm bank letter.  
“Huh. Oh,” Gibbs says through his laughter before Gibbs places his hand on my back to lead me over to the elevator to take me home for the night, but I really just want to stay here and save McGee’s job and life. When the door opens we see the director standing in there making me say, “Are you still here?”  
“No. I’m the director’s doppelganger,” Shepard informs him.  
“I never did know what that meant,” Gibbs comments when the door shuts us in the little space with her. He says to another agent that leaves the elevator when the door opens again, “Good night.”  
“Good night,” Shepard says to that agent before the doors shut properly shut before hit the emergency stop button on the elevator.  
“So a doppelganger is someone who is pissed?”   
“Yes, Agent Gibbs. This one definitely is.”  
“Why?”  
“Why? Because you countermanded me in front of Metro Police.”  
“I didn’t countermand you. You overruled me.”  
“Oh, semantics.”  
“Is that like doppelganger?”  
“Get a dictionary,” Shepard snaps at him before starting the elevator again and getting off at the next level but the important this is she gave me an idea of what to get Gibbs for his birthday and Christmas.  
“Was she always this easily pissed off, judgmental and bitchy?” I ask Gibbs when the elevator states again.  
“Yep,” Gibbs answers me.  
“Okay. How could you have worked with her?”  
“We were undercover; she wasn’t allowed to act like herself.”  
“That’d help,” I agree with a little laugh while I lean against Gibbs.  
“So, what do you want for dinner?” Gibbs asks me while changing the topic off of the director and onto one of my loves, food.  
“Pizza,” I answer him as I throw my hands up in the air happily while stepping out of the elevator and begin walking over to Gibbs truck.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What time did you get up, Ziva,” Gibbs asks Ziva when we arrive at the squad room to see she is already here.  
“Zero four hundred. Background check on the cop McGee killed didn’t come up with anything. He drank a little too much, had three ex-wives,” Ziva reports making me laugh because that second bit sound familiar.  
“Yeah well, that does not make him a bad person.”  
“His police service record is clean. Several accommodations for meritorious service and a Mayoral award. Nothing negative.”  
“Metro’s going to make it look like McGee killed their hero,” I state angry.  
“They’re going to interrogate McGee this afternoon. Request was approved by the director.”  
“And you know this how?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“I’m a spy, remember?” Ziva reminds him making Gibbs storm up to the director with me following him.  
“When were you going to tell me?” Gibbs demands of the director as he storms into her office and slamming the door behind me.  
“I see we’re picking up where we left off, Jethro,” Shepard says to him while ignoring me.  
“If you’re sending McGee to Metro, you’re damn right, we are!”  
“Didn’t know I had to ask your permission. Don’t give me the stare. I’m not a junior agent.”  
“No, you’re a junior Director!” I snap at her, she keeps messing with things that she needs to leave alone.  
“That’s enough probationary Agent Todd,” Shepard snaps at me in anger.  
“Excuse me, Director. They’re waiting for you in MTAC,” Sumner informs the director.  
“What, you messing with someone else’s team too, or you just fucking this one up?” I demand of the director, she is pissing me off.  
“I’m on my way, Cynthia,” Shepard says into the intercom while trying to glare at me but if Gibbs glare doesn’t work on me, her won’t.  
“You have to learn how to say ‘no’!” Gibbs informs the director while moving me away from her.  
“I did, Jethro. Or have you forgotten?”  
“Gibbs, it’s not about saying no to her. It’s about making you as lonely as she is so you have to take her back,” I explain to Gibbs ask the director glares at me before leaving her office.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Edward Francis Halligan. Owns a black two thousand five Ranger Rover. License plate eight nine six seven Y-Z-E,” Ziva reports to us what Abby and McGee found using a program McGee wrote last night to help identify the car.  
“He received a call from Benedict’s Metro office extension two weeks ago,” McGee reports.  
“You want to know how McGee figured it out?” Abby asks while bouncing on the sport.  
“Nope,” Gibbs and I answer her together because the process doesn’t matter it’s the results.  
“Halligan’s an Irish National. He’s been living here for the past three years. I’ll run him by my Interpol contacts,” Ziva informs Gibbs.  
“Find him, Tony, and bring him in here,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“On it,” Tony agrees with doing it.  
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“So Are you gonna bust them, Archer?” Gibbs asks Archer as we sit in the van on his stakeout watching a drug dealer who was only realised this morning from prison, to talk to him without his boss breathing down all our necks.  
“It’ll blow my cover. Why don’t you?” Archer informs us.  
“They don’t look Navy. Who are you staking out?” I ask him while looking at the drug dealers, how does anyone, get into this life.  
“It’s a second tier pusher released from Elkton this morning. Right now he’s in that hotel reacquainting himself with his old lady. Historically, the pusher’s second stop is to look for employment. So I’m hoping he’ll lead me to the local distributor.”  
“I’m surprised you agreed to meet,” Gibbs states.  
“Just want to find out the truth. I’d appreciate it if Captain Karzin didn’t find out we were talking.”  
“He’s not finding out how to make boiled water from me. Or anything else,” I promise him making me smile at my way of saying I’ll keep my mouth shut.  
“Do you know this guy?” Gibbs asks him while showing him a photo of Ed Halligan.  
“Never met him, but I’d love to get my hands on him. It’s Ed Halligan. He’s rich Irishman rumoured to be the money behind a local cracking,” Archer explains to us.  
“He drives a black SUV,” I state.  
“He collects expensive cars. He has dozens of them.”  
“Why’d Benedict call him two weeks ago?” Gibbs asks him.  
“We set up a trap for Halligan but he never showed. Bennie suspected he was tipped. What are you getting at, Gibbs?”  
“We think that Halligan was the guy your partner was talking to in the alley,” I explain to him what we are thinking.  
“If he was, he had a legitimate reason.”  
“Wouldn’t he have told you?” Gibbs asks him next.  
Look, I’m… I was the junior partner on the team. We hadn’t been together that long as he didn’t share everything with me. If you think that he was a dirty cop, forget it. Bennie was as straight up as they come.”  
“You just said you hadn’t been together very long,” I remind him of his own words because it takes time to know peoples true personalities and not the front they put up for everyone to believe.  
“How long does it take to know if your partner’s dirty?”  
“Is that your dirt bag?” Gibbs asks him while pointing to a guy.  
“Yeah, I gotta get to work.”  
“Oaky,” Gibbs says while opening the door and getting out of the van before offering me his hand to get down.  
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“Is the director in?” Gibbs demands of Sumner as he begins to storm into her office.  
“Expecting you,” Sumner promises.  
“Close the door, please,” Shepard demands of Gibbs without looking up.  
“No, you don’t want that door closed, director,” Gibbs snaps at her.  
“I didn’t?” Shepard asks while looking up at him.  
“No!” Gibbs answers her but she gets up and closes the door herself.  
“Let her rip.”  
“The U.A. Attorney’s office is charging McGee with negligent homicide. Metro is booking him right now. Do you know why?”   
“Because he admitted to making a tragic mistake.”  
“No, because you may know how to kiss ass, bit you sure as hell don’t know how to protect it,” I yell at her because she just gave him over, before this she gave Tony over.  
“And you two think you’re protecting that boy by ignoring the facts?”   
“He’s not a boy! He’s a NCIS Special Agent. He’s one of my people. I don’t leave my people behind. It’s a marine thing,” Gibbs snaps at her in anger because she is a hundred percent okay with letting the team members down when they are in danger.  
“What are you going to do?” Shepard demands of Gibbs when he turns to leave.  
“Do what you fucking can’t. Protect his team,” I hiss at her.  
“I’m going to go to Metro and get him,” Gibbs snaps at her after me.  
“No,” Shepard orders him.  
“No?”  
“Your eyesight’s weak, not your hearing,” Shepard pushes Gibbs’ last button making him grab her shoulders and physically move her out of the way before swing the door open so fast it slams into the wall and leading me out but she’s not done so she adds, “You’re not going to Metro because McGee’s on his way here. I convinced Captain Karzin that he wasn’t a fight risk and to release him into our custody until his arraignment hearing.” When she is finished talking she slams the door in his face like a child not getting her way.  
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Gibbs leads me into the squad room before making his way over to McGee who is sitting at his desk; Gibbs taps McGee on the back heavily, just like the guilt on his shoulders.  
“I let you down,” Gibbs says to McGee softly as I make my way over because I feel guilty, I was so busy following Gibbs around I forgot to check on McGee, when Tony was in danger of false imprison I was there every step of the way making sure he’s okay, but I let McGee get arrest all on his own.  
“Boss, I think it’s the other way around,” McGee admits.  
“We should have gone with you to Metro. Someone, anyone, even Ziva,” I correct him while placing my hand on his shoulder in the hopes of giving him some comfort because if it was Gibbs, Tony, Abby or Ducky I would hug him but I have never done that with McGee and I don’t want to overstep any boundaries.  
“I don’t think it would have made a difference. I panicked. I thought he had a weapon in his hand. I need to face it. I shot a good cop making an arrest,” McGee exclaims making me react by pulling him into a hug before I can talk myself out of it because he needs more comforted more than I need to keep the boundaries.  
“What cop makes a drug bust without a weapon?” Gibbs asks him.  
“None! Rule number eight is going to save you, McGee!” Abby promise while I let McGee go know he is looking less like he is going to cry. I make my way back over to my desk.  
“Never date a co-worker?” Tony asks her.  
“Never go anywhere without your knife,” Ziva corrects him.  
“I thought that was nine.”  
“Never take anything for granted,” Gibbs corrects them both while I throw my pillows at him, the first I throw is rule nine at Ziva because that’s the never go anywhere without a knife before I throw rule eight and rule twelve at Tony.  
“Correcto, Jefe. But then again, you did make up the rules so,” Abby rambles as Tony throws my pillows back at me, all three of them but he misses me.  
“Get to the point, Abs,” I cut her off.  
“I didn’t do forensics on the jacket because we knew what happened. Then I remembered rule numero Ocho.”  
“Gunshot residue,” Gibbs cuts her off while getting to the point.  
“Based on the density and the pattern of the stippling and the sooting, one of the slugs in Lieutenant Benedict was fired from only one foot away.”  
“One of my shots missed?” McGee asks in shock.  
“I knew you weren’t that good, probie. Three for three at twenty five metres? I don’t think so,” Tony teases McGee.  
“Halligan shot him from behind the wheel,” I offer another optician.  
“Wrong, Alice.”  
“Slap him, Ziva,” Gibbs orders making Ziva hit Tony in the back of the head.  
“If Halligan was behind the wheel then he was five or six feet away. I pulled the registration from the Ranger Rover. It was brought into DMV for an inspection because it was imported from Ireland. Right hand drive. British like Ducky’s Morgan. Steering wheel’s on the right hand side.”  
“The person I saw arguing with Benedict was a passenger,” McGee releases.  
“There was a third man,” I comment while putting Kate’s pillows back into the correct order behind my desk, so it is easy to get the right one to throw at Tony next time.  
“That’s a great movie. Joseph Cotton. Orson Welles,” tony rambles.  
“We’re looking in the wrong direction. If McGee’s third round didn’t hit the SUV, then it’s somewhere at the other end of that alley. Go! Anny, thank you,” Gibbs says before placing a kiss on Abby check in thanks and you did good kind of way.  
“Boss, he still didn’t fire at me,” McGee release he’s still in the wrong.  
“You saw a flash, McGee. You heard a gunshot. You had no way of knowing if Benedict was firing at you or not. If I was in your position, McGee, I’d have fired. Go on! Run Halligan’s records. See if you can’t figure out who he was meeting with.”  
“Right.”  
“Could be your two rounds weren’t the fatal one,” I encourage McGee.  
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“The striations in the bullets are exact. It was definitely fired from McGee’s sig,” Abby reports in the lab when Ziva and Tony has brought the bullet back know they are looking in the correct place while using her computer to trace it back to where McGee was shooting from.  
“Where did you two find the bullet?” Gibbs demands.  
“Miss Abby Scuito,” Tony says.  
“Right here, boss. Behind the body embedded in the door frame,” Ziva informs us while showing us the photo of the bullet before they removed it for Abby.  
“McGee was wide to the left.”  
“Where the hell is Benedict’s weapon? Yeah?” I demand of them.  
“I have a theory,” Abby exclaims happily.  
“Okay,” Gibbs says while nodding for her to go on.  
“McGee identified himself. The man in the car fires point blank at Benedict. Now like you said, it was too close and it was dark. So McGee couldn’t distinguish where the flash came from and McGee fires back. One missed. And when Benedict fell, he dropped his weapon through the open window of the Range Rover. What do you think?”  
“What’s going on?” McGee asks while walking up to us because he wasn’t invited to this meeting in the lab to make sure it’ll save him before telling him the news.  
“We’re saving your butt, McGee,” Tony reports happily.  
“Hey, come on. What do you got?” Gibbs asks McGee softly because McGee doesn’t need Gibbs ridding his ass today.  
“A dump of Halligan’s phone records. The morning of the shooting, he placed several calls to Sergeant Archer’s home and cell,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“You mean Benedict’s?” Ziva corrects him.  
“No, Archer’s. His partner.”  
“The call from Metro two weeks ago came from Archer, not Benedict,” I release.  
“Partners share extensions at the precinct,” Tony agrees with me.  
“I showed Archer a picture of Halligan yesterday. He acted like they’d never met,” Gibbs informs us.  
“Well, one of the phone calls lasted eighteen minutes,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Come on, McGee, Alice. You’re with me. McGee, come here. Use my back up,” Gibbs orders us while leading us to the door and into the elevator without the rest of the team. When we get to the squad room, Gibbs hands McGee his back up while I grab my gun.  
“Archer’s got to know that Halligan’s in Morocco. He’s never going to talk.”  
“Is Halligan in Morocco?” I ask them.  
“Ziva said he passed through custom.”  
“Well, maybe Archer doesn’t know that. Pull an old warrant,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
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“What’s up?” Archer demands of us when we arrive at his house and get out of the car.  
“Got a few questions,” Gibbs answers him.  
“He’s supposed to be in custody,” Archer exclaims while pointing at McGee.  
“He’s in our custody. You never told me you spoke with Halligan,” I state calmly.  
“Never did.”  
“Phone records show you exchanged several calls,” McGee informs him.  
“Look, I don’t care what your phone records say. I never talked to Halligan. You can ask him.”  
“One of the calls was two weeks ago, about the time you claim you set the trap for Halligan.”  
“You know what? I don’t need this from the guy who killed my partner.”  
“McGee shot him after someone inside the car fired first. Your partner suspected you were working with Halligan. He followed you to a meet in the alley,” Gibbs informs Archer.  
“You guys aren’t laying this off on me.”  
“We pulled a nine millimetre slug out of Benedict’s chest. I want to run that against your service weapon. We’re gonna search the premise,” I inform him.  
“I’m not talking to Navy wannabee cops.”  
“Interpol picked Halligan up in Lisbon. He never made it to Morocco. We’ll get him back here and he’ll talk. Halligan’s not going to take the fall for you,” Gibbs informs him calmly as Archer turns his back on Gibbs but he swings back around and punches Gibbs in the face. McGee and I draw our gun, but so does Archer who points it at McGee who hesitates. Gibbs shots Archer twice in the chest while I hit him in the leg. By the time he hits the ground he is dead. I offer a hand to Gibbs and pull him up from where he fell onto the ground; I pull him onto his feet with a little but of effect because he is very heavy and it’s all muscle. He turns to McGee and exclaims in annoyance, “Don’t ever hesitate because you second-guess yourself again. I‘ll take your badge. Are we clear?”  
“Clear,” McGee agrees with a node.  
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“How are you going?” I ask Gibbs as I come down the stairs after having a shower to see him working on the boat as I walk down the stair, and I am all dressed up.  
“Getting there,” Gibbs answers me before looking up at me and then he adds, “Whoa. What’s going on?”  
“I’m going out with Abby and the bitch. Abby thinks it’ll be a good idea to spend time together without me trying to kill the bitch,” I explain with a small but of laughter because his face is red while looking back at his boat.  
“Have fun,” Gibbs offers while moving away from the boat to where I have come to a stop at the bottom of the steps, but I don’t step off the last step so I am the same height as he is.  
“I’ll try,” I promise him before he pulls me into a kiss that makes me not want to go. I kiss him back while wrapping my arms around his shoulder as we stand in the basement making out, and I’m dressed up to the nine with my little red dress I wear the first time I ever walked into this basement, and he is an old NIS sweat shirt and jeans, but he looks hotter than any man I’m going to see tonight. I hear a car horn letting me know Abby has arrived as I fight for dominance with my tongue against Gibbs. I break the kiss slowly while pulling Gibbs bottom lip between my teeth as I pull on it gently before I say, “That’s my ride.”  
“You could state and I’ll give you the ride of your life,” Gibbs offers making me laugh because that’s cheesy as anything.  
“That’s cheesy,” I laugh at him as I walk away from Gibbs and back up the stairs, and I can feel him staring at my ass. I get upstairs where I leave to Abby’s car to see she is dressed up to the tee too.  
“Took you long enough,” Abby tease me when I get into the car.  
“I was busy,” I defend myself innocently.  
“I could image. I have to ask, what is Gibbs like in bed?”   
“Wouldn’t know, I have seen him naked. But he is a great kisser; he definitely knows what he’s doing to get a girl’s knees weak.”  
“What do you do then?”  
“Watch him bend over that boat of his,” I answer her with a smirk.  
“So, why wear you late for real?”  
“Because he has more cheesy lines then Tony,” I laugh while thinking about the last one and more the point, why didn’t I take him up on that one? We arrive at the club to see Ziva standing out front of the club.  
“Hello,” She greets us when we walk up to her.  
“Hello,” we greet her back. We walk into the club and order fruity drinks. We all enjoy our drinks before dancing together on the dance floor.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
I hear a herd of animals stumbling into my house so I move away from my boat and put my sander on the bench as I make my way up the stairs to see the girls are drunk but they look happy, something they haven’t really looked in a while so I wouldn’t lecture them.  
“How are you girls?” I ask them making them jump and Alice falls over when she turns around, landing on coach with her legs open, showing me her underwear.  
“Jethro. You scared me,” Alice slurs while smiling at me dopily.  
“How drunk are you girls?” I ask them while I pull Alice back up onto her feet.  
“They only stopped drinking about half an hour ago, and they were mixing drinks,” Ziva reports to me, and she seems very sober.  
“Okay, come on girls, you both need to sleep this off,” I tell the girls while helping Abby over to the coach and laying down on the coach to sleep it off. I lay a blanket over her.  
“Gibbs… Gibbs, you have to see Alice dance. She’s really good at it, but she doesn’t think she is,” Abby loudly whisper at me while holding my shirt so I have to hear what she is going to tell me.  
“I know,” I whisper to her making her grin as she lets my shirt go and I stand back up.  
“Are you right with these two?” Ziva asks me while holding her keys, letting me know, she wants to leave.  
“Yeah.”  
“You sure, they seem to be a hand full.”  
“I’ve dealt with them drunk before,” I inform her, making her node at me before leaving me with my drunken girls.  
“Jethro… Jethro, do you know that you look really good?” Alice slurs while pulling on my shirt.  
“So you tell me,” I laugh at her while leading her up to the stairs.  
“You have pretty eyes too.”  
“You are going to be embarrassed in the morning.”  
“Why? Do you have a girlfriend? You can’t have a girlfriend, you’re mine,” Alice exclaims in anger at the idea of me having a different girlfriend.  
“You are my girlfriend,” I remind her making her calm down and allowing me to lead her into the bed room and sit her down on the bed.  
“So I get to see you without your clothing,” Alice comments while pulling on my shirt until I get out of her arm react. I grab the clothes that she sleeps in, because I’m not letting her sleep in her dress.  
“Come on,” I mumble while grabbing the zipper of her dress to remove the dress.  
“You just what to see me naked,” Alice exclaims while crossing her arms so that I can’t remove the dress.  
“You can’t sleep in your dress, it will be ruined,” I explain to her before removing her dress slowly. I get her out of the dress, and into my shirt that she sleeps in. I lay her down in my bed and whisper to her, “Come on, baby. Sleep, you’ll feel better tomorrow.”  
“Where are you going?”   
“I’m going to get you some water for tomorrow, and some pain pills then I’ll be back.”  
“I really like you,” Alice mumbles into her pillow fort making me smile as I leave the room. I walk into the kitchen and fill two glasses of water and place one beside Abby with some pills for her head in the morning. I then walk up the stairs and back into the room, to see Alice snuggled up so cutely, I place the drink next to her with the pills before I head into the bathroom to have a shower. I join Alice in the bed and wrap my arm around my drunken little angel.  
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I wake up the next morning to Alice laying on my chest as she holding onto my chest. I move Alice off my chest and get up, and walk down stairs to see Abby is still asleep too. I make coffee and begin on breakfast because I know when the girls get up they will be hungry.  
When I finish cooking the bacon, eggs, toast, and sausages, Abby wakes up and walks into the kitchen.  
“Morning, Abby,” I greet her as I plate her up a breakfast and a cup of coffee.  
“Morning, Gibbs,” I exclaims happily while sitting down when I place her food down.  
“How’s your head?”   
“Good. How’s Alice?”  
“Sleeping,” I explain right as Alice stumble into the kitchen half asleep, so I change it to, “And walking.”  
“Coffee,” Alice mumbles but sits down at the table with her head on the table, as she almost falls back to sleep. I make her and myself a plate of food and a cup of coffee. I walk over to the table and put mine down but Alice’s head is in the way.  
“Alice, baby, I need you to move your head,” I laugh at Alice who groans as she lifts her head off the table.  
“You look like you died and when to Tony’s apartment,” Abby laughs at Alice making her groan again.  
“Come on, eat up, it’ll make you feel better,” I order her making her pick up her fork up and we begin to eat in silence.   
After breakfast, Abby heads out to get her car while I head up to the master bed room and get dressed in an old USMC sweat shirt and some jeans before make my way back down to the basement to work on my boat. Alice makes her way upstairs and get dressed into an old t-shirt and some yoga pant before she stumbles down behind me with her coffee.  
“I didn’t do anything stupid last night, did I?” Alice asks me while I sand my boat.  
“Well, you did flash me. Nice knickers,” I tease her making her blush.  
“I didn’t. Please tell me I didn’t?”  
“Oh you did. But that’s not the most embarrassing thing.”  
“What did I do? Jethro, please tell me I didn’t do something I shouldn’t have?” She begs of me.  
“You informed me you like my appearance, mainly my eyes is what you were going on about the most. Then you did get jealous of my girlfriend and very territorial.”  
“Oh, god. I’m sorry,” Alice whins while hiding her face in her hands making me feel back for teasing her.  
“It’s alright. And kind of flattering that you like my body and that you don’t want me to date someone else. It makes me know you are interested in this long term,” I promise her while pulling her into a hug, allowing her to hide her beautiful red face in my chest.  
“I can’t believe I said that,” Alice mumbles into my chest. When she release me, I pull her back over to the boat to help me, I know she won’t do it on her own but she does help me while I guide her hands, plus I get to feel her body against my own and no man can complain about that.  
“You have to go with the grain,” I remind her while leaning against her to put pressure on the sander while guiding her hands still.  
“I don’t want to sand the boat, I want to watch you sand the boat,” Alice informs me while shifting her weight , which results in her ass grinding into my groin for a second, making me stop sanding while groaning into her ear, because that felt good. She freezes when I groan, and I attempt to get my body back under control while I stand sanding the boat again, until she grinds her ass into my groin again…


	12. Smut *

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut... Smut... Smut..  
> if this isn't good, I apologise, I have wrote this off what I have read, not personal experience.

…shifting her weight , which results in her ass grinding into my groin for a second, making me stop sanding while groaning into her ear, because that felt good. She freezes when I groan, and I attempt to get my body back under control while I stand sanding the boat again, until she grinds her ass into my groin again…  
Alice pov  
.  
I smirk when I hear Gibbs groan again when I grind my ass into his groan again, and something inside his pants begin awaking and hardening. I can’t help myself from grinding into his groan making him drop the sander and placing his hands onto my hips, guiding my hips in the motioning he likes as he gets hard and begins grinding back into my ass while moulding his body against my back. The more I grind on to him the more he pushes me forward onto the rib of the boat in front of me.  
“Alice, if you don’t stop, I won’t be able to stop myself,” Gibbs groans into my ear.  
“What makes you think I want you to stop?” I ask him before grinding back onto him harder making him suddenly spin me around so my back is against the boat while he catches my lips in a very heated kiss. He grinds his hard cock against me. He licks my bottom lip but I decide to tease him by not opening my mouth until he bites my lip roughly but not rough enough to break the skin, when I gasp in surprise he slides his tongue into my mouth before I have a chance to close my mouth and tease him some more. We fight for dominance when he gets his tongue into my mouth, but he wins by cheating, when he grabs my ass and squeezes it making me moan.  
As the kiss carries on, Gibbs lifts me off my feet and wraps my legs around his waist so he can grind his cock into my pussy making me moan again before I grind back down into him making him groan against my mouth before he finally breaks the kiss, so that he can kiss down my neck until he finds my sweet spot making me moan louder while I pull his head because that feels good. I pull on Gibbs shirt in the hopes of removing it but he won’t remove his mouth from my neck for me to remove the shirt, so I place my hands on his back to hold him close to me. I feel his hands move from my hips up to my shirt that he begins pulling up my shirt, and when it gets to my shoulder he finally stops kissing my neck to remove my shirt, and then he pulls his shirt off so I can see and touch his chest.  
“Whoa,” Gibbs mumbles while staring at my breasts in the black lace bra I am wearing, it makes my boobs look bigger and prettier. I open my mouth to comment but Gibbs begins kissing down my neck to my breast, making me look my entire through train and my head goes blank, as I drop my head back against the boat rib, and let Gibbs do as he wants because he sure is good at getting what he wants. When he finally arrives between my breasts, he kisses and bites between them making me moan louder again, I never know it could feel so good with someone just playing with my breast. Aw be bites a little harder, leaving an imprint of his teeth without breaking the skin, I moan as I grab his hair when my pussy clenches around nothing.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out in pleasure, how can this feel so good and he hasn’t event touched my below the belt.  
“You like that Alice?” Gibbs asks me while looking up at me from where his head is between my breasts.  
“Yeah… yeah, I like,” I admit with a heave blush that Gibbs watch raise up over my breast and up to my face.  
“We should take this upstairs,” Gibbs mumbles while going back to sucking on my left breast, leaving a mark where no one but he will be able to see. I pull his face out of my cleavage to pull his lips back up to my lips where we begin kissing heatedly. The make out season is very heated and when I break the kiss and look at Gibbs’ eye, you almost can’t see the blue because the pupils so big from arousal, I kiss down his throat this time and when I find his shot that makes him groan, behind his left ear, I suck on it making him grind into me harder while groan my name out.  
“Alice, we really should move this upstairs,” Gibbs mumbles again but he only pushes my body harder against the boat.  
“Don’t wanna” I mumble into his ear before moving my lips back to the spot I have marked and bite down on it gently so that everyone can see he is mine, and that very thought make me moan and grind into his boner harder.  
“Come on,” Gibbs mumbles while pulling me away from the boat but he doesn’t walk towards the stairs, but instead he lays me on the plank of wood that the boat lays on, and lays me on that while pulling away from me. He runs callused hand down my torso until he comes to my jeans that he runs his hands around the top of them, teasing me. He asks me, “Do you want these gone?”  
“You’re a tease,” I laugh at Gibbs when he removes my hands completely from my body. He teasingly smirks at me because he’s a big meanie.  
“You are so pretty,” Gibbs says in complete seriousness while placing his hands on my stomach and just running them from the bottom of my breast down to my pants and back up, never touching where I want him too.  
“I… I,” I mumble out as I blush but I don’t know what to say so I stop trying. Gibbs gently runs his hand down my body until it gets to my jeans that he pops the button of them.  
“Let’s get you out of these restriking clothing,” Gibbs mumbles to me with a sexy smirk while undoing the zipper before he adds, “Let’s see if the underwear matches the bra.” He removes my jeans slowly. Too see that my underwear is black lacy nickers that are more a slip of fabric then covering anything. When the jeans are completely off, he leans over me again and kisses me again. Gibbs settles his jeans covered into my crutch where he grinds his big boner into my groin making me moan into the kiss as he sucks on my tongue. His hand slowly runs down my body until he reaches my nickers and then he rubs me throw the thin fabric making me break the kiss to moan as I arch my back and pushing my pussy into his hand harder because he’s touching it enough for it to feel good but not give me enough pleasure. He teases me by saying, “I can feel how wet you are throw these.”  
“Your fault,” I mumble while kissing his chest.  
“My fault huh,” Gibbs mumbles while placing the pressure I need making me lose all my train of thought and how to do anything but enjoy the pleasure he is giving me. He slowly kisses his way down my body until he gets to my panties, where he kissing along the waist band making me, moan because he is teasing me again, while he moves his hand away from my pussy.  
“Jethro,” I whine while grabbing his hair to get him to do something but I don’t know what.  
“What?” He asks me while looking up at my face.  
“DO something,” I beg of him. He smirks at me before slowly pulling my nickers down my legs, giving me any chance to stop him if I’m uncomfortable. When he gets to my feet he drops the nickers on the ground while he runs his fingers through the moister in my bottom lips. He rubs my clitoris making me moan, when he slowly runs his finger back down to my opening and slowly pushing his finger in making me moan out loud as I arch my back.  
“You’re so tight,” Gibbs mumbles while rubbing me making me moan loudly. He pulls his finger out of my pussy and waits into I’m looking at him to lick his finger clean making me moan again, because that’s so hot and he groans at the taste. He adds, “You taste good. I bet you taste better when you cum.” He then teases me by rubbing his finger over my pussy without entering me, making me groan in disappointment. He smirks at me before he slides his big fingers into my tight little pussy making me moan out loud as I shut my eyes in pleasure. He suddenly licks my pussy making me jump at the unexpected feeling, but before I can reacted anymore, he throws his arm over my hips holding against his mouth as he sucks on my clitoris and pumps his big finger in my pussy. I reach down and grab a handful of his hair to hold him in place, as he adds another finger into me.  
“Jethro,” I moan as I pull on his hair making him groan against my pussy. He finds a spot inside me that make me moan out loud as I pull his hair, as I get closure to that edge. I gasp when he does something with his tongue and his fingers together that makes me see the stars. I push my hips closure to his face and when I look down I can’t help but cum because he looks too hot down there. I scream his name as I explode all over his face. I gasp for air as Gibbs smirks at me as he wipes his face on his shirt of the floor before standing up to place a kiss on my chest.  
“That feel good?” Gibbs asks me a proud little smirk.  
“I can see way everyone marries you. Your too good at that,” I tease him softly while smiling at him.  
“Thank you,” Gibbs says to me while playing with the bra I’m still wearing before he undoes the clip that’s in the middle of my breasts, letting the girls fall out of the sexy bra. He adds, “You know. I should be jealous that you went out in this sexy little outfit.”  
“It’s the only bra and nickers I have that works under my red dress.”  
“You mean you were wearing this outfit that first time you came down here?”  
“Yep.”  
“Now, that’s not far,” Gibbs mumbles before squeezing my right nipple making me moan. I reach up to pull Gibbs into a kiss. I reach down to his pants to rub the boner that he is still confined in the tight material.  
He kisses me before asking me a question that he obviously thinking about, “Alice, have you ever had sex before?”  
“No,” I admit ashamed, because I am now afraid he is going to leave me.  
“Have you ever done something with another male?”  
“No. I’m sorry.”  
“Don’t apologise. You know it’s kind of hot to be someone’s first time,” Gibbs admits to me while placing a kiss on my lips. He adds, “I’m just checking to make sure, I don’t hurt you. Because it’s your first time, it is going to hurt, and I don’t want to hurt you.”  
“I’ll let you know if it hurts too much,” I promise him making him smile before he kisses me soundly while sure he doesn’t hurt me. As he kisses me, he moves one of his hands up into my hair to tilt my head so he can deepen the kiss even more. I run my hands down his toned body until I reach his jeans again, where I break the kiss. “Let’s get you out these,” I mumble while undoing his jeans and he steps out of his jeans, showing me that he wasn’t wearing anything under them making he say, “Now, that’s not far.”  
He slowly moves me further under the boat so he can get on to the wood with me, his hands run up my body to my breast again where he pinches my right nipple while he locks his lips around my left nipple and begins sucking on it before lightly biting onto it making me moan. He settles between my legs so that when he sucks on my left nipple extra hardly, I grind up onto his hip bone as his cock grinds into my leg making us both groan.  
Gibbs rubs his cock throw my pussy making me moan, especially when the tip nudges my clitoris. He swops nipples as he grinds himself against me. I pull on his hair until he removes himself from my chest so I can kiss him again.  
He breaks the kiss while reaching down between us. He asks me, “Are you ready baby?”  
“Yes, please,” I gasp out when I feel him graze his fingers of my lips as he grabs his cock and strokes it a couple of times, while lubricating it up with my own moister.  
“This is going to hurt. The best way is going to be fast,” Gibbs explains to me softly, he waits until I node before he lines the head of his penis up with my opening. He asks me, “Are you sure you’re ready? Or do you want to wait?”  
“Please. I’m ready,” I beg of him while grabbing his arm that he is leading on with one hand and his hair with the other because he’s taking too long and I don’t want him to change his mind.  
“Okay baby. Stay relaxed,” Gibbs mumbles to me before beginning to push into my pussy making me gasp because he’s really big. He doesn’t stop pushing into me until his pelvis is against mine.  
“Oh god,” I moan as my dig into his arms, as Gibbs groans while groping his head into my chest.  
“You’re so tight around me,” Gibbs groans against my skin.  
“Move, please,” I beg of him when it stops hurting with him just staying still.  
“Okay, baby,” Gibbs mumbles while pulling his pelvis back until his cock is almost all the way out until he slams his cock back into my pussy making us both groan in pleasure. He starts out slowly but he quickly begins pounding into me faster and I begin racing my hips to meet him half way making us both groan in pleasure. I find his lips again so that I can kiss him while muffling our noise.  
Gibbs moves faster again, because he is getting close to his orgasm, so he reaches down to my clitoris which he rubs in the same pattern as his hips that are slamming into me, making me moan louder.  
“You close?” Gibbs asks me as he breaks the kiss and whispers into my ear making me moan without answering him making him add, “Use your words.”  
“Please,” I beg of him but I don’t know what I want him to do.  
“Cum baby,” Gibbs orders me making me cum, I see the whole universe explode behind my eyes as I dig my nails into his back, and scream out in pleasure. Gibbs keeps moving inside me until I come down and then he pulls his cock out of me. I reach down to grab his cock and stroke his cock quickly to make him cum.  
“Let me take care of you,” I mumble to Gibbs while guiding him onto his back, and I run my hands up and down on his cock, quickly. My hand guilds effetely because of my own moister, and the faster I go, the more Gibbs groans in pleasure.  
“Baby, I’m going to come,” Gibbs informs me before coming all over mine and his chest as he groans. I lay down beside Gibbs who is looking blissed out making me smile because I can make him feel like that.  
Gibbs rolls over off the wood making me look at him, did I do something wrong? Why is he leaving? He walks over to his bench where he grabs a cloth off of it and wipes the cum off his chest before I look away because I feel like I did something wrong, why else would he leave me after we had sex?  
“Come here, baby,” Gibbs orders em while rolling me over so I am facing him, and he can wipe his cum off my chest. He sees I’m almost in tears making him sit beside me and asks, “What’s wrong baby? Talk to me, baby... I didn’t hurt you did I?”  
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask him while trying not to cry.  
“Why would you think that?”  
“Because you got up, like I did something wrong. I don’t want to do something wrong. Did I not give you pleasure?”  
“Oh, baby. Yes, you have me pleasure. I was getting something to clean you up,” Gibbs explains while laying down with me and covering me with a blanket he grabbed from the end of the boat. He continues, “I didn’t mean to make you feel like that. I was just getting something to clean you up. I l… come on, baby. Did you enjoy it?” Gibbs changes it while pulling me into a hug, laying me half on his naked chest. He places a blank over the two of us, covering our naked bodies to protect us from the chill in the basement and also if someone walks into the basement they can’t see anything.  
“Yeah, I enjoyed it. I can see why Tony is always getting a new girlfriend every week.”  
“Yeah well, you’re not upgrading,” Gibbs laughs at me while holding me to his body, not that I mind. He adds, “You’re mine. All mine.” While saying that he kisses all over my face; making me laugh at his silliness, something you’d never thing Gibbs would be.  
“Yeah, I might have to downgrade. I don’t think there’s an upgrade out there,” I joke making Gibbs puff out his chest in pride.  
“You not allowed to up, down, side or anything else grade,” Gibbs informs me making me laugh as I lay my head onto his musclier chest; he is very comfortable to lay on. I fall asleep on Gibbs’ chest with a smile on my face and my man under my body.


	13. Model Behaviour

“Aren’t you meant to be somewhere today?” I ask Gibbs while a cold case file.  
“Tony’ll take care of it,” Gibbs answers me dismissively while reading another case file.  
“That’s a bit like saying a hurricane while take care of the yard work,” I laugh at the idea of Tony taking care of something.  
“Not my problem, the director while have to deal with him.”  
“You do know that’s as bad a plan, almost as bad as hiring Tony. Or giving Kate a gun.”  
“I did both. What’s another bad plan?”  
“True. True,” I agree while reading this file.  
“Why didn’t you go to the reward ceremony?” Gibbs asks me while turning to watch me.  
“I um… I didn’t want to dress up with Palmer drooling all over me. He doesn’t believe I have a boyfriend,” I explain making Gibbs squeezes his empty coffee cup making the lid pop off.  
“He what?” Gibbs snaps in anger.  
“Come on, Jethro. You and I know I’m not interested in him, I don’t date people who aren’t hot marines,” I explain to my jealous boyfriend while walking over to him and sitting on the edge of his desk, so I can place my hands on his shoulders.  
“He’s not allowed to look at you. Your mine,” Gibbs informs me while grabbing my leg so that I can’t leave him.  
“I promise, I’m not interested in the autopsy gremlin. I have the boss. You don’t have to be jealous of me, I’m here with you. So that tells you who I’m staying with,” I remind him as I rub his shoulders, slowly calming him down.  
“I don’t want to lose you.”  
“Ari couldn’t drag me away from you,” I promise him making him smirk because he knows that Ari is higher on the asshole list then the devil or his ex-wives and Shepard.  
“Okay.”  
“But I’ll tell you what is getting me to leave you,” I begin making him give me his glare but I smirk when I finish, “Coffee. You want one?”  
“Sure. You’re such a tease.”  
“I’ll be back soon,” I promise him before placing a kiss on his lips because no one is in the office then I grab my gun and badge, before walking out of the squad room to get coffee.  
I walk to the coffee shop, and I open the door to see the normal guy on.  
“Working late again Alice,” He asks me while I hand him money because I know the exact amount because I always buy from this shop.  
“You want something to eat too?” He asks me.  
“Yes, please,” I agree with him and he hands me the change while he moves over to the coffee machine. I ask him, “So, how’s the boyfriend?”  
“Gone. He can’t keep a job, why would he keep me?”  
“Because you said he was the best fuck of your life?”  
“I’ll find a better fuck.”  
“I suppose you could have kept him as a fuck-buddy,” I offer as he hands me my coffee and food.  
“I ask for that, but he started throwing the plates at me.”  
“Better luck next time,” I say to him, as I leave the shop. I add, “See you later.”  
“Bye, bye,” He says while waving in the sterically typical gay fashion.  
I slowly make my way back to the NCIS building, where I walk into the elevator and up to the squad room. I walk over to Gibbs who is talking on his phone as I hand him his coffee and a sandwich.   
“Yeah, we’ll be there soon,” Gibbs say into his phone before hanging up and says, “Thanks.”  
“Your welcome. Mark broke up with his boyfriend again,” I inform Gibbs making him give me a look because I’m more involved in Mark’s life then my own at points.  
“What was it this time?”  
“No job. Didn’t want to be a fuck-buddy,” I inform Gibbs ask he pulls me back onto my feet and lead me up the stairs and into the director’s office. Making me ask, “What are we doing in the director’s office?”  
“We’re waiting for her to yell at me,” Gibbs explains while sitting on one of the chairs while I sit down beside him.  
“That’s nice of you to make it easy for her to find you.”  
“This is the last place she’ll look for me.”  
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“Gibbs... Where are you?” Shepard demands of Gibbs when she rings him.  
“I’m right behind you,” Gibbs answers her because she has her back turned to us while she is shutting the door behind her as he hangs up his phone after inform her of that. She has cut her long hair off into a pixie look, which makes her look older then before.  
“I really hate it when you do that. Tony has your award.”  
“He can keep it.”  
“Somethings never change, do that, Jethro?” Shepard flirts while playing with her new haircut.  
“Depends on your definition of change,” Gibbs says while not noticing her hint to be complemented.  
“My definition… I expect you to be there the next time I’m handing you an award.”  
“DiNozzo didn’t tell you? I’m working a case.”  
“Oh, alone in my office?” She flirts with him.  
“What am I? DiNozzo?” I ask her because he’s not alone, I’m here too.  
“It’s high-profile, Jen. I thought you’d want to hear about it before it hits the news.”  
“I’m listening,” Shepard says.  
“Well, there’s a dead celebrity at Quantico,” I inform her.  
“Who?”  
“Some women named Taylor Shane,” Gibbs answers her.  
“The supermodel?”  
“Found her hanging from an OCS security fence this morning,” I inform her.  
“Then why aren’t you there?”  
“I just got the call five minutes ago,” Gibbs defends himself making me laugh because he just shot himself in the foot.  
“Oh, and the awards ceremony started 30 minutes ago.”  
“Well, you know me I like to get a head start on things. I’ll keep you informed.”  
“Jethro, the press is going to be all over this one. I’d appreciate it if you could go easy on them.”  
“Tell me how to do my job, Director?”  
“No, just reiterating your previous point.”  
“Which was?”  
“I know you,” She informs him while playing with her hair again, as Gibbs leads me out of her office.  
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“Break out the gear,” Gibbs orders us when we arrive at the crime scene to see that the press is already here.  
“Boot camp Babes is a real TV show?” Ziva asks as we get our gear out of the truck.  
“Reality TV at its finest. Three hot, rich babes learning what’s truly important in life,” Tony explains to her.  
“Defending their country.”  
“No, firing machine guns while wearing bikinis.”  
“I think I like your reason better, Ziva,” McGee says to Ziva.  
“Your marine corps would actually allow these models to serve?” Ziva asks us in surprise.  
“Well, they’re not joining for real,” Tony explains to her.  
“It’s a stunt. Kind of like the simple life,” McGee adds but I move away from them towards Gibbs who is getting ready to walk past the press.  
“What happened to the girl? What are you hiding”?” one of the reports demand of Gibbs.  
“I just got here. Like I said, I just got here,” Gibbs defends himself as we get to the gate. Gibbs and I turn around to face them.  
“What condition was her body found in?” Another reporter demands of Gibbs.  
“I just got here. I haven’t even had a chance…”  
“What about the other girls? How are the other girls handling it? How are they handling it” Cindy Sanchez demands of Gibbs before knocking his coffee out of his hand with the mic, spilling the coffee over his shirt and the rest of the coffee pools on the ground between his feet.  
“Okay, that’s it. Interview’s over,” Gibbs snaps while wiping the coffee of his chest. While staring at the coffee on the ground,  
“I’m sorry. It was an accident.”  
“I don’t care. Sergeant… secure the area,” Gibbs orders the sergeant while walking away with his back to the cameras.  
“Special Agent Gibbs,” Cindy Sanchez calls after Gibbs.  
“Wow, she really was beautiful,” Jimmy comments.  
“She still is, Mr Palmer. She’s been dead at least five hours, Jethro,” Ducky reports while kneeling next to the victim, where she is laid on the ground.  
“I’m more interested in how she got that way, Duck,” Gibbs admits.  
“Well, her body is covered with these lacerations. None of them appear to be fatal.”  
“We’ll know more when we get her back. Um,” Jimmy says happily but when Gibbs glares at him he looks the confidence and adds, “I’ll just go get the gurney now.”  
“Who moved the body?” I ask them.  
“I did, ma’am. Didn’t think it was right them taking pictures of Taylor hanging on the wire like that,” McMannis informs us.  
“You have any crime scene experience, staff sergeant McMannis?” Gibbs asks him tightly because he is still pissed that the reporter knocked his coffee over.  
“No, sir. But I do have public affairs experience. Photos like that aren’t what the corps agreed to support this show.”  
“You the liaison?” I ask him.  
“Yes, ma’am. We’ve been trying to contact the producer, Thomas Crawley. He doesn’t know anything about this yet.”  
“How’d she get you there?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Looked like she was trying to climb over. That doesn’t make any sense, sir. If she wanted off the show, all she had to do was ask. It’s not like this is a real boot camp.”  
“McGee, photos. Ziva, interview the rest of the models. DiNozzo…”  
“Boss, I’m pretty familiar with the show. Maybe I should interview them,” Tony cuts Gibbs off while begging to meet the models.  
“That would work for me. I hate models,” Ziva agrees with him.  
“Is that so? McGee… helps Ziva… interview them. Any other suggestions, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks Tony while screwing everyone over.  
“No, I think I got it,” Tony admits while McGee hands him his camera.  
“Good. I’m going to need to see all the footage that you shot on this thing,” Gibbs orders McMannis.  
“You got it, sir. Post production office is right over here,” McMannis informs us while leading us over there.  
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“Hey, just about done here, boss. Thought I might check on the rest of the team,” Tony begins when he is down processing the crime scene.  
“You’re riding with the body. Make sure those damn reporters don’t follow you back,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“How am I supposed to do that…?”  
“Improvise,” I offer.  
“Give me the keys. I’m driving,” Tony orders Ducky.  
“Tony,” Ducky says while throwing the keys to Tony.  
“Thanks, Ducky.”  
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“No bones broken, no major arteries severed and take a look at the tox screen. Her death was not the result of tangling with the razor wire,” Ducky reports down in autopsy while handing Gibbs the tox screen the next morning.  
“Phencyclidine. Angel duct,” Gibbs reads of the tox screen.  
“Yeah. It’s an overdose of PCP. Drove that poor girl flailing into that fence. She had a seizure, fell into a coma and died.”  
“An accidental overdose, Ducky?” I ask him in surprise.  
“I doubt it. She had enough PCP in her system to kill a small water buffalo.”  
“Water buffalo?” Gibbs asks him in amusement.  
“I tire of saying small horse. I’m afraid our young model might have committed suicide.”  
“We don’t investigate suicides, Ducky,” Gibbs reminds him before leading me out of autopsy while glaring at Jimmy.  
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“The incident shocked the entertainment industry and entire nation. The sudden and gruesome death of supermodels and recent reality star, Taylor Shane. The 25-year-old was found at approximately 6:10 yesterday morning, hanging atop a barrier fence at the Quantico marine base. Shane was at Quantico participating in hit reality show boot camp babes,” Cindy Sanchez says on the TV in the director’s office.  
“I’ll just fast forward to the good part,” Shepard offers to Gibbs before fast forwarding the recorded news until the good bit for her.  
“Special Agent Gibbs, is the marine corps attempting to cover up how Taylor Shane died,” Candy Sanchez asks Gibbs on the TV.,  
“The interview’s over,” Gibbs says on the TV, right after she knocked his coffee out of his hand, and he’s wiping it off his chest.  
“The people have a right to know.”  
“I don’t care.”  
“What were you thinking?” Shepard demands of Gibbs while pausing the news.  
“Give me a break, Jen, I wasn’t even asked that question,” Gibbs defends himself.  
“You saying they did a hatchet job on you?”  
“Yeah, are you saying you don’t believe me? You were wrong the other day. Some things do change.”  
“Part of our job is to make sure that they don’t creatively edit our interviews, Jethro,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs angry.  
“No, that’s your job, Director. His job is to catch the bad guys. Especially the ones you hire,” I correct her.  
“The Marine corps does not need any more bad publicity at this moment,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs while glaring at me.  
“Supporting something called boot camp babes? What did they think was gonna happen?” Gibbs asks her.  
“The intention of the show was to represent that the marines could be a life changing experience.”  
“Maybe, in season two. Are we one here, yet? I have a dead girl downstairs and an investigation to run.”  
“I’ve got an entire agency to run.”  
“Really? So you mess with the other team too. Or do you just not care about them? Do they even know what you look like? What do you even do because every time I see you, you’re lecturing Gibbs and making assumptions and wanting to arrest the innocent while letting the guilty go?” I demand of her while cutting her off.  
“And sound bites like these do not help with the budgets under review. Or maybe you’d like to go back to the days when we had to buy our own ammo to train on the range,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs while ignoring me because it makes her seem bad.  
“Okay, you want me to help fix this? Then get me that reporter’s number,” Gibbs orders Shepard.  
“You’re going to apologize?” Shepard asks in surprises.  
“No, ask her to dinner,” Gibbs answers her before leading me out of the director’s office leaving an unamused director behind us because she is jealous of the reporter but that’s the wrong person she is jealous of.  
“Why is your go to thing to as the reporter’s to dinner when they bad mouth the Marine Corps or a marine?” I ask Gibbs because he asked a reporter out to dinner with sea dog and know with the model.  
“It works better than shooting them.”  
“Have you tried shooting them?”  
“Yep, years ago,” Gibbs answers me.  
“Anyone else think they were more than just partners back in the day?” Tony asks Ziva and McGee who pulls a face when they see Gibbs coming to a stop behind Tony making him add, “Hi, boss. We’re just talking about Cagney and Lacey. It was a real good show.”  
“What we got?” Gibbs demands of them while hitting Tony on the back of the head because he’s a bad liar and he knows what Tony is talking about.  
“Taylor Shan checked into the Los Angeles Better health centre in august of ’20 and then again in May of ’03,” Ziva reports to Gibbs while putting them facts up on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desks.  
“Publicist said it was an eating disorder, but… the truth is it was heroin, cocaine and,” Tony reports.  
“PCP,” Gibbs and I finish for him.  
“Bingo, Boss.”  
“Friends have given several interviews over the years. They blame her drug problem mostly on the boyfriend, Noah Keller, son of Marshall Keller,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Ooh, that guy owns half of Manhattan. His kids are loaded, too.”  
“Well, this kid was arrested for possession of illegal narcotics three times in the last five years. Twice for cocaine, once for PCP.”  
“Find him,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Already on it.”  
“That executive show guy, Crawley? He got back last night?”  
“The term is ‘executive producer,’” Ziva corrects Gibbs.  
“Whatever. Interview him. I want to know how this girl did a fistful of CP in the middle of his reality show.”  
“That guy dates super models?” Tony asks in surprise while looking at the photo of Noah Keller.  
“They’re shallow, he’s wealthy. It’s the perfect match. Isn’t your family wealthy?” Ziva asks Tony.  
“That’s different.”  
“Why?”  
“My dad cut me off when I was 12.”  
“I would love to find out what hooker you brought to get cut off,” I comment making Tony grin at me before continuing.  
“I had to earn all my dates the old fashioned way.”  
“Begging,” Ziva finished for him.  
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“Hey, Abs, go some good news for you. Just talked to the director, your new assistant starts Monday,” Gibbs informs Abby as he glides into the lab with a caf-pow.  
“No, Gibbs. No, I can’t go through that again,” Abby exclaims in anger making Gibbs smile and I bust out laughing making her push him while exclaiming, “That is so not funny.”  
“No?” Gibbs asks her with a smile.  
“No.”  
“It was to me, kind. Here you do. Where are we?” Gibbs says while handing her the caf-pow to make her feel better, as I get my laughter under control.  
“Well, I know why no one heard Taylor screaming she was on the wire the other night. Two 300-car trains passed by OCS the same time she died. I doubt anyone could have heard anything.”  
“You on a new diet, Abs? Because Kate tried all these and they don’t work,” I inform her while looking at all the cakes and sweets set out on her table.  
“No, according to Ducky, there were no signs of intravenous drug use on the body, and there were traces of PCP in the lungs.”  
“She took it orally,” Gibbs asks her in surprise while her eyebrows go up to meet his hair.  
“But there were also no traces of the binders and chemicals you would find when something’s taken by pill.”  
“Yeah, well, I’m guessing that’s what all this is about,” I comment while looking at all the cakes and food.  
“You would be guessing right. There were traced of PCP in her stomach. There was also dextrose, ferrous sulfate. Riboflavin and a bunch of other chemicals that are consistent with these delectable pastries.”  
“Okay, which one?” Gibbs asks Abby.  
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. It’s kind of fun. It reminds me of Bill Nye.”  
“Who?” Gibbs and I ask in confusion.  
“Bill Nye the science guy? Wacky scientist with a kid’s show?”  
“Oh, like Mr Wizard,” Gibbs explains.  
“Who?” Abby and I ask in confusion, now I feel stupid, I missed both reference.  
“Never mind.”  
“So, anyways, Bill Nye did an episode where he broke down the molecular structure of junk food pastries, same think I did today, only Bill Nye was trying to get kids to eat healthier, and his pastries wasn’t laced PCP, although Bill Nye once,” Abby rambles.  
“Abby, that case?” I beg of her.  
“Two thinks I know. One, I like cream filling, and two, her last meal was this. I think we’re looking at death by Klowny Kake,” Abby explains while holding up a Clownery Cake.  
“That’s good work, Abs,” Gibbs says before we leave the lab.  
“Who is Mr Wizard?” I ask Gibbs as we step into the elevator.  
“What did you want when you wanted to see science happening on TV?”   
“Myth-busters. They blow stuff up and shot things,” I answer him.  
“Why does that not surprise me?”  
“Because I like things blowing up.”  
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“When was the last time you heard from Mr. Keller?” McGee says into the phone at his desk in the squad room.  
“Hang up the phone, McGee,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Boss, I’m on the phone with Noah Keller’s accountant,” McGee explains to Gibbs who takes the phone and hangs up for him.  
“He’s at the Cranston Motel in Triangle, Virginia right outside the main gate at Quantico,” I explain to McGee.  
“How’d you track him down?”  
“I got an urgent call from the President. His AMEX records were in the fax machine, McGee. Come on,” Gibbs orders him while leading us to the elevator.  
“I specifically told her to e-mail those.”  
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“Millions of dollars, supermodel girlfriend, this is where he stays?” McGee comments while looking at the flea bag hotel.  
“Well, he showed up in style,” I comment while looking at his fancy car.  
“I think I would have rather slept in the car.”  
“That one,” Gibbs says while pointing at the room as he answers his ringing phone, “Yeah, Gibbs… yea, I see him now, DiNozzo.” I look throw the window with Gibbs, who hangs up his phone, to see Keller dead on the bed inside that room, as McGee knocks on the door.  
“Don’t bother, McGee,” I state sadly, I don’t like when young people die with their whole life ahead of them.  
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“A young person’s death is never easy, McGee, but two in 24 hours, and both self-affected, well, that’s… tragic,” Ducky comments while looking at Keller’s body on the hotel room.  
“He got off easy, Duck drugs he have his girlfriend had her thrashing herself to death in a barbed-wire fence,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“These people can have everything, and this is how they end up?” McGee asks in surprise.  
“Well, wealth and fame have often gone hand in hand with fatal addiction. Edgar Allan Poe, Keith Moon,” Ducky informs us.  
“Kurt Cobain,” Jimmy offers.  
“Yeah, the list goes on and on. This one’s been dead about 24 hours, Jethro.”  
“Yeah, well, that means he offed himself the same night his girlfriend O.D.’d,” I comment.  
“Well, the froth around the mouth suggests a breakdown of the nervous system.”  
“PCP?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Yeah, possible, but not probable. Look. Pinpoint pupils, blue discolouration around the fingernails. No, I’d say his death was the result of diacetylmorphine.”  
“Heroin,” I ask him next.  
“Yeah.”  
“I would say you’re right, Ducky. That a suicide note?” Gibbs asks McGee.  
“Not exactly,” McGee answers, badly who is looking at a sheet of paper.  
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“’It’s time for us to realise that this just isn’t meant to be. Please know that it was never my intention to hurt you. I will always remember the great times we’ve had.’ This is a dear john letter,” Shepard releases what she just read in her office.  
“Postmarked six days ago from Quantico Post office. Handwriting checks out,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Taylor Shane sent it.”  
“Yeah. Noah Keller came by to chat about it,” I state.  
“Very Romeo and Juliet.”  
“Yeah, except for the part where he feeds her a toxic Klowny Kake and offs himself,” Gibbs states.  
“This must have been a very difficult letter for her to write,” Shepard says in the tone of voice that she is implying something from her past with Gibbs.  
“Probably harder for him to read. No one likes getting dumped by postal express,” Gibbs explains to her letting me know she left him a Dear John letter in his past.  
“Maybe he didn’t listen. Relationships change. Some people don’t know when to let go. I have to brief the C.G. of Quantico first thing in the morning on this, and I’d like you to be there when I do that,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs making him look away from her for the first bit because it’s about him but he glares at her for the second.  
“Negative, Jen all we have is circumstantial evidence so far. We don’t even have anything to tie the two deaths together yet.”  
“Well, I can’t call the general and tell him we have nothing.”  
“You can always rite him a letter,” Gibbs reminds her before leaving the office with me.  
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“And apparently, he only went out with models and A-list celebrities. This guy got the VIP treatment everywhere he went,” Jimmy informs Ducky as we walk into autopsy.  
“You writing a gossip column, Palmer?” Gibbs demands of him making him stutter.  
“I-I was just informing Dr Mallard that he… that he… that he… we… I…”  
“Talk to us, Ducky, please,” I beg of Ducky while cutting of Jimmy’s stuttering.  
“Our initial assumptions were far from correct. When I examined him just now, I found fresh bruises on his upper back, the left shoulder. The x rays indicated a severe fracture of the left scapula and a clavicle that was almost completely crushed,” Ducky explains to us.  
“He was in a fight?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Yeah. Well, injuries of that nature, his left arm would be completely useless.”  
“Someone else shot him up,” I comment because the needle was in his right arm.  
“Well, Abby’s tox screen showed that Mr Keller had a blood-alcohol, level of .34. His heart was pumping so slowly that most of the heroin was never even metabolized.”  
“He was passed out,” Gibbs comments.  
“Yes. I’m afraid our young man was unconscious when the drug was administered.”  
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“Keller didn’t commit suicide, he was murdered. What the hell are you two doing? Find out way,” Gibbs orders his team as we walk into the squad room to see them sitting at their desks but not really working.  
“Hey, uh, I got to call you back,” Tony says into his phone but I’m willing to bet there is no one on the other end.  
“Boss, I think I might have something,” McGee informs Gibbs but stops when Gibbs glares at him because he’s still in the bad mood from the reporter spilling his coffee.  
“Are you waiting for me to guess… elf lord?” Gibbs asks him making Tony laugh at McGee.  
“No. Sorry. Um, I was searching through Noah Keller’s cell phone records. The night that he died, he received three calls. Two were from his business manager; the other was from Hannah Brassling.”  
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“What are you doing?” Gibbs asks Shepard who is stilling at his desk writing on a note book when we return form a coffee run while the rest of the team is out looking for our killer.  
“I just stopped by to drop something off, Jethro,” Shepard defends herself.  
“Looked to me like you were playing agent.”  
“I left you four messages today.”  
“Really? I have him all three. I haven’t heard or taken a fourth,” I state making a liar out of her but she picks up the fourth one, the one she just wrote.  
“Noah Keller’s death was murder, not suicide. That’s something I should probably know.”  
“It sounds like you do,” Gibbs informs her.  
“This case is getting more attention by the hour. I trust… that you will keep me informed.”  
“Trust is a two-way street.”  
“What are you saying, Jethro, you don’t trust me?”  
“Of course I trust you. Is that all?”  
“For now,” Shepard says before leaving when Ziva arrives.  
“I can save you the trouble. On today’s channel six news, per Director Shepard’s demands, Cynthia Sanchez issued a retraction on Monday’s story. She was also forced to issue a public apology to on Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Our director has friend in high places, yes?” Ziva informs Gibbs who picks up the tape Shepard left on his desk next to her note.  
“Something I can do for you, Officer David?” Gibbs asks her tightly.  
“Abby need to see you. Said she found something,” Ziva informs Gibbs making us all stand up and walk to the back elevator too see Abby, the forensics foodie. We all step into the elevator and I push the button because I like pushing buttons.  
“I looks through all the boot camp babes footage from the night Taylor Shane died,” Abby reports to Gibbs ask we walk into the lab.  
“She was nowhere to be seen. She knew where the camera was placed. Also knew how to avoid them,” Ziva informs Abby making me roll my eyes because that’s the only way not to be seen and even the director can figure that out and she’s nil for three.  
“Not all of them. A few minutes ago, I found this. It’s from a Quantico security camera that was placed on top of the mess hall. This video was taken about two hours before Taylor Shane died.”  
“I presume not many people stroll around Quantico at 1:00 am.”  
“Can you zoom in, Abs?” Gibbs asks Abby while ignoring Ziva.  
“My new enhancer program is booting up as we speak. I’ve been waiting for the chance to bust this back boy. This should clear it up a bit,” Abby exclaims while loading a program on her computer.  
“Taylor was with Staff Sergeant McMannis?” Ziva asks in surprise as we look at her with the staff sergeant when Abby enhances.  
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“When’s Gibbs planning on starting?” Ziva asks us as we stand around in the observation room watching McMannis in integration calmly.  
“This is one of his techniques,” Tony informs her without answering her.  
“Really?”  
“Leave the guy alone in a cold, dimly lit room.”  
“And then, just as the guy starts to zone out, burst in the door and rifle off some questions,” I add making Tony node at me.  
“I call it ‘rock the baby.’”  
“I see. And does it work?” Ziva asks him.  
“Oh, just watch. In a few moments, that door’s going to fly open and this big, bad marine is going to jump like a little girl,” Tony explains to Ziva, right as Gibbs slams the door open into observation making Tony jump and squeal like a little girl.  
“What the hell’s with you, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of his scared agent making me and Ziva laugh at him.  
“Nothing. Uh… I was just tell Ziva about interrogation techniques.”  
“I’m not interrogating McMannis. You are.”  
“Ooh, thanks, boss. You know, I could’ve used a little more prep time…”  
“I’m not talking to you, DiNozzo. He is all yours, Officer David,” Gibbs cuts Tony off while handing Ziva the file.  
“You are aware that I’ve never performed an interrogation without inflicting some sort of pain,” Ziva asks him as she takes the file and leaves the room.  
“This is going to be good,” I comment while watching her walk into the integration room.  
“This footage was pulled from a Quantico security camera. It was taken at 0117 the morning Taylor Shane was murdered,” Ziva inform McMannis while playing the footage and dragging a chair over to the two way mirror.  
“It’s an interesting technique,” Tony comments while watching her do this.  
“She doesn’t want to tempt herself,” Gibbs informs Tony while watching the integration.  
“Tell me what you know, staff sergeant,” Ziva orders him.  
“”Okay if I dip, ma’am? I promised Taylor I’d quit. We’re both addicted to nicotine,” McMannis asks Ziva while pulling out some chewing tobacco.  
“A supermodel who spits tobacco?”  
“She smoked, but it’s against the rules at boot camp.”  
“So you supplied her with your snuff there?”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
“And junk food?”  
“Sometimes.”  
“And the midnights walks? You did that with every girl, staff sergeant?”  
“No, just Taylor, we didn’t want anybody to find out about us until the show ended.”  
“Find out what?”  
“That we were in love, ma’am.”  
“This is the worst defence imaginable. The idea of a supermodel falling in love with a guy like this,” Tony comments.  
“Okay, why is that?” I ask Tony while taking the bait he is hanging in front of us.  
“Well, it’s absolutely ridiculous, you know? Supermodels date guys like George Clooney, or guys with George Clooney’s bank account or, of course, the actual George Clooney, but bot guys like this. They don’t date guys like this. Definitely not guys like this.’  
“Meaning, Marines, DiNozzo?” Gibbs snaps at him because he’s a marine and Tony just said he’s not good enough or able to date a model, not that I’m going to let him do that. He’s mine.  
“No, I didn’t say that. I mean, I would never say that. He thought I meant marines,” Tony exclaims while getting the tech involved because Gibbs is going to kill him. But he is saved by Gibbs phone ringing.  
“Yeah, Gibbs… I’ll be right there,” he hangs up the phone before saying to Tony, “Abby’s got something.” Gibbs leads me out of the observation room and down the hall to the squad room. We walk through the squad room to the back elevator to take down to Abby.  
“You know, Tony’s wrong. Ain’t nothing wrong with dating marines. Besides, Clooney’s old and ugly,” I inform Gibbs making him smirk at me because I complemented him, while insulting on of the hottest guys alive.   
“Not if you’re a seal,” Abby says to McGee as we walk into the lab making me pull a face, we missed something again.  
“What do we have, Abs?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I broke down the origin of each and every stain on Taylor’s clothes. Most are blood, mud, rust and sweat.”  
“Most?” I ask her.  
“Yes. This stain here, under the collar, has traces of PCP mixed with formaldehyde, sodium, and nicotine.”  
“Tobacco,” Gibbs and I simplify it for her.  
“Yep. The PC wasn’t laced in the Klowny Cake. It was laced in this.”  
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“You did this to me! You’re trying to destroy me!” McMannis exclaims as we run into the integration room to see Ziva and Tony holding him on the ground.  
“The guy just went crazy, boss,” Tony explains to Gibbs.  
“He’s ODing on PCP,” I explains quickly.  
“Get a medical team in here, DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders Tony while kneeling down and taking Tony’s place while Tony runs off to do what he is told.  
“Where’s you get the chew, Sergeant? Sergeant?” I ask him while placing my hands on his shoulders in an attempt to get him to calm down enough to answer me as Gibbs orders Tony to get someone to save this man’s life.  
“From the show. What’s happening to me, ma’am?” McMannis asks in confusion making me feel bad for him.  
“You’ve been drugged,” Gibbs answers him when I hesitate, who do you tell someone that?  
“But you’ll be alright now. Hush,” Ziva informs him while Gibbs rubs the scared man’s head, he doesn’t understand who he can be drugged.  
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“This is what I would call some serious snuff. The staff sergeant’s chew was laced with 400 milligrams of PCP. A typical hit for a user would be between seven and ten milligrams,” Abby reports while holding up the staff sergeants chew.  
“I knew that dude could’ve have taken me if he wasn’t juiced,” Tony exclaims making me roll my eyes, a marine is in the hospital fighting for his life and Tony’s only worried about is his fighting skills.  
“What are his chances, Abby?” Ziva asks Abby while ignoring Tony.  
“Depends on how much PCP he ingested. How long was he dipping?” Abby explains making Ziva and Tony look away from her making her add, “That long, huh? Let’s just hope he has better lick than Taylor Shane.”  
“Okay, great. Thank you. Staff sergeant McMannis is stable at Bethesda. Still in critical condition,” McGee reports to us after hanging up his phone.  
“Thank god,” I state.  
“Any prints?” Gibbs asks Abby.  
“I was able to life two latent prints. One matches Staff Sergeant McMannis,” Abby reports to Gibbs.  
“And the other?” I ask her when she hesitates.  
“No owner yet. But it does match a print lifted from Noah Keller’s syringe.”  
“Whoever killed Taylor, killed Keller,” Ziva releases.  
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“What’s that for?” Hannah, one of the models, asks us when Tony opens his fingerprint kit in the dormitory.  
“It’s a fingerprint kit,” Tony answers her.  
“Why?” Natalie, the other model, demands of Tony.  
“Someone tried to kill Staff Sergeant McMannis today,” Gibbs informs her.  
“His chewing tobacco was laced with PCP. Whoever did it left a print on the can,” Ziva informs the models.  
“The same person who murdered Taylor Shane and Noah Keller,” I state tightly.  
“Who. You think it was one of us?” Natalie demands of us.  
“Oh, we know it was one of you,” Ziva informs her.  
“You were always jealous of her, Hannah. You’re also the one who introduced her to Keller,” Crawley, Taylor’s adopted father, accuses one of the models.  
“Me, jealous of a crackhead? Please, Tom, you’re stretching it a bit,” Hannah hisses at the director of this TV show.  
“But why would we? That doesn’t make any sense,” Natalie exclaims.  
“Taylor Shane was in love with the staff sergeant,” Ziva informs them.  
“Yeah, right. You’ve got to be joking,” Hannah laughs in Ziva’s face.  
“No, she’s serous. She had her funny bone removed as I child,” I snap at the model, I don’t like Ziva but only I’m allowed to pick on her.  
“Well, then fingerprint away, sweetheart. It wasn’t me.”  
“We don’t need it. They’re already on your arrest record,” Gibbs informs her making her glare at him.  
“From the time you beat up your assistant with a cell phone, I believe?” Ziva adds.  
“Well, it want me,” Natalie exclaims.  
“Nope. We’ve got your, too,” I add happily, I like this.  
“Yeah. Remember that time you drove your SUV through the front of the Limelight?” Tony ask her.  
“Whoa. What is this? I-I loved Taylor. Wait a minute. I’m not giving you permission to take my fingerprints. I want to talk to my lawyer first,” Crawley exclaims while moving away from the men when they go to take his prints.  
“We don’t need anybody’s permission. You’re under arrest for murder,” Gibbs informs her.  
“You didn’t want Taylor to give up her career to marry a marine, but you couldn’t stop her,” Ziva says to Crawley.  
“Yoo bad she was addicted to nicotine, too,” Tony adds.  
“You killed your own daughter?” Natalie yells at Crawley in anger and disgust.  
“It was an accident! What was I supposed to do? She was going to throw her life away. Be some… be some jarhead’s housewife!” Crawley hisses in anger as Gibbs physically remove him from the room.  
“Thanks, Tom,” Hannah laughs making me glare at her, if she wasn’t famous I would punch her.  
“What’s so funny, honey?” Ziva asks Hannah.  
“The rating on this one will really be through the roof.”  
“Ziva, no, no, no, no,” Tony exclaims while he and I pull her away from the model and out the door.  
“You really find her attractive?” Ziva demands of Tony in anger.  
“Oh, yeah.”  
“Well, I want to shoot her.”  
“If I shot every women who Tony finds attractive and that pissed me off, no one would live after Kate’s death. But you get used to taking it was a cup of coffee,” I explain to Ziva tightly before running to catch up with Gibbs.  
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“Tony, it’s a matter of opinion. How can I be wrong?” McGee demands of Tony while they talk about the director’s new haircut while standing around McGee’s desk in the squad room.  
“Exactly. It’s a matter of you having the wrong opinion,” Tony exclaims.  
“Why don’t you two just agree to disagree?” Ziva offers to the two man-children.  
“I don’t agree to that,” McGee exclaims.  
“How about if you two keep fighting, I duct tape you together with your mouths kissing, so that you can’t fight,” I offer innocently while holding up the duct tape making them pull a face because I once duct taped Kate to Tony because they were fighting over who owned what food on Kate’s desk.  
“Boss, the director’s hair, you like the way she cut it short?” Tony asks Gibbs who sweeps into the squad room.  
“She cut her hair?” Gibbs asks innocently and in surprise because he didn’t notice making me smirk. Ziva and McGee leave for the night while leaving us until tomorrow.  
“Never mind. I don’t suppose you want this. I’ll get rid of it,” Tony says while holding Gibbs latest metal before deciding to dispose of it himself.  
“Go home, DiNozzo. It’s late.”  
“Yeah, I’m just finishing up a couple things,” Tony says while moving back over to his desk.  
“Your flowers are dead,” Gibbs informs him while leading me out of the squad room and over to the front elevator to leave the building.  
“You know that the director wants you to complement her new haircut after the award ceremony in her office?” I ask Gibbs softly.  
“What new haircut?” Gibbs asks me in confusion again because he really doesn’t know.  
“You’re an investigator and you didn’t notice that all her hair fell off?”  
“I don’t like short hair. So I’m not going to lie about it and say she looks good, when she looks like a guy.”  
“So you did notice?” I tease him.  
“It’s my job to notice things. But I don’t see why everyone what’s me to comment on it, she’s not my wife.”  
“She better not be,” I mumble because releasing that Gibbs is giving me a look making me asks, “What?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Jethro, what is it? You have that look in your eye you always get before stealing Abby’s punch line, you know something and I want to know what it is. Please.”  
“You defend Ziva. Backhandedly.”  
“She’s a bitch, but she can be my bitch.”  
“You need help.”  
“Says the guy building a boat in his basement,” I laugh at him because, I need help for having a work bitch, while my make is building a boat. I don’t think I’m the one who needs help in this relationship.  
“You weren’t complaining about my boat last weekend,” Gibbs whispers in my ear as the doors open making me blush, as I think about what we did against and under the boat.  
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“Jethro, are you hungry?” I ask Gibbs while walking down the boat to see him sanding the rib, the same rib I was pressed against last weekend making me blush.  
“Uh-huh,” Gibbs mumbles distractedly as I look up and down his body, he is wearing an old red USMC hoody and sweat pants.  
“Corn beef, vegetables and potato bake is ready,” I inform him before making my way back up the stairs, letting him follow me if he really wants to eat. I am half way up the stairs when I feel a presents behind me a second before Gibbs pulls me into a hug while burying his face in my neck.  
“Thank you, baby,” Gibbs mumbles but he doesn’t let me go.  
“Foods getting cold,” I inform him while I squeezing his hands that are holding my body against him from it placement on my hip. I turn around in his hold so I can hug him properly, after moment I inform him, “Jethro. I invited Ducky and Mrs Mallard around for dinner.”  
“Now there was a reason you were dressed up and wasn’t for me,” Gibbs mumbles into my neck but he is smiling so he can’t be angry at me.  
“I’m not dressed up.”  
“Right, you just wear nice jeans and a button up shirt all the time at home,” Gibbs teases me while removing his face from my neck to smirk at me while I blush.  
“I just want Mrs Mallard to like me,” I admit quietly.  
“She’ll like you because you her granddaughter,” Gibbs informs be before grabbing my hand and pull me up the stairs. As we exit the basement there is a knock at the front door. I walk over to the door and open it while Gibbs goes to get his beer before it gets to warm.  
“Hey,” I smile when I see Ducky there with Mrs Mallard.  
“Evening Alice,” Ducky greets me before turning to his mother and introducing her to me, “Mother, this is Alice, my daughter.”  
“Hello,” Mrs Mallard says enthusiast with a big grin on her face.  
“Hi, how are you ma’am?” I ask her while letting them into the house.  
“I am well. Your hair is red.”  
“Yeah, it seems so,” I admit to her softly like it’s a secret. I lean then into the kitchen-dining room where I have placed to food on the table for us to eat as we get to know each other and Jethro is grabbing out a drink for everyone to drink because I didn’t want them to get hot before we drank them.  
“Evening,” Gibbs says while nodding at his friend and that friend’s mother.  
“Evening,” Ducky greets back as we all take our seats and eat our food while talking. Once the food is all gone the boys make their way into the basement to talk while I talk to my grandmother because she seems to like me.  
“So, your my Donald’s daughter?” Mrs Mallard asks me happily again in a little bit of shock as we sit down on the coach to talk.  
“Yes, ma’am,” I answer her politely.  
“Have you meet my dogs?”  
“Yes, ma’am a couple of years ago.”  
“Do you like my dogs?”  
“They look like dogs,” I answer her without answering her because I wasn’t around those barkers long enough to know if I liked them or not but Ugly Tony looks like a saved rat, so at least her dogs look like dogs.  
“Who are you?”   
“Alice, you granddaughter,” I explain to her softly.  
“Your Donald’s daughter?”  
“Unless he has a twin,” I answer her straight away making her laugh with me.  
“What do you do for a living?”  
“I work with Ducky. Mainly getting Jethro coffee.”  
“I like Jethro,” Mrs Mallard informs me with a dreamy look on her face when she adds, “I don’t remember my number but Donald will give it to him.”  
“I’m sure he will,” I say while trying to keep a straight face because Jethro’s mine.  
“Do you have a husband,” Mrs Mallard asks me as I take a sip of my coffee making me chock on it.  
“No… no, I have a boyfriend,” I explain to her once I stop coughing.


	14. Boxed in *

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut....

“Our Intel was wrong, Gibbs. The container isn’t filled with small arms. It’s a shipment of explosives,” Survoy in forms Gibbs in MTAC, because we are looking into a case for him, and he was wrong, and Ziva and Tony has already gone to look for this container.  
“C-four?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Worse. Unexploded K-M-G-U cluster bomblets.”  
“From where?” I ask him.  
“Iraq. Al Qaeda pays kids fifty cents a day to collect the bomblets. Most of them end up dead, the lucky ones crippled. These bomblets are…”  
“Highly unstable. Yeah. I’d say that’s worse,” Gibbs comments, cutely.  
“French intelligence out of Dakar believe they may have been loaded onto a Senegalese ship last week.”  
“Last week?” I ask him in surprise.  
“Why are we just hearing about this today?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Have you ever worked with the French, Gibbs?” Survoy asks Gibbs like that answers his demands.  
“Yeah, a few times,” Gibbs admits.  
“Then you know what I’m up against.”  
“I’ve got two agents down at the docks. I need more than ‘ they may have been loaded on a Senegalese ship,’ Tom.”  
“We’re working on it, Jethro. Just tell your people to be careful.”  
“Where are they now, McGee?” I demand of McGee who is monitoring Ziva and Tony.  
“Tony said that they were relocating,” McGee reports.  
“Why?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Said that they had new Intel.”  
“Are you waiting for him to say please?” I ask McGee when he hesitates on finishing the report.  
“I couldn’t make it out. The phone reception was already hinky before I lost them.”  
“Well un-loss them. I don’t want them to touching anything without a bomb squad present!” Gibbs orders him tightly.  
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“Our last contact with them was here, the north expansion. They were checking out a West African cargo chop that pulled in two days ago,” McGee reports in the squad room while showing us that the satellite photo of the shipping yard where he lost Ziva and Tony.  
“What about the GPS stuff in their phones?” Gibbs asks McGee innocent but protectively.  
“Well, see, that’s the strange thing. Their cell phone reception is bad around the docks, but their GPS chip should not be effected. They run on a separate satellite networks, but we should be able to pick them up anyway.”  
“Should, McGee? I don’t like should when someone’s life is in the line,” I inform McGee while holding the rule three pillow tightly, I can’t lose my friend or my bitch.  
“For some reason we can’t. Um… phones. Phones could be turned off. Chips could be disabled. They could be in a structure that is blocking the GPS signal.”  
“Like the hold of a ship?” Gibbs exclaims.  
“Uh, possibly. You know, I’m thinking that they might be waiting to get into a better cell reception area before calling in.”  
“Maybe doesn’t cut it, McGee,” I hiss at McGee in fear.  
“You should have let me know,” Gibbs orders McGee while placing his hand on my back because he can see who scared I am.  
“I know. Uh… see, the thing is you were busy, boss. You were in the restroom,” McGee defends himself badly.  
“Have you ever had a conversation in the head, McGee?”  
“One time I did. The person that I was talking to… they were so distracted… my shoes, they kind of got,” McGee stutters out making me pull a disgusted face before Gibbs smacks McGee on the back of the head making him exclaim, “Sorry, I should have… should have let you know.”  
“Don’t apologies. It’s a sign of weakness.”  
“Let’s find them before DiNozzo blows both his arms off,” I attempt to joke through the fear, I can’t let the fear run my life again.  
“Come on, Alice,” Gibbs orders me while leaving the squad room with McGee searching for Tony and Ziva. We enter the elevator in silence and when it begins moving Gibbs hits the emergency stop making me look at him when he asks me, “Are you alright, baby?”  
“I’m fine,” I lie.  
“Alice, you and I know your lying. Tell me the truth, don’t make me force it out of you.”  
“I’m fine,” I lie again which is the wrong thing to do because Gibbs suddenly moves until I am pined against the wall and he is tickling my ribs making me laugh and trying to get away from him. I am laughing my ass off as I try to get away from Jethro but that doesn’t work, leaving me to make him stop. “Jethro, stop it,” I laugh.  
“Don’t lie to me and I’ll stop,” Gibbs informs me while continuing with a grin.  
“Okay, okay. Stop, I’ll tell you,” I promise making Gibbs stop tickling me but he doesn’t move away. I explain my fears to him, “I don’t want to lose them, I might not like them, but I can’t lose anyone more. What if they found the bomb or the bomber found them.”   
“We’ll save them,” Gibbs promise me while holding me in a hug making me feel better because Gibbs hugs make everyone feel better.  
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“Your people checked in with me at seven oh six. DiNozzo and David, right? They were surveilling containers for illegal contraband from West Africa,” Lake, the security officer, informs us.  
“That’s them,” I agrees with him.  
“Well, they’re staked out by the dock on the north expansion.”  
“Not anymore,” Gibbs states.  
“They changed their post,” McGee adds.  
“See, now this is… I’ve got to tell you something. I made it very clear to them that any change of plans goes through this office. Where are they now?”  
“Well, we wouldn’t be here if we know where they are. Mister Lake, we lost contact,” I explain to him.  
“So for all we know they’re out there wandering around somewhere lost,” Lake states making me glare at him, who the hell does he think he is?  
“My people don’t get lost!” Gibbs snaps tightly.  
“Agent Gibbs, this is one of the largest ports on the East Coast. Believe me, it happens all the time. Matthew?” Lake explains to us like we’re stupid and then calls on of his co-workers.  
“Sir?” Matthew asks him.  
“Do me a favour. We’ve got two missing Feds. Take a team and sweep the sectors by the North Expansion. Call me when you find them.”  
“You got it,” Matthew agrees before leaving to find out missing murdered and man-hoe.  
“You’re welcome to wait here while we locate them.”  
“Mister Lake, it would be helpful if we could review the security camera footage,” McGee asks him politely.  
“Yeah, sure. I’ll have one of my tecs work on it. Hey, what kind of contraband were they looking for?”  
“Arms shipment. Explosives,” Gibbs answers him tightly.  
“What ship? We’re going to have to lock it down, and search it container by container.”  
“Our intel indicates that it might be Senegalese,” McGee answers him.  
“Might be? Meaning you don’t have an idea?”  
“No. not yet,” I answer him.  
“Do you have any idea how busy we are here? Right now I’ve got three ships sailing under the Senegalese flag. Two more coming in on Thursday. Well how accurate is you intelligence?” Lake demands of us but none of us answer it making him exclaim, “Do you guys know how many Intel BOLOs I get in one week? And how many of them turn out to be false alarms? I’m going to need more than chatter before you disrupt the port.”  
“Yeah? Well I need to find my people,” Gibbs orders him tightly before walking away to answer his phone, “Abby?”  
“Is he always like that?”  
Yeah, pretty much,” McGee answers him.  
“It’s a good day,” I overlap McGee before I follow Gibbs.  
“Norfolk port authority,” Gibbs answers Abby’s question, before continuing to talk to her, “We’re sending over a surveillance… videos. I want you to look at this morning recording… of the North Expan.. And three… anything of Tony and Ziva… I know that, Abby! We’re looking for them…” When Abby asks a stupid question so Gibbs hangs up. I walk over to the port land line and dial Abby’s number and hand Gibbs the land line,. He talks to her when she answers, “Find Tony and Ziva, Abs! The videos are on their way to you right now… Why?” He listens to her for a moment before banging the receiver on the table to get McGee’s attention and handing him the phone.   
“Hello…? Ah. Abby, it’s not a really good time right now…I will. I will… Abby, I promise! Okay?” McGee answer her before ending the call with her.  
“Okay, transfer is complete. Copy of all of our security footage since the time that your agents arrived,” Lake informs us.  
“Where are those Senegalese ships docked?” I ask him nicely.  
“Pier Five alpha, three tango, and six delta,” he reads of his manifesto.  
“I want to see them.” Gibbs exclaims before storming out of the room, and on the way past he grabbing my hands so I follow him without waiting for everyone else.  
“Do you think their okay?” I ask him softly in fear, I can’t go to another funeral.  
“They better be, or I’ll kill them.”  
“I bag the bitch.”  
“Of course, I couldn’t take your toys away from you,” Gibbs whispers in my ear as McGee and Lake catches up to us and the tone he uses makes me blush because it is the same tone he used when he said I taste good. We get into a car before I can respond to him and drive paste a forklift in use before we get out of the car and Gibbs turns to McGee and orders him, “See if you can find their vehicle, McGee.”  
“On it,” McGee agrees while moving off to do it.  
“What time’s that’s that ship scheduled to get underway?” I ask Lake as Gibbs looks through a set of binoculars at one of the ships.  
“They’re still off-loading, so some time tomorrow afternoon,” Lake answers me.  
“Hey Boss, I found it! It’s locked,” McGee calls to us from Tony and Ziva’s car.  
“Find them, McGee. Spread out!” Gibbs orders McGee as we look for our missing agents before he turns to Lake and asks, “How many times do these containers come and go on a given day?”  
“On this dock, thousands,” Lake reports to Gibbs.  
“You know what this is?” I ask Lake while looking at a blood trail.  
“That’s a blood trail.”  
“DO you still think this is just chatter, Lake?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Boss?” McGee calls over to us again.  
“What do you got McGee?” Gibbs asks as we make our way over to where he is standing to see a dead body on the ground at the end of the blood trail between to containers making my heart freeze. It’s not Tony or Ziva but it still scares me because they have been in a fire fight and we don’t know if they were hurt or not.  
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“Now this is where the blood trail stops, boss,” McGee comments when we are looking at the blood trail.  
“Don’t you mean starts?” I ask him teasingly, I need to do something but thinking about Tony and my bitch.  
“Ah yes, that’s what I mean. Now I’ve broken the area into four sections. Area one over here is where all the action seems to have been cantered. We’ve recovered three different types of brass. It must have been one hell of a gunfire.”  
“Yeah, well I’ll bet Tony and Ziva thought so, McGee. They were right here,” Gibbs comments while looking at Tony and Ziva’s shell casings.  
“Well, we recovered the other two types of brass from over there where the blood trail started. Back there.”  
“They were caught in a crossfire,” I say sadly.  
“Now look boss. Boss. You don’t… you don’t think they’re… should we put divers in the water or?” McGee stutters out the question making me look away from him in fear, I can’t lose them.  
“They’re not in the water. McGee, if they were in the water, they’d be dead, McGee. If they were dead, I’d know about it. They’re not dead,” Gibbs informs McGee while moving me away from McGee.  
“All right, my people have been round up dock workers. So far no one heard any gunfire,” Lake reports to Gibbs.  
“I want to find out if there were any other containers here,” I ask him tightly, then need to be found safely.  
“Yeah, well we’re compiling a manifest of every container off-loaded from the ship. If they’ve left the port we’ll find them.”  
“If not?” Gibbs prompts him next.  
“Are you asking me to search every container still in port?”  
“No. Just the one with Tony and Ziva in it,” I answer him tightly, before adding, “But if you know which one Tony and Ziva is in, that would suspicions.”  
“No. I’m ordering you. Make it happen, McGee,” Gibbs orders them before leading me back over to Ducky who is looking at the body we do have.  
“They shot him three times,” Ducky informs us as we squat down on the other side of the body.  
“At least they got one of them, Duck,” Gibbs states.  
“Can I ask where they are?”  
“You can ask, but we don’t have an answer,” I admit sadly.  
“What does your gut tell you?”  
“Tell me about this guy,” Gibbs orders Ducky while ignoring the question.  
“Twenty five to thirty five years old. Mortally wounded. He was able to run about fifty years before a massive loo of blood brought him down. And someone dragged him in here. Foreign born.”  
“You got his I.D?” I ask him politely.  
“No, dental work. No caps or crowns. The work is primitive. And I thought England was bad.”  
“Third world?” Gibbs asks him.  
“I should say so. Oh, something else you may be interested in. these hands are soft. No discernible callouses.”  
“He’s not a dock worker,” I state.  
“Well, I’m know more when I get him back. You’ll find them, Jethro.”  
“Is that a question or statement, Duck?” Gibbs asks him.  
“More of a prayer.”  
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“I’m starting to get really freaked out here, Gibbs. I found Tony and Ziva on the Port video, but I don’t think it’s enough,” Abby rambles in a panic over the phone.  
“It’s all right, Abs,” I promise her in the hopes of calming her down.  
“I just… I feel like I’m falling them and I…”  
“Abby we all do, but you can save them. Just slow down and think everything through,” I say to her softly.  
“Just take us through it,” Gibbs orders her softly so she knows what to do because she’s panicking to much to think about what to do when.  
“Start with Pier three.”  
“Okay. Are you getting this too, McGee?” Abby asks McGee while getting onto the topic we need her to be on.  
“Yep. Transmission is good,” McGee agrees with her while we see the security video.  
“All right. Their car pulled up at seven fifty seven. They got out, and then they leave two minutes and thirty two seconds later.”  
“Anyone else in the car?” Gibbs asks her.  
“No.”  
“Take me to the other location, Abby.”  
“Please,” I add for Gibbs because he is rude and doesn’t say it ever.  
“This is where it gets disturbing. It’s like looking at an Escher print. I was able to isolate four segments. At eight sixteen I have them getting out of the North Expansion sector. Then at this point they walk out of frame. Another camera picked them up at eight nineteen. You see them here and then here. And they have their guns drawn. The problem is that there’s another container blocking the camera. Now, look at the bottom left corner of your screen,” Abby reports to Gibbs while showing us the other video of Tony and Ziva before we lost them.  
“Boss. That’s our dead guy,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“I ran his photo and I got a positive I.D, Gibbs. Interpol identified him as Moussa Senghor, a Senegalese citizen. He’s on the international terrorist watch list.”  
“Boss, Moussa Senghor has ties to Wilson N’Diaye he’s…”  
“Al Qaeda money man. Financed the attack on four Bali night clubs last year. It’s a good job, Abby,” Gibbs cuts McGee off making me roll my head back on my neck because the last terrorist we fought took my sister repeatedly until she died, and now we have another one.  
“The bad news is he wasn’t alone. There’s no I.D. on him yet,” Abby reports to us.  
“What else you got, Abys?”  
“Just this. They shot the camera,” Abby reports while showing us a video of static after a bullet shoots it out.  
“Abby, can you rewind it and pull back to the wide angle? Can you freeze it there?” McGee asks Abby who does while McGee grab the crime scene photos to compare with the video. After a moment he adds, “Boss, I think I know what happened. These are the crime scene photos from the dock. And this is from the security camera taken earlier. The container by Ziva is missing., if they were in a crossfire…”  
“They took cover inside,” Gibbs and I finish together before he continues to talk to Abby, “Abby, put another Caff-pow on my tab.”  
“Just one, Gibbs?” Abby begs him.  
“You haven’t found them yet,” Gibbs reminds her before hanging up on her.  
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“The symbol’s from the company that used this type of container. I’ll tell you, Gibbs, the problem is without a tracking number, I can’t tell you where the hell this one went,” Lake informs us unhelpfully.  
“McGee,” Gibbs calls his agent.  
“We’ve got six teams covering the gates out of the port. They’re intercepting each container with those marking,” McGee informs Lake.  
“What about one still in port?” I ask in fear, I can’t lose Tony, or the bitch.  
“Used by this same company? Um… approximately eight hundred and sixty two,” Lake reports.  
“I only need one,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Well, they’re spread out all over the complex. It would take days to search hem all.”  
“We won’t have to, Lake. How much does one of these things weigh?” I ask Lake and McGee while looking at the crates.  
“I don’t know. About five tons.”  
“I can’t imagine they’re easy to move,” Gibbs comments while catching onto my thought process.  
“Oh, of course not. There’s only two ways. A crane or a top-loader forklift.”  
“Oh, there’s no crane in range of the crime scene,” McGee exclaims while catching onto our thought process slowly.  
“So it would have to be moved by a top-loader. And we only have ten of those with maybe twenty qualified operators to drive them. Kristen.”  
“Sir?” Kirsten, another worker, asks Lake.  
“Get me a list of all the top-loading forklifts that operated in the North East Expansion today. Plus I want names of all the drivers.”  
“Right away, sir.”  
“If we find that forklift…”  
“We find who moved it,” McGee finish him.  
“And we find the container and our missing agents,” I add before saying, “I need a coffee.”  
“Me too,” Gibbs agrees with me.  
“I’ll be back,” I promise Gibbs while leaving the port office where we are talking in the hopes of finding Tony and Ziva.  
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“I want every building swept room to room. Start with the vacant ones first,” Gibbs orders us in the security office that night.  
“Cell reception’s unreliable in the area so all movement will be coordinated by radio. Tactical frequency is two, admin is four,” McGee orders the agents and security officers that are helping us find Tony and Ziva.  
“Go! Go! Find them please!” I send them out tightly.  
“Hey, Gibbs, Gibbs. I only have two top-loaders working in the Northern Expansion today. One here in Pier Seven off-loading a ship, and the other one is at an auxiliary warehouse. The divers should still be with the rigs. I’ll send some of my people,” Lake reports.  
“We got it. Let’s roll, McGee, Alice,” Gibbs cuts him off as we move out to find our missing team.  
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“Okay, I think we turn up here past this nest row of warehouses,” McGee navigates Gibbs who is driving the car.  
“You think, McGee?” I ask him in fear while leaning forward because I’m sitting in the back while McGee is in the passenger seat.  
“Well, boss, maybe if you slow down a little I’d…”  
“Yeah, Gibbs’ phone,” I answer Gibbs phone because he is driving and I want to live and he accelerating because of McGee’s jab of his driving skills.  
“Boss. Alice, it’s me!” Tony says.  
“Tony!” I exclaim making Gibbs and McGee look at me because they both hear me, and know understand who I’m talking to.  
“Yeah. Alice, it’s a long story, but the really short version is that we’re trapped in a container with millions in phony U.S. bills in some port building.”  
“You’re coming in broken, Tony. Say again, please.”  
“If you can hear me… we left a trail of money.”  
“Money?”  
“Follow the money.”  
“Tony… Tony, phone Abby. Tony! Keep the damn phone on! Abby will find you.”  
“You can look for it, Alice. We’re out of time. Hurry! We’re low on ammo.”  
“Damn it!” I exclaims when the phone drops out. I inform them, “They low on time, and the phone dropped out.”  
“See if you can get him back on that thing!” Gibbs orders me but I am already redialling Tony.  
“Hey! They got a fix on the missing feds,” Lake informs us through the radio making me look at it, after a moment he continues, “They’re on south side within a five hundred metre radius of warehouses. One through four.”  
“Yeah, that’s a solid copy, Lake. We’re heading that way now,” Gibbs answers Lake.  
“Those warehouses are about two clicks from where we should make a left past these loading docks,” McGee exclaims.  
“Did you see that?” I ask them when I see a drunk stuffing money in his pocket.  
“That guy back there?”  
“Yeah, McGee. The one stuffing money in his pocket. Tony said to follow the money,” I explain making Gibbs stop the car suddenly and we get out and run over to the drunk.  
“NCIS!” Gibbs calls to him to him while pointing his gun at him.  
“I didn’t steal it. I swear. I found it,” Perkins, the drunk, exclaims in fear.  
“Where?” I ask him softly.  
“There was a container truck. It had money just floating out the back.”  
“Which way? Which way?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“It went that way,” Perkins explains while pointing where the money came from.  
“Let’s go,” Gibbs orders us as we return to the car and Gibbs begins driving in the opposite direction.  
“Boss, that’s the wrong direction. According to the GPS fix,” McGee begins.  
“Tony said follow the money. So follow,” I snap at McGee angrily. Gibbs begins driving as fast as he can in between the cargo containers, following where the money was.  
“Do you think this is funny?” Lake demands of Tony and Ziva while pointing a gun at them when we arrive at where the money trail ends.  
“Not me, personally,” Tony jokes.  
“But I do,” I state.  
“Me too. Drop it,” Gibbs says while holding his gun to Lake’s head while McGee closes the container on his accomplices.  
“Are you two okay?” I ask them but instead of answering me, Ziva kicks Lake in the balls making him gasp in pain.  
“Now if you gentlemen will excuse me,” Ziva state while walking away from us.  
“Where are you going?” Tony asks Ziva in confusion.  
“I’ve been locked in a box all say! The ladies room!” Ziva answer but before she can leave I hug her making her freeze in surprise, but before she can react I move away from her and hug Tony next.  
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“You missed a little spot by my left ear there. I’d do it myself, but my would here prevents it,” Tony complains in the squad room as McGee cleans his face because his ‘injured.’  
“Yeah, would. It’s a two inch scratch,” McGee mumbles while cleaning Tony’s face with a wet clothe.  
“I was grazed by a bullet. Another six inches to the left and bam! No more DiNozzo. Under the chin, too.”  
“You know what? I’m done. Do it yourself,” McGee exclaims while throwing the clothe onto Tony’s desk and making his way back over to his desk.  
“Fine! Just don’t come to me looking for sympathy the next time you get shot,” Tony hisses at McGee childishly while cleaning his face himself.  
“Okay, you did not get shot. I talked to Ziva. You cut it on a wooden box.”  
“Hey, there was a lot going on in that container. Nobody’s exactly sure what happened. All I know is I was running for my life in a hail of gunfire.”  
“Tony! I was so worried,” Abby exclaims while running up and hugging Tony making him gasp in pain. She releases him like he burnt her before exclaim, “Oh my god. Are you okay?”  
“Gunshot,” Tony lies.  
“McGee! Why didn’t you tell me?”  
“It’s barely a scratch,” McGee defends himself.  
“Oh, poor baby. Who’s going to drive you home?”  
“I am. I’m making him dinner tonight,” Ziva informs him while holding a set of keys making Abby run up and hug her too. Ziva asks in confusion, “What as that for?”  
“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Abby admits while moving away from Ziva.  
“Oh, me, too,” Ziva agrees with giving me a confused look because I have already hugged her and I can’t get through a day without throwing dog food at her.  
“So what are you making?” I ask her, it’s my version of an olive branch to my bitch.  
“Italian.”  
“You cook Italian?” Tony asks in surprise.  
“Her cooking rocks, Tony! What was the name of that dish you made last night at your party?” Abby asks Ziva.  
“Chunks. Slow cooked beef with potatoes and beans. It wasn’t bad,” Gibbs admits while walking into the squad room making Tony look surprised because we were all at the party but for him.  
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“Alice, can I talk to you about something?” Gibbs asks me softly when everyone but us have left the squad room for the night.  
“Of course,” I answer him while looking up at him when he sits on the corner of my desk.  
“Um, I was thinking…”  
“Jethro, talk to me. What every it is we’ll work it out,” I promise him when he trails off making me think it’s something bad.  
“Are you on birth control?” he ask me quickly while blushing at having to ask that question.  
“Um… no, I’m not on birth control.”  
“Baby… um, would you be…”  
“Jethro, do you want me to get onto… it?” I ask him while trying to not blush so much, but I need to know we are on the same lines so we don’t get mixed up.  
“I want to know you’re safe.”  
“I… I can… but I don’t know anything about… that type of thing… Kate never taught me about those things.”  
“I’ll be there with you, I promise,” Gibbs promise me while placing a hand on my shoulder.  
“I know you will,” I say with a small smile because for a man who has been throw this at least five time, he is still shy and cute about it. I lean up and place a kiss on his lips before he returns to his desk to finish his paperwork.  
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That night we find get me some birth control so that we don’t forget and so that it can get into my system to begin working quicker. Once we get home Gibbs places the take out we bought onto the table in front of the coach while I grab us a cup of coffee for us to drink with dinner.  
When I return to the lounge room, I see that Gibbs has set up a move for us to watch together.  
I sit down beside Gibbs and enjoy my food while watching one of the episode of Myth busters that Gibbs found on the TV.  
After the food is all gone, I snuggle into Gibbs chest while watching Adam and Jamie test the limits of super glue. It makes me laugh when they have trouble gluing the plant to the roof.  
“I have got to try that sometime,” I inform Gibbs through my laughter.  
“Not at my house,” Gibbs answers me while watching the episode.  
“Of course not. At the bitch’s house.”  
“As long as it’s not at my house,” Gibbs repeats while taking a sip of his coffee. The episode is funny and the things they tried is completely hilarious while being unlikely for someone to try at home. When the episode if over Gibbs heads down stairs to work on his boat while I pick up Ugly Tony and brush him as I watch the next episode happily.  
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When the episodes are over, I head up and have a shower before I climb into my pillow fort and grab my book that I am reading about the Marine Corps and what it’s really like for the soldiers that are fighting for our country and freedom. (I don’t know if there is a book out there in real life like that. But I think Alice would read it)  
I have read four chapter when Gibbs walks into the bed room, covered in wood dust and he heads straight into the bathroom. Once he is finished showing he walks out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel hanging low on his hips. I can’t help checking him out over the top of my book, because he looks hot.  
“Enjoying yourself?” Gibbs teases me.  
“I’m enjoying the view,” I correct him happily making him smirk at me while grabbing pants but no shirt. He returns to the bathroom and puts his pants on before joining me on the bed, he sits on the bed with his back against the head board, so he is sitting up in the bed with me.   
“Whata you reading?” Gibbs asks me as I put the book back down on the bedside table.  
“A book,” I say but I end the conversation by kissing him. I go to pull away from the kiss but Gibbs places his hand on the back of my head so I can’t end the kiss. The kiss gets heated but when he tries to deepening the kiss, I don’t let him because I like teasing him. He grabs my hips and pulls me so I am straddling his hips, before he pulls away from my lips to kiss down my neck because I wouldn’t open up for him. He sucks on my neck as his hands run up my body under his shirt that I am wearing. His hands come to a stop on my breast, where he squeezes them between his big hands making me moan. I run my hand over his body until I get to one of his nipple where I flick it making him moan against my neck.  
“Jethro,” I moan when he pulls my nipple, at the same time he grinds his hardening cock up against me.  
“Alice, you are a little tease,” Gibbs mumbles against my neck before he moves away from my neck to remove my (his) shirt so he can see my body. He growls when sees that I am wearing nothing but for a set of red panties that says ‘eat out more’ over the front. He kiss from the mark he left on my neck down to my nipples and sucks the right one into his warm mouth while he plays with my left with his hand. I run my hand down his back while using my using my other hand to hold his head against my beasts.   
“Jethro,” I moan when he lightly bites my beast before I grind down against him, and his friend in his sweat pants. He releases my breast so that he can kiss me on the lips again and this time I don’t even think about teasing him, I straight away kiss him deeply while grinding down onto his friend.  
I break the kiss so I can kiss down his neck until I reach his sweet spot, and I suck on it myself while I run my hands down his body so I can rub his friend throw his pants making me moan in pleasure as he throws his head back.  
“Alice, stop teasing me,” Gibbs orders me while I lightly play with his friend but not enough to give him enough stimulation.  
“Nope,” I mumble but I do slide my hand into his pants but I just play with his pubic hair without touching what he wants me to touch. He suddenly rolls so I am under his body while removing my hands so that I can’t touch him making me pout.  
“I told you to stop teasing me,” Gibbs reminds he before he runs his free hand up and down my body. He runs his hand between my legs making me moan, he puts the slightest pressure between my legs making me buck up into his hand. He continues to talk softly, “Turnabout is fair.”  
“Jethro,” I moan as he teases me by running his fingers through my folds over my underwear. He smirks at me while he drops his head to my beast so he can play with the left one. He sucks it into his mouth while putting pressure onto my clitoris making me moan.  
“I wonder if I can make you cum without any penetration,” Gibbs groans into my ear at the thought.  
“Jethro,” I gasp as he slides one of his fingers into my underwear without giving me time to answer. I moan when he sucks onto my neck while rubbing on my clitoris. I groan as he begins kissing down my body with a smirk, he stops at my breast to kiss them both before making his way down to my panty line. He removes my panties slowly, before he places a kiss on either leg before he sucks on my pussy lips making me moan while I grab a handful of his hair.  
He suddenly sucks on my clitoris making me moan, the raise my hips so that my pussy is tighter against his mouth. I gasp in pleasure when he flicks his tongue over my clitoris.  
“Jethro,” I moan out. I pull on his hair as I quickly climb that mounting. When he pulls me clitoris into his mouth while sucking on it like it is a nipple making me groan. I warn him, “Jethro. I’m… I’m gonna cum.” He moves his mouth so that as I cum, he licks my opening while rubbing his fingers over my clitoris.  
“Told you, I could do it,” Gibbs says smugly before he kisses back up my body. When he gets to my head height he wiping his face on a cloth that is on the bedside table. I can’t answer him, so instead of talking, I kiss him when I feel his boner on my hip. I shift my hips up so that my pussy is grinding onto his boner that his hidden, badly, in his sweat pants. I run my hand down his body, to his pants and grab a handful of his arse.  
“Why don’t we get you out of this pants?” I gasp out at Gibbs, he sure knows how to take my breath away. He kicks his pants off before reaching over to the bedside table, and when he opens it, he pulls out a condom. He slowly rolls the condom onto his hard length making himself groan in pleasure. He lines his cock up with my pussy and slowly pushes his entire 8” length into my pussy making us both groan in pleasure. When he is completely inside me, he wants until I begin thrusting my hips up against his, he begins moving slowly into me. I gasp when he moves slightly making him hit that spot inside of my, making my pussy grip his cock tightly.  
“Jethro,” I gasp when he uses his hands to give how I thrust up against him.  
“Baby,” Gibbs groans into my chest while his head falls down against my breast.  
“Oh, god. Do that again,” I moan when his hip catches my clitoris on the inward stroke. He repeats that action making me moan loader and I dig my nails into his back while I wrap my legs around his hips.  
“Alice, baby. Are you going to cum for my?” Gibbs begs of me while moving fast as he gets closure to his completion.   
“I… I’m,” I moan without finish my sentence before I explode over his cock, making my walls grip his cock tightly.   
“Alice,” Gibbs groans as he finishes inside the condom. He lays down, half on top of me with his cock softening inside of me. After a moment, he removes his cock from my pussy making me groan in displease. He removes the condom and ties it off before getting up and throwing it in the bin in the bathroom. He returns, and climbs into the bed behind me hugs me within my pillow fort. I turn around so I can snuggle up into his naked chest, as I begin falling asleep.  
“Night, Jethro,” I mumble into Gibbs chest.  
“Night, baby. Sleep well,” Gibbs whispers to me while holding my body to his.


	15. Deception

“Thank you, Mrs Mallard,” I say to my grandmother who has helped me get ready for a date with Gibbs, on Sunday. She has done me up like a fifties girl, while I am wearing a new little black dress, it cover’s my chest so that there isn’t any cleavage, over my stomach is a triangles with only strings going vertically across my open middle, attaching the triangles, before ending in a tight black skirt that goes down to my ankles, making me feel sexy. I also have black heels that will make me as tall as Gibbs for a change. Mrs Mallard spent half an hour hiding the love bites Gibbs has left over my neck and chest.  
“You’re welcome. Are you going to get dressed?” Mrs Mallard asks me while looking at my dress.  
“I am dressed,” I defend myself with a smile.   
“No you’re not.”  
“Yes, I am. This is how I’m dressed for my date. I want to take his breath away,” I explain to Mrs Mallard.  
“I don’t know.”  
“Don’t worry. I’m good, and if something goes wrong, I’ll run all the way home,” I promise her making her smile happily again without any fear on her face. Before she can say anything else my phone begins ruining making me answer it, “Alice.”  
“We have a case,” Tony informs me making me pull a face.  
“I’m on my way,” I inform him before hanging up. I turn to Mrs Mallard and inform her, “I have to go to work. Thank you for your help.”  
“Good bye,” Mrs Mallard says to me while letting me out of the house as I put on a long coat so that no one can see my dress.  
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“Hi,” I greet Ziva and Tony who are already in the squad room, dressed casually. Tony is wearing a football uniform, while Ziva is wearing exercise clothing with bloody bandages on her desk and her hands.  
“Hello,” Tony says happily while turning to me.  
“Hello, Not mine. Where’s McGee?” Ziva answers Tony question from before I entered before asking her own question.  
“In trouble. I left messages on his home phone, cell and Blackberry. No answer,” Tony reports while I make my way over to the desk.  
“Rule number three.”  
“Never be unreachable,” I finish for her.  
“When Gibbs finds out about this,” Tony begins.  
“Find out what, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of Tony as he walks into the squad room wearing he’s wearing a suit and toe, with a scarf around his neck inside his dress overcoat making my mouth run dry, that’s not fair, he’s not allowed to look that good. I want that date know because he looks too good for work.   
“We’ve got a possible abduction, boss. Call came in at zero three Fairfax area code. Caller said her name was Wilkerson, then the line went dead. Ran a reverse look-up on the number. It came back to a Navy Lieutenant Commander, Amanda Wilkerson. Stationed at the Department of the navy, Washington, D.C. No one answers from her home phone or cell. She’s currently on liberty. Scheduled to be back at work tomorrow morning at zero seven,” Tony reports to Gibbs as Gibbs walks behind his desk and takes his scarf and overcoat off before sitting down. When Gibbs is sitting down Tony adds, “That’s a nice suit. You didn’t married again, did you?”  
“If you have more, DiNozzo, no would be a good time.’  
“Yeah. Ah, her cell wasn’t GPS-enabled, but the service provider narrowed the call location um… you know, to the” Tony reports as I take my own coat off making him trail off for a moment before trying to finish again, “To the.”  
“Radius?” I ask him softly.  
“Radius. The two and one half mile radius. And they said they’d contact us. If it’s used again, we might be able to triangulate and get a fix.”  
“Where’s McGee?” Gibbs demands of Tony.  
“I don’t know.”  
“Sundays are a spiritual day in your country, Gibbs. Perhaps,” Ziva attempts to defend McGee.  
“Did you get Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson’s home address?” Gibbs demands of Tony.  
“I did,” Tony admits.  
“Then why are you still here?” Gibbs snaps at Tony making him jump into action, getting his gear. Gibbs begins reading the file Tony left on his desk as he demands of Ziva, “Are you waiting for an invitation, Officer David?”  
“Oh, so you really are getting married?” Ziva demands of Gibbs.  
“He means you’re with me,” Tony corrects her as he leaves the squad room.  
“Oh, I knew that,” Ziva exclaims while following him as Abby bounces into the office, dressed like a construction worker, even down to steel cap boots and a hard hat.  
“Reporting for duty as ordered, sir!” Abby reports while saluting Gibbs with the wrong hand as I walk behind Gibbs desk.  
“Wrong hand, Abs,” Gibbs informs her without looking up from his file.  
“Sorry, sir,” Abby corrects herself while saluting him with the correct hand.  
“The call came in from a woman claiming she was abducted. Abby, I need an acoustical analysis of a tape.”  
“Permission to speak freely, sir.”  
“You always speak freely, Abs.”  
“I know. I just always wanted to say that. So where’s my tape?” Abby admits.  
“On the way to your lab,” I inform her happily.  
“So am I. if I finish quickly, maybe I can get back to habitat for humanity. I’m doing a bunch of wiring for them this weekend.”  
“We’ll see, Abby,” Gibbs informs her without making any promises because last time he made us miss our plans until the next weekend.  
“Thank you, sir.”  
“Don’t call me sir.”  
“Thank you ma’am. Nice dress,” Abby says before leaving me with a smirking Gibbs.  
“You look really good,” Gibbs admits while checking me out with a different smirk.  
“Thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself, not for work though. Everyone’s going to be looking at my man,” I inform him while looking at my hinky poking out of his shirt, on display for the whole world to see.  
“You look better,” Gibbs corrects me happily.  
“I didn’t think we’d get a case this weekend. Or I’d have dressed more work appropriate. This dress, shouldn’t be worn around Tony.”  
“Mm-hum.”  
“But I have to ask,” I begin making Gibbs give me a look before I continue teasing him, “Who are you marrying? Does she know I’m ‘helping’ with your boat? Or do I even know her?”  
“Get to work Alice,” Gibbs orders me with a smirk making me move back over to my desk and the whole way I can feel him staring at me arse and when I get back to my desk I begin researching our possible victim.  
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“You’re absolutely certain that the phone call was from Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson, Agent Gibbs?” Martino, our possible victim’s boss, asks Gibbs in MTAC, I am standing beside Gibbs, and I have placed my jacket back on so that I look professional, and not like a stripper.  
“Not yet, captain. I was hoping you could help me out with that,” Gibbs admits.  
“I need help,” Wilkerson says on the recording of the nine-one-one call in the hopes that captain agrees it is her.  
“You’re going to have to speak up, ma’am,” the nine-one-one operator says to Wilkerson.  
“I’ve been abducted! Ah!”  
“That’s her. That’s her voice,” Martino exclaims when the recording stops.  
“Now, why would someone abduct her?” I ask him.  
“She’s a force protection officer.”  
“Protecting what?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Right now my worst nightmare. We’re now at force0protection condition delta, gentlemen. Notify the admiral. I’m heading your way, agent Gibbs. I need to come in to brief you personally.”  
“Well, that’s great, captain. You mind tell me why?”  
“Last night a shipment of nuclear fuel rods left a reactor plant in Ohio.”  
“Bound for?” I ask him politely.  
“That’s classified. Only a handful of people know the exact route that train is taking, Agent Todd.”  
“And Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson is one of them.”  
“Mm-hmm.”  
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“Wilkerson. My name is Wilkerson!” Wilkerson says on the recording down in the lab.  
“Did you hear that?” Abby asks Gibbs while pausing the recording.  
“Hear what?” Gibbs asks her innocently.  
“Gibbs, I thought your hearing was better than your eyesight. How wrong was I? Okay, I’ll just back up… slow or down. Fiddle with the Hertz a bit and we will interpret this as we go.”  
“That would be a good idea,” I agree with her.  
“Okay, so just after she says her name…”  
“Wilkerson,” Wilkerson says on the recording before there is a noise.  
“Name that tune, Gibbs.”  
“That’s a tire skid,” Gibbs release what she is on about.  
“Yes! So the car braked. Next up is the thunk.”  
“…Abducted!” Wilkerson says before there is a thunk in the background.  
“Manual trunk release. Now the second that happens, the ambient noise changes. Mostly the engine sound.”  
“She’s in the car trunk,” I say in worry for our missing girl.  
“Yes, again. Now for the big finish. Exactly three point four seconds later… the trunk is clammed shut. But the engine sound stays the same until the phone shuts off.”  
“They grabbed the cell phone, left her in the trunk,” Gibbs releases in surprise.  
“I’m afraid so, Gibbs.”  
“If they left her there, Abs, how much time does she have?” I ask her in fear for the women.  
“Well, there’s a lot of factors that play there. It depends on the age of the car, how airtight the trunk is, how much c-oh-two she releases in her panic…”  
“Abby!” Gibbs cuts her off.  
“Twelve hours she might be safe, then she’d slop into a coma. After seventeen, she’s definitely run out of oxygen,” Abby reports before Gibbs leaves the lab, and I go to follow him before Abby adds, “Alice, you look really good.”  
“Thanks,” I say with a smile.  
“Why are you dressed up?”  
“I was supposed to be on a date, teasing you know who,” I admit while not saying who, so that if Tony, Ziva or McGee walks into the lab now, I don’t tell them what we are waiting for them to work out.  
“Really. No wonder he is pissed.”  
“Yep,” I laugh at her as I walk into the elevator to see Gibbs smirking at me. I ask him innocently while drawing the word out as long as I can, “What?”  
“You wanted to tease me?” Gibbs teases me.  
“You think I dress like this for the food?”  
“No, I know you’re a tease. But I do like at dress, even if it’s too shirt to be seen by any other male,” Gibbs informs me while placing a quick but possessive kiss onto my lips.  
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“We stopped the nuclear supply train in Pennsylvania, in a rural area. I’s heavily armoured and defended by a platoon of fast company marines. The fuel rods themselves are in a containment capsule of withstanding small arms fire. However, if someone did manage to detonate those fuel rods, they would irradiate a ten mile radius,” Martino says when we contact him in MTAC again.  
“How many other people know about the train’s route?” I ask him.  
“The personnel on-board escorting, the two cobras flying air escort, and my staff.”  
“And Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson’s involvement?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“She helped plan both the primary and alternate routes.”  
“What the hell was she doing on liberty, captain?”  
“She was never involved in the operational phase. And she specifically requested today off.”  
“Why?” I ask him.  
“I didn’t ask. Are you suggesting that she’s somehow involved in this? She’s one of my finest officers.”  
“What’s next on your checklist, or do you want me to guess?” Gibbs asks him while not answering his question.  
“We head back to the processing plant, and reschedule our delivery. You think they’re going to try to hit us on the way back?”  
“I think we ought to find your missing officer before we move that train again.”  
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“I thought you said she was organized!” Abby exclaims at Tony and Ziva while going through the victim’s computer in the lab with us all there except for McGee.  
“Her house looked like Martha Stewart’s jail cell. Only neater,” Tony defends them.  
“Her hard drive is a mess. There’s sub-folders with sub-folders, thousands of files, everything’s password protected. She didn’t know the concept of delete.”  
“I’ve seen someone like that before,” I comment making Abby laugh at me because Gibbs had files in files in files, only for it to be empty, and I don’t even know how he made so many filers without knowing how to put a password onto the computer to begin with.  
“Boss, I’m sorry I’m late,” McGee exclaims while rushing into the lab wearing, a turtleneck sweater, and a tweet jacket with elbow pads, while carrying a pipe.  
“Look who’s joined us. It’s the ghost of David Niven,” Tony tease McGee making me laugh at that.  
“I couldn’t hear my cell because of the commotion where I was.”  
“Where was you?” Abby ask him.  
“It won’t happen again, boss,” McGee promise Gibbs while ignoring Abby’s question.  
“You’re right, McGee. It won’t. Help Abby,” Gibbs orders him   
“Help Abby with what?” McGee asks Gibbs, who just leaves the lab but I stay with everyone else to tease McGee who is looking uncomfortable while refusing to look at me. He adds next, “Okay, I’ll have Abby fill me in. What do we do?”  
“Don’t even try to act all normal dressed like this. Come on,” Tony laughs at McGee.  
“What is wrong with what I’m wearing? Look at what Alice’s is wearing,” McGee defends himself while pointing at my dress.  
“You’ve got elbow pads. Look at this. You’re like ‘Mister Peabody, where’s the wayback machine?’ is there a costume party? It’s like… you’re all dressed like an English professor. What you doing?”  
“Are you finished?”  
“No, I haven’t even started yet, Banacek. What do you got here?” Tony ask while pulling a pipe out of McGee’s pocket making me laugh.  
“Oh, you smoke a pipe, McGee?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“I do not,” McGee snaps in anger at us picking on him.  
“This is his writing pipe. Our McGeek fancies himself a novelist,” I explain to Ziva ask Tony chews on McGee’s pipe.  
“O a, a novelist.”  
“Don’t listen to them, McGee. I think your attire is quite sexy,” Ziva complements McGee while patting his chest and handing his pipe back to him.  
“Thank you, Ziva.”  
“Can we continue with this or are you guys going to make out for a while?” Abby snaps at McGee and Ziva.  
“Right action, wrong guy,” I complain to Abby making her laugh at me.  
“Can I?” McGee asks Abby while making his way over to the computer while Tony gives me the look that tells us he is working something out.  
“By all means. The computer belongs to an abducted navy officer. All her files are encrypted. She hasn’t defragged her hard drive since she got it so it’s going to take time,” Abby explains to McGee tightly.  
“Why are you dressed up?” Tony asks while looking me up and down.  
“I had a date, and had to cancel for work. I now know how Kate used to feel,” I admit sadly because I am thinking about Kate makes me sad and she used to cancel a date every other week.  
“How’d he take that?”  
“Fine. He’s a workaholic too, so he understands why I had to cancel this time. Last time he failed to get the time off,” I inform him making Abby laugh because Gibbs is a huge workaholic.  
“I found something,” McGee ends the conversation.  
“What?” Abby asks him while moving over to him.  
“Abby knows who your dating, but I don’t?” Tony asks in fake hurt.  
“Well, last time I checked, you’re a guy. No help in the romance or girl talk department,” I explain to him innocently while moving over to McGee and Abby.  
“Electronic date book,” McGee reports to Abby while ignoring us.  
“Where?” Abby asks him.  
“It’s an icon in the centre of the desktop. I use the same program,” McGee explains making Abby look disappointed in herself.  
“Don’t worry, Abby. Sometimes it’s hard to see the jungle through the ferns,” Ziva attempts to cheer Abby up.  
“Right,” Abby mumbles sadly making me pull her into a hug.  
“What do we have?” Tony asks McGee.  
“Looks like her last appointment was today at eight thirty a.am.” McGee reports.  
“A half an hour before she called us,” Ziva states.  
“It say where?” I ask McGee while holding Abby still, she’s not getting released until she is happy.  
“Braddock mall,” McGee answers me.  
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“In English, McGee,” Gibbs orders his geek over the phone he is talking to as he sits at his desk in the squad room while I am doing my paperwork in the hopes of finding something to help us with this case encase it’s about her personal life and not about her job, “Work faster, McGee. Is she’s still in the car trunk, we have about eight hours to find her until she runs out of air.”  
“That’s not strictly accurate, Jethro. I was on the ninth with a shot at a ten dollar Nassau when Abby called. She wanted to make certain her survival figures were accurate,” Ducky inform Gibbs while walking up to his desk.  
“How far off were they, Ducky?” I ask him.  
“Well, they were spot on, but something she said bothered me. She arrived at her figures based on a young woman in good health. Well, given the dire circumstance, I thought it best to verify that was, in fact, the case. Lieutenant commander Wilkerson was treated for acute bronchitis by an intern at the base two days ago. With her lungs in that condition, well, they would not be operating as efficiently as normal.”  
“How long?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Well, her survival time would be shortened by several hours.”  
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“Well, you’ve been so helpful. I don’t even know,” Tony says into the phone back into the squad room.  
“DiNozzo! I hope that was background on Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson,” Gibbs demands of DiNozzo while sweeping into the squad room over to his desk.  
“It was, boss. I talked to everyone in her command. They think she’s clean. Not much social life. Spend half her time at work, half her time at home on her computer. She’s basically… a McGee.”  
“McGee is not responsible for comment of nuclear fuel rods across country,” I remind Tony tightly.  
“What’s with that video anyway? It doesn’t make any more sense than that phone call her help,” Tony comments because he and Ziva found a video camera in the victim’s car, but no victim.  
“They both accomplished one thing. The train is no longer mobile,” Ziva comments.  
“The navy can’t risk moving it until they find out what happened to her. Navy,” Gibb informs them.  
“Yeah,” Tony agrees with him.  
“As in us!” I enlighten Tony.  
“Boss, I think I have something here,” McGee gasp out because he ran up to Gibbs desk.  
“Show me, McGee,” Gibbs orders him.  
“I’m not a hundred percent sure if it’s anything, but I did find something that could possibly help us.”  
“Show me!” Gibbs orders him again.  
“Wilkerson’s email log shows that she sent fourteen messages from the same location last night. It wasn’t her home ISP.”  
“I can’t read that!” Gibbs exclaims when McGee hands Gibbs an email that is more unreadable then Tony’s writing.  
“It’s encrypted.”  
“Then un-crypt it!” I remind him.  
“Well Abby and I are working on it.”  
“Why am I sitting here looking at you?” Gibbs demands of McGee angry.  
“Why, I thought that it might be helpful to know that Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson sent all these emails from a store called P.B.H. at the Braddock Mail in Fairfax.”  
“Wilkerson could suffocate at any time,” Gibbs begins normally before yelling, “And you couldn’t tell me this with a phone call, McGee?!”  
“Well, I could. I should have.”  
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“Assuming Abby is correct, the vehicle harbouring Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson left the mall via Ox Road. The car travelled southbound passing three gas stations, a Wall-Mart, and this Lexus dealership. Two points six miles later they passed by this bank just before crossing the Dungy Street railroad tracks,” Ziva runs over the path that the kidnappers took on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“How many times you pass go? Collect your two hundred dollars? You know, monopoly, the board game? It’s American,” Tony jokes making Ziva look confused before continuing the report.  
“Ox road eventually comes to an end at the luxury living community of Terra Trace Estates. The Fairfax police are now focusing their search on this central area. They estimate eight to nine hours for a thorough search.”  
“Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson doesn’t have that long,” Gibbs reminds them tightly.  
“Which is way I tracked down the only available surveillance video on or near Ox Road. Hit the little right button,” Tony orders Ziva making her hit the button on the remote, playing the video, “This is the internal security camera at the northern Virginia saving and trust ATM. It sits about three hundred yards north of the train tracks at Ox Road. Now we know the car passed over the tracks at zero nine zero four. The speed limit is thirty five miles per hour. So we’ve got assume our abductor didn’t want to attract attention by speeding, right? Our car should be passing this camera around… hold on a second. Carry the seven. Divide by six…”  
“Right… Here,” Ziva cuts him off while pausing the video as the car is supposed to drive passed but the view is blocked by a busty women using the ATM.  
“I’m switching banks.”  
“You really think she’s hot?”  
“She’s a perfect ten with great,” Tony rambles but is cut off when Gibbs hits the back of the head of Ziva and Tony making Tony exclaim, “I saw that. Why did you give her the soft touch? Thank you, boss.”  
“Is that the best shot you can get, bitch?” I ask her while hopping to see the car better.  
“There’s a few frames after she clocks our view with her incredible…. Figure,” Ziva answers me.  
“That’s a nineteen eighty nine Mercedes five sixty S-E-L, boss,” Tony exclaims while Ziva plays the video to the point where we can see the car.  
“I can’t see the plate.”  
“Well, use your little clicker and zoom in,” Tony orders Ziva who does it making him exclaim, “That first number is either an eight or a six.”  
“It’s an eight,” Gibbs informs him while writing down the plate.  
“With all due respect, sir, your eye sight isn’t exactly your strong suit,” Tony says bravely making me pull a surprised face while I step back from them so I don’t get court in the cross fire.  
“Eight six three Romeo Charlie Tango. Nine cars reported stole from Northern Virginia this morning,” Gibbs snaps at Tony while shoving the files, I found earlier, into Tony’s chest.  
“One is a Benz five sixty S-E-L.”  
“William Lafferty, Fairfax, Virginia,” Ziva reads out.  
“Move it,” Gibbs yells out him in anger when they don’t move and he begins heading towards the elevator without most of his team.  
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“How long has your car been missing?” I ask the owner in his living room, as I hold my coat shut so he can’t see my dress.  
“Whoa. I just reported it missing this morning. I went out to get the paper and it was going,” Lafferty, the owner, informs me.  
“When did you last see it?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Uh… last night around nine. I came back from renting a movie.”  
“What movie?” Tony asks excitedly.  
“Does it matter?”  
“Oh, yeah,” Gibbs says smartly.  
“The title’s kind of embarrassing.”  
“Back of the store? Triple x?” Tony teases him.  
“No.”  
“’Weekend at Bernie’s. Part two,’” Ziva reads off the over.  
“That’s even worse,” Tony exclaims.  
“Anyone else have keys to your car?” I ask him while trying to get it back on topic.  
“No. I live alone. Someone stole my car and used it in a crime, right?” Lafferty exclaims.  
“What makes you think that?” Tony asks him innocently.  
“Well, four Feds looking for a stolen eighty nine Mercedes. I’m not an idiot.”  
“You’ve been home all morning?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Yeah. What happened?”  
“Can anyone verify that?” Tony asks while ignoring Lafferty’s question .  
“Whoa. I didn’t have anything to do with whatever shooting or robbery my car was in,” Lafferty exclaims in fear as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his phone.  
“Line fish, trigger and clown. I breed them,” Lafferty explains to Ziva who is looking at his fish.  
“I hate clowns,” Ziva comments.  
“Good work, McGee. We’re on our way,” Gibbs says to McGee before hanging up the phone before turning to us and inform us, “Someone’s using Wilkerson’s cell phone.”  
“What about my car?” Lafferty demands of us.  
“We’ll call you,” Tony informs him as we walk out.  
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“Yeah, I got it, McGee,” Gibbs says into the hone because McGee is leading us to the victim’s phone. He informs us, “The signal’s coming from a hundred yards of here. It’s still active.” We rush over to head a voice talking, we step into the clearing with our guns drawn if need.  
“Freeze NCIS!” Gibbs calls as we step out only to see teenagers with the phone and beer.  
“Don’t shoot,” one of the teenagers, Tim, exclaims while holding his hands up.  
“It’s not our beer?” the other teenager, Danny, exclaims while holding up the phone in his hands.  
“Hello? Danny?” the girlfriend exclaims over the phone.  
“Yeas, we found it,” Tim agrees with Danny.  
“Danny?”  
“Who’s on the phone?” Ziva demands of Danny while snatching the phone.  
“My girlfriend?” Danny admits, but it’s a question more than an answer.  
“Hi. Oh my god, don’t touch me there! He’s going to have to call you back. Bye!” Ziva says into the phone with a high pitched voice and giggly making me roll my eyes at her. She hangs up the phone while saying, “You’re busted.”  
“Bitch, that wasn’t nice. You could have just ruined his relationship. We could have just hung up or got him to get rid of her. Just because you don’t care about who you are fucking doesn’t mean this young man is like that. You don’t even know who long it took him to get her,” I snap at Ziva angry. She didn’t have to do that, because that was a very bitchy move.  
“Definitely Lieutenant Commander Wilkerson’s cell phone, boss. Five calls made in the last hour. Two to an adult line and three to a teenage girl a Manassas,” Tony reports to Gibbs before I could hurt Ziva physically.  
“Coordinate with the locals. I want the park searched,” Gibbs orders Tony while pulling me away from Ziva, and the threat of me hurting her.  
“Sheriff’s department is en-route.”  
“They say they brought their phones from another boy,” Ziva reports while walking over to us and I lunge for her but Gibbs is holding me against his body, so I can’t hurt her.  
“This boy have a name? Or where you too busy fucking up people’s relationships to ask,” I demand of her angry.  
“I’m sure he does. They, however, claim not to know it.”  
“They also claim this isn’t their beer,” Tony reminds her while I open my mouth to hiss something out her and I don’t even know what it is yet.  
“They don’t think I know they’re lying? Thank you, because I do! They’re only children.”  
“Actually, they’re teenagers.”  
“Whatever. The little one is about to cry. You have to draw the line somewhere Gibbs.”  
“That line was before you fucked up their relationship. But no, you don’t care about that. All you care about is yourself,” I hiss at her.  
“I mean, these boys are not potential suicide bombers. And I don’t interrogate children.”  
“No, you don’t. Ziva. You talk to them,” Gibbs corrects her while holding me back from attacking Ziva.  
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“We didn’t know the phone was stole,” Danny explains to Tony and me in fear, while the rest of the team is up in MTAC talking to Martino. Tony and I are sitting next to each other on the corner of his desk so we are facing the boys, I have removed my coat, leaving me in my dress.  
“We bought it from a guy we know at school,” Tim adds.  
“I want the name, Beavis,” Tony informs him.  
“Well, we don’t like… know, know him,” Danny back tracks.  
“Yeah, meaning we don’t exactly know his name,” Tim adds.  
“Well, I… like think you’re like totally like lying like. You want to know why?” I ask them while copying their speech patterns.  
“Because you’re old?” Danny asks me making me pull a face, I’m not old.  
“I’m not old,” I say unhappily because I’m only 19, Gibbs and Tony is old, Tony’s phone begins ringing.  
“Funny guy. You’re playing a dangerous game, small fry,” Tony laughs while turning his body and answering his phone, “Ops? Yeah, it’s DiNozzo. Hey, Mattie. I need to requisition two sets of genital cuffs and I’ve got to requisition the mark five Taser again. No you don’t have to clean them. I’ll wear rubber gloves. Thanks.”  
“I’m thirsty. Can I get you boys something to drink?” I ask the boys whose mouths are hanging open when Tony hangs the phone up but they don’t answer me. I continue to talk to them, “You really should because interrogation makes you a little dehydrated. Okay.”  
“Oh, before I forget. Any history of testicular cancer or high blood pressure in the family? Okay, you know what? You guys think about that for a second. I’m going to do a little refill and we’ll talk about the boring stuff later, funny guys!” Tony comments before we walk away and hid under the stairs to meet Ziva who has her phone on speaker, and Tony never hung his phone, but put it on speaker.  
“Genital cuffs?” Ziva asks him in surprise.  
“Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Great.”  
“Whatever. It’s working.”  
“We have to tell them,” Tim says over the phone.  
“There’s no such thing as genital cuffs,” Danny says smartly.  
“That if there is?”  
“What if Geck find out we ratted on him?”  
“The guys aren’t even cops. They’re some secret government agency. You see the way that chick was playing with her knife? Or the redhead in that cute little dress?”  
“Yeah, I know. It was kind of hot. Like Salma Hayek in Desperado.”  
“I’ve never seen that,” Ziva admits while walking into the squad room while playing with her knife.  
“All right. That’s for the number,” Tony explains when he hands them a piece of paper.  
“What number?” Tim asks innocently.  
“Geck’s, Beavis. Write. Write. Write. Write. Write,” Tony orders the kids before whispering something to Ziva.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How many times have I told you he’s not a toy?” Gibbs asks Abby as we walk into the lab with a caf-pow to see her pushing McGee away from her.  
“Hi, Gibbs. He’s getting a little stressed out,” Abby defends herself.  
“So am I. tell me you two have found captain pervert.”  
“Fleet Captain Pervert. And we keep losing his computer’s connection in Spain,” McGee reports while walking back over to the desk as he drags his chair behind him so that he can get back to work.  
“Unloose it.”  
“It doesn’t work that way.”  
“It’s true, Gibbs. The servers are down in Madrid and we can’t pick up his trace without them,” Abby admits.  
“Pick it up somewhere else. Look, we already know this guy is somewhere in Virginia, otherwise he couldn’t have shown up at Braddock Mall. We also know he stole a car this morning from a home in Fairfax Country,” I remind them what we have discovered so far.  
“Why didn’t you think of that?” Abby asks McGee while hitting him.  
“Me? What about you?” McGee questions Abby.  
“Can you find him or not?” Gibbs asks her while handing her the caf-pow.  
“If we know he’s in Fairfax,” Abby begins but stops to take a sip of her caf-pow.  
“Then we can match his computer’s profile against ISP node service in the area,” McGee finishes for Abby before taking a sip when she hands it to him. He then hands it back to Gibbs.  
“Maybe an hour, Gibbs.”  
“Good, you have,” Gibbs begins.  
“Twenty minutes. I know.”  
“We know,” McGee corrects her.  
“I was going to say ten,” Gibbs corrects them both before taking a sip of the caf-pow, but he then promptly taking the lid of and spit it back into it making me laugh at his misfortune.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He’s appears to be a busy young man,” Ziva comments to Tony as we walk into the squad room where they are trying to find Geck.  
“He’s also our only like to the commander,” Tony reminds her.  
“Not anymore. Give the kids’ stuff to McGee. We found the pervert,” Gibbs informs them as we sweep through the room.  
“Where?”  
“The computer he was using traces back to two -three-three0four-six Maple Street,” McGee informs them.  
“Mister Clown Fish?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“William Lafferty?” Tony asks him overlapping Ziva.  
“Come on, let’s roll,” Gibbs orders them as we grab our weapons.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We rush to the house with Ziva and Gibbs out front while I’m out back with Tony. Gibbs and Ziva knocks on the door but there is no response.  
“DiNozzo, we’re in position,” Gibbs informs us over the radio before he and Ziva enter the house.  
“DiNozzo coming in,” Tony informs Gibbs and Ziva as we enter the house so they don’t accidently shoot us.  
“Clear.”  
“Back of the house is clear, Gibbs. Looks like this guy left in a hurry,” I comment while looking around the messy house because of his rushed packing.  
“You think, Alice?”  
“And he won’t be coming back. Bleach,” Ziva informs us while looking at his dead fish in the tank.  
“He poisoned his fish?” Tony asks in surprise.  
“Because he couldn’t take them with him,” Gibbs informs him.  
“These fish were his prize possessions. If he can’t have them, no one can. Fits the profile of a malignant narcissist,” Ziva informs us.  
“Spread out,” Gibbs orders us making us spread out and look for something to help us find our suspect or our missing women.  
“What are we looking for, Gibbs?”   
“Anything that will tell us where this freak went,” I state tightly, is it that hard to work out where his mind is. Gibbs is searching the house and he finds the printed pictures from the pervert’s website, making me sick because she’s just a little girl.  
“Jethro,” I whisper while staring at the photo of the girl.  
“It’s alright. We’ll get him,” Gibbs promise me while pulling me into a hug.  
“She’s just a little girl.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The BOLO’s out on Lafferty Boss,” Tony reports as Gibbs drives the car that night after searching the house all afternoon. I am in the front seat while Ziva and Tony are sitting in the back.  
“And his passport expired. He can’t leave the country,” Ziva adds as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Agent Gibbs phone, he can’t come to the phone right now but if you leave a message, I’ll give it onto him,” I answer Gibbs phone, but he doesn’t have the number programed in and I’m just praying it’s not one of his wives.  
“Alice, I just spoke with Geckler. He said he found the phone at around noon today,” McGee reports.  
“Where, McGee?” I demand of him while rolling my eyes, I have to program this phone one day.  
“The uh… Braddock Mall parking garage. Lafferty must have driven her back there,” McGee reports before I hang up on him.  
“Go back to Braddock Mall parking garage. That’s where the phone was found,” I report to Gibbs making him spin the car around while driving off quickly.  
“And they have a problem with my driving?” Ziva asks Tony as Gibbs drives recklessly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Drop your weapon!” Ziva orders the guy who is opened the trunk that Wilkerson was in.  
“NCIS! Get down on your knees,” Gibbs shouts at him as we all point our guns at him.  
“Okay. Okay. All right,” Ross Logan, the guy who runs pervert brought to justice, exclaims while dropping his gun and kneeling on the ground.  
“Put your hands on your head!” Tony orders him.  
“Okay,” Ross Logan says while doing it.  
“Let me know if I’m hurting you,” I say sweetly as I put the cuffs on him.  
“Ah, it hurts! It hurts!” he complains as I squeeze the cuffs as tight as I can.  
“Good,” Gibbs comments while hulling him back up onto his feet.  
“A squeegee gun?” Ziva asks him when she squires his gun.  
“I was only trying to teach her a lesson.”  
“Ross Logan, Boss,” Tony introduces Gibbs to the scumbag.  
“The man who runs Perverts Brought to Justice,” Ziva adds.  
“Look, I knew she was going to confront fleet captain, so I followed her in case anything happened!” Ross Logan exclaims.  
“You kidnapped her and locked her in the trunk of a car!” I snap at him in anger.  
“To scare her! That’s all! I came back. I was letting her out! Ow! Look, we have rules for a reason. Breaking them could get her killed.”  
“She’s on her way to Bethesda in a coma, Logan,” Tony snaps at him in anger.  
“Hey! Ow! Oh…”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Look, I… I never meant for Amanda to get hurt,” Ross Logan exclaims in integration room.  
“I’ll be sure to tell her that is she lives,” I state.  
“Why do you think I parked the car at the mall, huh? I wanted someone to find her.”  
“Where’s Lafferty?” Gibbs asks.  
Who?”  
“Fleet Captain,,” I correct Gibbs.  
“How would I know?”  
“You were working with him.”  
“Are you insane? I’ve dedicated my life to putting perverts like that behind bars.”  
“You were driving his car,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Because when I confronted him at the garage, the guy just took off.”  
“Without his car?” Gibbs and I ask him together in disbelief.  
“They’re cowards. It’s actually pretty common.”  
“Oh really? Is it also common to kidnap your co-worker?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“I had to make a choice. We provide you with the transcript of them soliciting sex from minors. We give you their names, their addresses, and you know what happens most of the time? You let them walk?”  
“You decided to frame him?” I ask in disbelief.  
“Amanda spends a few hours in a car trunk, and fleet captain spends at least ten years in prison. And that sounds like a fair trade to me. Look, monsters like Lafferty destroy lives. That guy deserves to be in prison.”  
“Be patient. You may see him there before you get out,” Gibbs informs him before standing up and I follow him.  
“This is classic. I go to jail while he’s free to find real fourteen year old. You think that’s justice, Agent Gibbs?” Ross Logan laughs at us as we leave the room.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Where’s the boss-man?” Abby asks us when she enters the squad room to see us all there but for Gibbs and McGee. I am working away at my paper work while everyone else is getting ready to leave for the last little bit of the night.  
“I think he went home,” Tony comments but Abby gives me a look of disbelief because he wouldn’t have left me out work while he went home.  
“He never leaves before I do.”  
“It’s been a long Sunday, Abby,” Ziva tries.  
“All righty. I just got off the phone with Bethesda. Commander Wilkerson is a little dehydrated, but otherwise doing just fine,” McGee reports as he returns to the squad room.  
“So you could say today would qualify as a success.”  
“So you count fucking up someone else’s relationship a success?” I snap at her in anger, I feel sorry for that kid.  
“Except we let a pervert get away,” Tony adds.  
“Whoa. Gibbs went home with a child molester on the loose? There’s no way,” Abby exclaims.  
“Oh, you’re right.”  
“Where is he?” Ziva asks.  
“MTAC, catching the bad guy. Because unlike Ari, this bastard his paying for his crime,” I explain to them all making them look up at the MTAC door. The team slowly exist the squad room, leaving me alone, waiting for Gibbs to come down and take me out.  
Gibbs finally comes down the stairs, looking great in his suit.  
“Ready to go home?” I ask Gibbs while I hold his coat, with his badge and gun.  
“Yep,” Gibbs answers me while taking his stuff.  
“Did you get him?”  
“Yep.”  
“Nice way to end a day, all the bad guys behind bars.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We get home and I remove my coat to put it on the coatrack next to the door. I do to move away from the door, but Gibbs wraps his arms around me, placing his hand on my bare stomach, holding me against his body.  
“Did I tell you how much I love this dress?” Gibbs asks me softly while rubbing my stomach.  
“I liked it too. Though I wasn’t too sure you’d like it,” I admit while leaning back against him.  
“Of course I like it. I’d have liked it more, not at work. With every girl staring at my girl’s body.”  
“Look on the bright side. My girls are all hidden.”  
“Yes, Tony wouldn’t be able to survive if he saw them.”  
“Yep, you would shot him,” I laugh at that thought before I inform him ,”I think Tony is working out who I’m seeing.”  
“Took him long enough.”  
“Yep, but know I want to get out of these clothes,” I mumble while moving away from Gibbs and see his smirk making me add, “Not like that, you dirty old man. I’ve been wearing this dress for hours and it’s a bit tight around my chest. Plus the shoes are killing me.”  
“I like my image better,” Gibbs mumbles while following me into the bed room. I get ready for bed and walk out into the bedroom out of the bathroom, too see Gibbs is already in bed because it is late at night.


	16. Light Sleeper

“I don’t understand, McGee. Sensitivity training?” Ziva asks in confusion as we leave the squad room and begin walking up the stairs behind Tony’s desk.  
“Yeah, it’s a seminar covering the basics of communication and understanding in the workplace,” McGee explains to Ziva as we walk up to the room.  
“I know what sensitivity is. I’m asking why we have to spend the whole afternoon studying it.”  
“Professional development?”  
“If it were survival training, advanced demolitions, perhaps…”  
“I don’t think that sympathetic seminars, Inc. offers those classes.”  
“I’m simply saying that skilled investigators should already be well-versed in the subtleties of inter-human communication.”  
“I like Italian women. You’re Italian, right? I like Irish women, too,” Tony says to the poor women he has hold up, as we step off the top step onto the runway outside MTAC and the director’s office.  
“I stand corrected.”  
“You three better hurry up, don’t want to miss out on all of the fun,” Tony teases us while letting the women go.  
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Where are you going?”   
“Prior engagement. Take notes for me.”  
“You do understand the meaning of the word mandatory, don’t you?” McGee asks him.  
“Better yet, take me with you. I wouldn’t sit through this again,” I beg of Tony while grabbing his jacket in desperation.  
“I have been ordered to inspect the secure file room, probie. Sadly, that conflicts with your exciting seminar today,” Tony explains while holding up a piece of paper that Ziva snatches from him.  
“No, it doesn’t. This order is for next Wednesday,” Ziva corrects him making him snatch it back and check it himself.  
“What?”  
“Look on the bright side, Tony.”  
“It should only take five to seven hours,” McGee informs Tony as we begin walking towards the room.  
“There’s got to be some way out of this. Maybe I could injure myself,” Tony mumbles making Ziva bends his fingers back making him exclaim, “Ow!”  
“What? I was only trying to help,” Ziva explains while Tony pulls his hand way from her and glares at her.  
“I was only kidding.”  
“Sensitivity training is going to have to wait. We got a double homicide at Quantico. Marine wives. Grab your gear,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Ye-ow!” Tony begins cheering but Gibbs hits him on the back of the head.  
“Inappropriate?” Ziva asks McGee as I walk out of hearing range with Gibbs.  
“I’m glad we don’t have to sit through that sensitivity training. I might have to shoot Tony to get out,” I explain to Gibbs as we get our gear.  
“Maybe latter,” Gibbs says to me before calling to his children, “Today.”  
“On your six, bass,” Tony calls as they all catch up to us at the elevator.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You know, this kind of reminds me of my cousin’s house… minus all the bloods. Unless you count that Thanksgiving back in ninety eight,” Tony comments while taking photos of the victims’ living room where they are lying dead on the couch.  
“Family does have a way of fraying one’s nerves. Take my mother, for instance. She insists on watching Jeopardy every night on the television,” Ducky comments.  
“What’s wrong with that, Ducky?” I ask my father in confusion.  
“The same episode. Over and over again. I made the mistake of taping it for her once,” Ducky explains making me laugh because that’s too cute.  
“I always say, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your family,” Jimmy says making me move further away from him in disgust.  
“There’s a touch of the poet in you, Mister Palmer.”  
“I’d say you’re just more touched,” Tony comments.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs calls out for a report.  
“House belongs to a Sergeant Malcolm Porter and his wife, Dun, boss. She’s the one on the left. Sergeant’s still on liberty, trying to track him down. The other vic is Min Crane. She’s married to a Sergeant Floyd Crane, currently deployed in Iraq.”  
“Signs of an unhappy life,” I comment when Ziva moves a photo frame to find a fist hold in the wall, I don’t like this guy already, it’s never nice when the fly because on day he just wouldn’t hit the wall but the women he is pissed at.  
“Signs of an unhappy marriage,” Gibbs overlaps me while placing a hand on my shoulder because he knows about what my father did to me, and is making sure I don’t get lost in my head.  
“Funny. I thought it looked like a hold in the wall,” Ziva says in confusion.  
“It’s a fist hole. When someone is abusive, they beat up the walls instead of the people that they are pissed at. When they calm down they apologise to the person and put something over the hole to hide their true personality, until one day they just hit the person,” I explain to Ziva tightly.  
“What else do you see?” Gibbs asks them to get their attention of me.  
“Well, judging by the position of the body I’d say they were taken by surprise,” Ziva comments on the victims’ body positions that are slumped on the coach.  
“”Yeah? Why?”  
“Body posture. They’re too relaxed. They didn’t fight back. Of course, that could also mean they knew the identity of their attacker.”  
“Search the rest of the house,” Gibbs orders her, making her leave to do that.  
“Our little girl’s becoming quite the crime scene investigator, isn’t she, boss?” Tony asks Gibbs who glares at him making him change it too, “I’ll help McGee talk to the women who found them.”  
“You got a T.O.D. yet, Ducky?” I ask him softly.  
“Very recent. Both liver probes indicate about two and a half hours ago,” Ducky reports.  
“Triple tap, all in the heart,” Gibbs comments while looking at the bullet wounds.  
“Yeah, but notice these burn marks around the entry wounds here… and on this one. In both of those the weapon was in direct contact with the body when fired.”  
“Two from across the room, then one each up close, just to be sure,” I summarise what Ducky is saying.  
“I don’t believe the term overkill would be inappropriate under these circumstances.”  
“The bullets didn’t penetrate,” Gibbs release when Ducky moves one of the bodies and the bullet falls out of her clothing.  
“Maybe they’re a small calibre. Did you find any casings?”  
“Ah, the shooter policed his brass, Duck,” Gibbs informs Ducky before leaving them to work while leading us into the kitchen where McGee is talking to the women.  
“She just needs her bottle. I know I packed it,” Yoon says while McGee is holding her baby, very awkward.  
“Look, look. Your mum’s right there. She’s right there,” McGee says to the screaming back.  
“Did you ever hold a baby before, McGee?” Gibbs asks McGee over the screaming infant.  
“No.”  
“I didn’t think so,” Gibbs comments while taking his hat off and throwing it onto the table before taking the baby from McGee. He rubs her back while saying, “Shh.”  
“Uh, boss, this is Mrs Dawson. She found the bodies along with one of the next-door neighbours,” McGee informs Gibbs how has calmed the baby down.  
“We were going into Koreatown… shopping. I’m the only one with a car. Sun asked me to come pick them up. If we’d been on time,” Yoon cries while finding the bottle for the baby that Gibbs takes off her.  
“Need some help?” I ask her while Gibbs hands her the baby back and takes the bottle to shake it up for the baby, “Any idea where Sun’s husband is, Mrs Dawson?”  
“No, he’s never here when we come over. I don’t think he liked Sun having friends.”  
“What makes you think that?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“He’s very… controlling.”  
“Sergeant Porter abused her?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Sun wouldn’t admit it. But we suspected. He drinks. Says mean things to her. Wouldn’t let her speak Korean in the house. We tried to reason with her but…”  
“She wouldn’t leave him?” I ask her but I’m not surprised. It’s very hard to leave, I got lucky because Kate just grabbed my stuff and picked me up from school, but this women didn’t get out.  
“She was ashamed. It’s hard for a Korean woman to ask for help.”  
“It’s hard for anyone,” I inform her softly while pulling her into a hug because she is almost breaking down.  
“Find Porter,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
“I’d start at the ‘E’ club,” Dawson, a guy, informs us while entering the room.  
“James,” Yoon exclaims while rushing over to her.  
“I’m Yoon’s husband. Listen, if you didn’t find Porter there, you might want to try some of the bars outside the front gate.”  
“I’m on it, boss,” McGee exclaims while leaving to find the abusive asshole.  
“Everything’s going to be okay now.”  
“Gibbs. A word, please? Gun safe. I found it in the master bed room. Open and empty except for a handful of shells. Forty calibre. I’m thinking maybe the husband did this, yes?” Ziva informs Gibbs. Gibbs and I walk outside the house to see Tony talking to the neighbours as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“On our way, McGee,” Gibbs inform McGee before hanging up him to informing Tony, “Sergeant Porter was spotted thirty minutes ago at the ‘E’ club. McGee’s almost there.”  
“Thanks,” Tony says to the girl before turning to ask Gibbs and asking Gibbs, “Probie’s not going to make a move on his own, is her, boss?”  
“McGee can take care of himself, mostly, Tony,” I give McGee a vote of confidence.  
“You’re…”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He’s gone,” McGee reports when we get to the bar making me pull a face, I’m taking that vote for confidence back.  
“Nice job, Probie,” Tony exclaims.  
“The bartender says he turned around, Sergeant Porter wasn’t there anymore.”  
“You let him get past you?”  
“It was before I got here, Tony.”  
“What’s Sergeant Porter driving?” Gibbs answer but when no one answers he yells, “What kind of car does he drive?”  
“A black two thousand ford f-one fifty, boss,” we all report to him.  
“Hey, come on,” Gibbs orders us while searching the parking lot until he finds the car of our victim’s husband.  
“Boss, we got a weapon in the front seat,” McGee informs Gibbs ask we all point our guns at the car.  
“I think he’s dead, boss,” Tony reports sees the husband in the front seat behind the wheel, and Tony reaches into the open window to feel for a pulse but after he says this, the guy jerks away, making me snort because of the irony of the timing. Tony shouts, “NCIS! Don’t move!”  
“Get your hands on the wheel!” Gibbs orders him.  
“I wasn’t going to drive! Come on, it’s not DUI if I font have a key in the ignition. Look!” Porter exclaims while holding the keys up.  
“What’s he talking about?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“I think he thinks we’re busting him for driving drunk,” I inform her.  
“Oh, you’re not?” Porter asks in confusion.  
“No. It’s for double homicide,” Tony informs him.  
“McGee?” Gibbs asks McGee who is arresting the victim.  
“Wait a minute,” Porter yells as he is pulled out of the car.  
“Yeah,” McGee asks him.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“I knew he was alive” Tony defends himself while McGee leads the husband away.  
“Right. And I knew the sky is green,” I says to him sarcastically.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You never know which elements of the enigma, however minuscule, can lead you to the solution,” Ducky says to Jimmy as we walk towards the door into autopsy.  
“Palmer just got some of your elements on his plastic thing,” Gibbs informs Ducky when somebody fluids onto Jimmy’s face mask.  
“An occupational hazard, I’m afraid,” Ducky informs us.  
“What can you tell us, Ducky?” I ask him.  
“Both women were shot three times in the chest. It’s hard to say which of the six was the fatal wound. Suffice to say, neither woman died of old age.”  
“Anything else?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Yes. Mrs Porter has some swelling and fissures on her fingers and knuckles,” Ducky informs us while showing us her hand.  
“Defensive wounds,” I say while looking at the poor girl.  
“Possible. Yes, but these didn’t happen today. There are also bruises on her wrists. I’d say they were at least a week old.”  
“She was abused,” I state sadly, I wouldn’t wish that on Ziva or Ari.  
“Yeah.”  
“Thanks, Duck,” Gibbs says to Ducky.  
“You have the man in custody now?”  
“Yeah.”  
“There’s no need to be gently with him, Jethro.”  
“You missed a spot,” Gibbs says to Ducky who is cleaning the autopsy tools while leading me out of autopsy. When we get into the elevator, he ask me, “Are you alright?”  
“I don’t like people who are abusive,” I explain to Gibbs sadly.  
“I know. Are you going to be alright to work this case?”  
“I’m fine,” I lie making Gibbs give me a look before pulling me into a hug.  
“If you need taking off the case, let me know.”  
“I don’t understand who someone can abuse the women he is supposed to love,” I explain to Gibbs, my father I understand, I’m not his blood and he doesn’t have to love me. But if you marry the person, who can you abuse the person.  
“Me neither,” Gibbs admits while releasing me when we arrive the lab.  
“We’re looking at a Beretta Cougar Eighty-Forty, Gibbs. It was registered to Sergeant Porter in two thousand three and it’s got his fingerprints all over it,” Abby reports to Gibbs.  
“Bullets?” He asks her.  
“Um… cross-point forty calibre smith and Wesson. Also called a ‘short and wimpy’ although I do not know why,”  
“They lack the power of the ten millimetre auto-load,” Gibbs explains to her while walking around the table with the evidence to stand behind Abby.  
“Yeah, I guess you don’t need all that stopping power when you’re gunning down housewives.”  
“What about gunshot residue?” I ask her.  
“The instant shooter kit came back negative on Porter’s skin, shirt, and pants.”  
“He could’ve worn gloves, though,” Gibbs reminds her..  
“If he could have changed his clothes. I’m way ahead of you, Gibbs. That’s why I’m doing a full analysis on all of Porter’s wardrobe. How long, Abby? Well, it’s going to take some time. And since this stuff doesn’t smell very good, I don’t think that laundering was a big priority. Abs! Um, two hours. Whenever I know something, you’ll know something. You’ve got one. Anything else? Yes, as a matter of fact. This is for you!” Abby exclaims while having a whole conversation with herself while intimidating Gibbs before handing him a coffee. While she is doing this she hands him the report and walks around the table to her desk where she grabs the coffee and handing it to a smiling Gibbs.  
“Why?” Gibbs asks her while taking the coffee.  
“For getting my out of sensitivity training. We were about to do trust falls and those guys in administration have wondering hands. Just give me their names, Abs, and I’ll break them for you! I know you will, Gibbs, and that’s why I love you,” Abby rambles making me laugh at Abby ask Gibbs smiles, as he leads me out of the lab.  
“It kind of scary how many people have whole conversations without you evening having to open your mouth,” I laugh at Gibbs when he steps into the elevator with me.  
“They good at it.”  
“Abby’s better than the bitch,” I admit while losing it again and double over laughing.  
“You got enjoyment out of the weirdest things.”  
“Well, it’s funny,” I admit while leaving the elevator as we begin walking to the integration room. We walk around the corn and Gibbs bumps into McGee and spills his coffee.  
“Oh! Uh, boss, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you,” McGee apologise.  
“What did I say about apologizing, McGee?” Gibbs demands.  
“It’s a sign of weakness.”  
“So is barfing on your tie,” I exclaim because McGee has vomit on his tie.  
“Uh, this isn’t mine. Um… we’ve got Sergeant Porter in interrogation. I actually managed to dodge most of it. The good news is that he is sober enough to talk now. I got some on you here, let me do this,” McGee says while trying to wipe the vomit off Gibbs chest from when McGee bumped into him.  
“Don’t!” Gibbs orders him.  
“Sorry. I mean, it would happen again.”  
“Who’s watching him?” I ask him.  
“Uh, Tony and Ziva, I was just going to go change my shirt.”  
“No, you won’t. You’re going to follow up on the good leads,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“We found Sergeant Porter with the murder weapon. What other leads?”  
“A good investigator doesn’t sit back and wait. You run down every angle, every lead. Assume everything you’ve been told is a lie until it checks out.”  
“Got it.”  
“There’s only one time I want you to stop, McGee.”  
“When you tell me.”  
“When you’re satisfied. When you’re satisfied,” Gibbs informs him while tapping McGee, to drive the point home.  
“Okay,” McGee agrees before turning around to leave.  
“Hey,” Gibbs calls after him.  
“Yeah?”  
“Get me another cup of coffee!”  
“That was nice of you. Are you dying?” I ask Gibbs, jokingly.  
“You want to come in?” Gibbs asks me while pointing to the integration room.  
“Yeah,” I say softly, I might not like abusers but something about this guy makes me feel like we have something wrong with him. McGee returns with a new cup of coffee.  
“Here you go. There. You look like you could use it,” Gibbs says to Porter while pulling a chair around so he can sit next to Porter, backwards on the chair so he is straddling the backrest while I sit across from him, putting the table between us, because if my feelings are wrong, I want something between us to protect myself.  
“My wife’s really dead, sir? How?” Porter asks in sadness.  
“Drink your coffee, Sergeant. When you’re ready we’ll work our way up to that,” I state while nodding to the coffee Gibbs got McGee to get.  
“Bad marriage, huh? It’s okay. I’ve had a few myself,” Gibbs relates to Porter.  
“It wasn’t perfect, but I loved her, sir. The problem was, I don’t think uh… I don’t think she ever loved me,” Porter explains making me feel bad for him.  
“I’ll bet she loved that pay check, though, right?” I ask him.  
“Yeah. I should have known. ‘Cause look at me. She was way out of my league, you know. She just married me to get to the states.”  
“It happens,” Gibbs states.  
“The thing is, I guess I always thought she might change her mind, you know? But then she started sneaking off to the ‘O’ Club, hanging out with Officers.”  
“I’ve seen it before. She thought she could trade up.”  
“She didn’t want me. No matter what I did. It just got to the point, I just wanted her to disappear.”  
“Yeah, when you get pushed, you want to push back.”  
“That why you decided to blow her away?” I ask him.  
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Porter ask me in surprise.  
“Is that the reason you shot Min Crane and your wife to death today?”  
“I’m telling you I didn’t kill them, ma’am.”  
“The murder weapon was in your truck, sergeant,” Gibbs notifies him.  
“Someone must have… someone must have put it there.”  
“Your fingerprints are all over it.”  
“I didn’t shoot my wife, sir!”  
“Did you use your fists on her, sergeant? Knock her around a little bit or maybe… maybe that just wasn’t cutting it anymore.”  
“I never laid a hand on Sun.”  
“A neighbour heard the fights, sergeant. We saw the hole you punched in your wall” I enlighten him politely while trying not to let my emotions into my voice.  
“I only punched the hole in the wall so I wouldn’t hit her, ma’am!”  
“Her hands were all bruised and cuffed from where she fought you off all the time,” Gibbs informs him.  
“That’s not how it happened.”  
“Really? Then how did I get wrong, sergeant? How did it happen?”   
“She was… she was the one who was abusing me. You don’t believe me? Take a look at this,” Porter exclaims while standing up and pulling his shirt up off to show us his upper body, covered in bruises making me feel bad for him.  
“Sit down,” Gibbs says to her.  
“Sun was violent, sir. She hit me. She called me names. She threw things. I tried to hold her off, but I never… I never once laid a hand on her. I just wanted it to stop,” Porter explains making me feel bad for him because I know what’s it like, just wanting it to stop. I move over to him and pull him into a hug because I feel so bad for him.  
“It’s going to be alright,” I whisper to him while rubbing his back in the hopes of calming him down and making him feel better. Once he’s calmed down, we leave the integration room, and walk into the observation room.  
“He didn’t confess,” Ziva complains to Tony who is holding his hand out for money because their betting.  
“It was damn close,” Tony exclaims.  
“Close doesn’t cut it, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Well, we got enough evidence even if you didn’t break him in interrogation, boss. Not to say that you couldn’t have broken him if you wanted to. I really like that shirt,” Tony compliments Gibbs when he releases he is digging his own grave.  
“Tony’s right. You have Sergeant Porter’s gun with his fingerprints in his car,” Ziva agrees with Tony.  
“He blows away his wife and her friend in a fit of rage. Gets drunk. Passes out before he can commit suicide.”  
“Why did he police his brass?” I ask them because that’s nagging on my mind.  
“Habit of a well-trained marine,” Ziva answers me.  
“He worked the motor pool. According to his records, he failed to qualify two in the pistol range last year. Abby get the results of the GSR tests on his clothing yet?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“All negative, boss,” Tony reports.  
“He could have worn gloves or gotten rid of the clothes he was wearing,” Ziva adds.  
“But he leaves his pistol in full view on the front seat,” I demand of her, that doesn’t make sense to me, even less than her last theory.  
“Boss, I think I’ve got something here. I just spoke with the director at Quantico Officer’s Club. Apparently Sun Porter was a regular fixture there. Almost always with Min Crane. A month ago, they were all banned,” McGee reports while he runs into the observation room.  
“For what, McGee?” Gibbs ask him.  
“One of their husband showed up. Made a scene. Had to be carried out.”  
“Another nail in Sergeant Porter’s coffin,” Tony comments.  
“It wasn’t Sergeant Porter, Tony. It was Sergeant James Dawson. Yoon’s husband.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Heard you guys got Sergeant Porter at the ‘E’ club with the murder weapon. I knew they were having trouble, but never expected something like this,” Dawson exclaim while we sit around in his living room.  
“Where’s your wife, Sergeant Dawson?” I ask him.  
“She’s taking a nap with our daughter. Why? Is something wrong, ma’am? Sir?”  
“What happened at the Officer Club last month?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Let me refresh your memory. You had an altercation with two marine captains,” Tony adds when Dawson looks confused.  
“Yeah. It was nothing. It was just a misunderstanding,” Dawson exclaims dismissively.  
“Big enough for a letter of reprimand in you SRB,” I state.  
“Maybe we should ask your wife about it, sergeant?” Ziva offers.  
“She’s had a really rough day. I’d rather not disturb her,” Dawson states tightly.  
“That the bedroom down the hall?”   
“Yeah, it is but I’d rather not disturb her,” Dawson exclaims as Ziva walks down the hall.  
“We’re just going to make sure she’s still breathing,” Tony comments as we all making our way down to the bed room.  
“What? You think I’d kill Sun and Min because they had a couple of drinks with my wife at the ‘O’ club?” Dawson demands of as us we nock on the door.  
“Mrs Dawson, NCIS! Can we ask you a few questions?” Ziva calls through the door making the baby cry.  
“Look, even baby’s don’t like you,” I say happily to Ziva.  
“Yoon. It’s me. Please. Yoon, open up.”  
“Do you have a key?” Gibbs asks him when I grab the door but it’s locked.  
“It’s looked from the inside. Yoon! Yoon!” Dawson yells before kicking his own door in. he runs over and pucks his baby up while his wife is nowhere to be found, he talks to his baby, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It doesn’t make sense, sir. Someone kills my wife’s two best friends, then they decide to kidnap her?” Dawson says while pacing in his living room with his daughter in his arms, while Ziva and Tony investigate the bedroom to see who Yoon got away or her kidnapper get in and out.  
“When’s the last time you say her, Sergeant?” Gibbs asks him from his spot on the coach.  
“About an hour before you showed up. She was putting the baby to sleep in our room.”  
“You didn’t hear anything?”  
“No. and can we stop standing around and do something?”  
“We are. We are. Sit down.”  
“And what exactly is that, sir?” Dawson demands of Gibbs.  
“We’re trying to work out how long ago someone took her and if this is a professional job or not. But we can’t do that without your help. And the sooner you answer our questions, the faster we can find your wife,” I inform the husband politely, making him see it from who side without saying we are suspecting him because family seems to shut down when that is said.  
“The window was broken from the outside. Whoever did this slipped in, grabbed her and slipped out,” Ziva reports to Gibbs.  
“None of the neighbours heard or saw anything unusual, boss. MPs are searching the area. They’re also checking every vehicle leaving the base,” Tony adds his own report.  
“You think she still might be on base?” Dawson queries us.  
“That’s a possible,” Gibbs agrees with him.  
“Well, then we need to be out there looking for her.”  
“If she’s still on base we’ll find her,” I promise him.  
“Someone put a lot of effort into taking her away from your home without alerting you, sergeant. There’s a good chance she’s not dead yet,” Ziva adds to calm him down, badly.  
“Yet? Oh, god, why would someone do this?” Dawson exclaims making me walk closure to him.  
“Please calm down. We’ll find her. We need your help, you wife needs your help right now. Your daughter needs you calm and to help bring her mother home,” I say to him while making sure he understands every word and we what until he calms down slightly.  
“Maybe for the same reason someone killed her friends,” Gibbs answers his question from before once he has calmed down.  
“You think I had something to do with this?” Dawson demands of Gibbs but he is still calmer.  
“Sit down. What happened at the officer’s club, sergeant?”  
“It was nothing, okay? Sun and Min go there all the time. Yoon just drops them off. This one time she went in and had a couple of drinks. She couldn’t drive home so she called me.”  
“Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his ringing phone while leaving the room.  
“At which point did you get into a verbal altercation with the two marine captains?” Tony asks Dawson.  
“They were drunk, okay? They were hitting on my wife. They tried to stop me from taking her home. What would you do, sir? You think one of these captains might have had something to do with this? Look, we’re wasting our time! I’m telling you, I had nothing to do with this!” Dawson informs us.  
“I know that. Your alibi just checked out. The sergeant was on duty at the time of the shooting,” Gibbs informs him as the baby begins crying again.  
“So what now, sir?”   
“We find you wife, and the murderer of her friends,” I inform him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Three Korean women met and married Marines in Seoul at roughly the same time. Two of them are dead. Our prime suspect was locked up here when the third went missing. Think it’s a racial thing?” Tony asks back in the squad room with the three girls on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desks.  
“No. Definitely do not think that it’s a hate crime. In my experience there’s only one colour in the marines,” McGee comments.  
“From what I’ve seen of your marine corps it’s very ethnically diverse,” Ziva comments.  
“He means green, Ziva, and I think he’s right,” I comment.  
“Well maybe it’s a… maybe it’s a Korean thing. Maybe something in their past,” McGee comments.  
“Like some kind of blood feud. Competing villages, ancient oaths, revenge from across the ocean,” Tony theorizes.  
“This is not one of your stupid action movies, Tony,” Ziva demands of Tony.  
“No it isn’t. If it was you’d be dressed differently.”  
“And you’d be far better looking,” Ziva comments making McGee laugh.  
“And you’d be dead by the opening credits,” Tony adds to McGee making Ziva laugh.  
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe I am the plucky comic relief?” McGee demands of Tony.  
“You find out what the hell happened to Yoon Dawson yet?” Gibbs demands of them while he sweeps into the squad room before demanding of McGee, “Plucky?”  
“Uh… well, Ziva and Tony and I…”  
“We’re just working on that, boss,” Tony attempts to save their arses.  
“We’re going through a list of anyone suspicious who had access to the base in the last two days. So far no solid leads,” Ziva adds.  
“What about the marines captain Sergeant Dawson fought with?”  
“Both transferred out of Quantico last month. One is at Camp Pendleton, the other is in Okinawa,” I report to him while handing him their files that say they were both on work at the time of the murder and kidnapping, so that couldn’t have returned anyway.  
“The two women lived insular lives. They spend most of their time together or with other Korean. Yoon Dawson seems to be the only one who embraced American life,” Ziva adds her own report.  
“Any reason to believe that Sergeant Porter is still involved in this?” McGee asks Gibbs.  
“Her could have had an accomplice, Probie,” Tony reminds him.  
“He could have had three, DiNozzo! We need more information!” Gibbs snaps at Tony.  
“Actually, boss, Abby and I… we have been working on something. We gathered the women’s phone records, credit card receipts, address books. Abby is cross-referencing to see if there’s a pattern,” McGee informs Gibbs.  
“DiNozzo, I want to know about anybody in the area who had made threats against Koreans, foreign marine wives, or women,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Oh, is that all? On it, boss!” Tony agrees while getting to it.  
“Find out about their lives before they married marines. Come on, you’re with me, elf lord, Alice,” Gibbs says making me laugh at McGee’s misfortune, that’s not going away anytime soon. We follow him to the back elevator and down into the lab where Abby is working away.  
“It’s amazing how much you can find out about someone without actually meeting them. For instance, me and these tree women have absolutely nothing in common. They web-browse for cake recipes, gardening tips, and Min Crane has some weird obsession with stained glass. That’s not even mentioning their music downloads. One word… Yanni. Good point. Who cares. Their schedules were pretty regulated. On Wednesdays and Fridays they tracked to Koreatown. They would shop for a couple of hours and then they’d have tea at Lee’s neighbourhood market. They alternated paying. It was Sun Porter’s turn, by the way,” Abby reports as we walk into the lab.  
“Yeah, not exactly ground-breaking police work there,” McGee comments.  
“She’s not done yet, McGee,” Gibbs snaps at McGee while smacking him on the back of the head for interrupting Abby’s report.  
“Thank you, Gibbs. Within the last month, all three of them received regular phone calls from a pay phone located just outside Lee’s Neighbourhood Market. It is owned and operated by Lee Sung. He sells Korean delicacies, fruits and vegetables, and those cute little anime figurines with the funny faces,” Abby continues her report.  
“Oh, I love those,” McGee exclaims.  
“Um.. He also has a catering business… Lee’s Delights. It’s authentic Korean food. Very high end. All three women have worked for him as hostesses. And they were scheduled to work an event for him tomorrow afternoon.”  
“How do you know?”   
“Because Lee’s sung emailed them the instructions. It’s a Korean diplomatic event at the Pacific Rim Society.”  
“Tell me I didn’t just smack McGee for no good reason,” Gibbs pleads of her.  
“You didn’t smack McGee for no good reason. Last night, Yoon Dawson used her cell phone to call the pay phone outside Lee’s Market. Two hours later? Bam! She’s missing. Why is this important? Because someone is still using her cell phone to call that pay phone.”  
“Can we get a fix on the phone?” McGee begs of her.  
“Negatory, McGee. I know it’s somewhere in Annandale, Virginia, but they turn it off before I can get an exact location. The last phone call was an hour ago.”  
“McGee, I want a tap on that damn pay phone. Abby, I want to know who answers it,” Gibbs orders them before we leave them to work.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Damn, I can’t believe this,” Tony complains as we stake Lee’s Market, Ziva and Tony are together and Gibbs, McGee, and I are in car.  
“I don’t really like waiting here either, Tony,” Ziva says to him.  
“No, Nick and Jessica broke up. I’m always the last to know.”  
“Hey, DiNozzo! Shut up,” Gibbs orders Tony over the radio while holding up a camera.  
“Shutting up, boss,” Tony says making me laugh. The phone begins ringing making Tony ask, “Hey probie, are you getting this?”  
“Yeah, got it, Tony,” McGee informs him while typing away at his keyboard before inform Gibbs, “It’s Yoon Dawson cell phone again, boss.”  
“I want a location, McGee,” Gibbs orders McGee while taking the recording camera I am handing him so he can record the person who answers the phone.  
“Whoever it is, they disabled the on-board GPS chip. So we’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Just take a moment to get a bead on the cell phone grid it’s interfacing with.”  
“We’ve got someone headed to the phone, Boss,” Tony reports to Gibbs. Tony asks Gibbs after a moment, “You want us to take him down now?”   
“Negative,” Gibbs orders him.  
“We’re still tracing the call,” I inform Tony.  
“Okay, I’ve got the cell phone grid located. It’s coming from this neighbourhood. Somewhere on this street,” McGee reports.  
“You copy that, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of Tony.  
“Well, we’re scanning for targets now. There are a lot of possible,” Tony informs us.  
“Wool cap, head down, heading towards the pay phone,” Ziva informs us.  
“Got him.”  
“Drop your weapon”!” Ziva orders the caller who turns and runs away.  
“Feral Agents move!” Tony calls when a gunshot runs rings out making me grab Gibbs arm in fear for Tony but he reports, “It’s Yoon Dawson, boss. She’s rabbiting.”  
“We’re cutting her off, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs her while driving the car to cut her off. He brings the car to a sudden stop in an ally way.  
“I know she didn’t pass us,” McGee complains when we lose her as we get out of the car.  
“Well where the hell did she go? It’s like she disappeared,” Tony complains.  
“She didn’t disappear. It’s her hat. She climbed her way out,” Ziva reports while picking up the hat.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“If I am here I answer the pay phone, agent McGee. Many people in this community are poor. Can’t afford phone service, so I take messages for them. You see, it helps them and it is good for my business when they come to pick up,” Lee explains why he answered the phone that nigh back in his shop. It turns out that Yoon was shooting at Lee and not Tony or Ziva.  
“Doss, did you find her?” McGee ask Gibbs stupidly who is returning from searching for Yoon with nothing but a coffee.  
“Yeah, McGee. She’s hiding in my coffee cup,” Gibbs snaps at him sarcastically.  
“Uh… we didn’t find her,” McGee releases before turning to Lee and saying, “Just give us one second, please.”  
“Has he calmed down yet?”  
“Well, he’s a little shaky but I think he’s ready to talk,” I explain to Gibbs.  
“Min and Sun, they are dead? It’s my fault. I take responsibility. I try to help people new to this country, find jobs for them, get them training, classes. Sometime even loan money,” Lee explains to Gibbs sadly.  
“You hired all three of them to work for your catering company?” Gibbs asks them.  
“I did. I would notice when Yoon was tired, her accent would change. Sometime she would use words not common in my country since the war.”  
“Yoon-Sook Dawson wasn’t South Korean,” I state.  
“I began to believe that she was from the north,” Lee explains before saying something in Korean before continuing, “Perhaps a spy?”  
“Why didn’t you go to the police?” McGee asks of him.  
“Well, I couldn’t be sure. What if I was wrong? I asked Min and Sun to find out where she grew up, what schools she go to. Then I check her answers. Try to locate relatives from Korea. Nothing.”  
“Who else knew you were checking up on her?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Just Min Crane, Sun Porter, and myself.”  
“She was trying to protect her cover?” McGee asks in surprise.  
“Why’s she leave her baby? I wouldn’t be able to leave that cutie pie,” I ask them.  
“She failed. We’re taking you into protective custody, Mister Sung,” Gibbs attempts to protect the little old man while ignoring my question because no one has an answer.  
“No. I will not hide,” Lee exclaims stubbornly.  
“Mister Sung, she… she could come back,” McGee attempts to explain our fears.  
“Let her. I am ready this time. I won’t stop living my life because of people like her.”  
“Sir, I really don’t think there is a…”  
“Mister Dung, thank you for your help. If you think of anything else, give me a call,” Gibbs says to Lee while handing Lee one of his cards.  
“Yes, I will. And please thank your agents for me,” Lee says to us before we begin leaving the shop.  
“Boss, you’re not really going to let him just,” McGee rambles.  
“McGee, you know the FBI does not exist only to piss me off,” Gibbs begins.  
“Are you calling your dog? Don’t forget to feed him,” I bounce beside Gibbs.  
“Sometimes they can actually be useful,” Gibbs finishes before ringing Fornell, “Hey, Fornell, I’ve got one right up your jurisdiction.”  
“Hey puppy,” I call into the phone too Fornell happily.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Like my father always said, be careful who you marry, Anthony. She may end up being a homicidal maniac,” Tony says in the squad room the next morning.  
“Your father actually said that too you?” McGee asks in surprise.  
“No, but I’m pretty sure he thought it.”  
“Probably he knew your taste in women,” Ziva comments.  
“Abby’s got active taps on Sergeant Dawson’s cell, home and work phone, Boss. If she calls her husband again we’ll know it,” Tony reports to Gibbs as he walks into the squad room.  
“She won’t.”  
“The FBI team shadowing Mister Dung is tied directly into MTAC. They’re last report had him loading up a catering truck for a job. No sign of Yoon Dawson yet,” McGee adds.  
“It’s highly doubtful she’ll make another attempt on his life,” Ziva cuts in again.  
“We’ve got four agents providing surveillance on Dawson’s house.”  
“She definitely won’t be returning home.”  
“She might want to get her baby. Mother’s normally can’t leave their children easily,” I state, because for all her training she is still a mother.  
“And how do you know this, Officer David?” Tony snaps at her.  
“Because Yoon Dawson wouldn’t. Now tell us what you would do,” Gibbs orders Ziva.  
“If I was Yoon, everything I’ve done up to this point was to protect my cover. I’ve dealt with the two possible threats on base, and,” Ziva theorises.  
“If by dealt you mean gunning down two defenceless housewives?” Tony cuts her off.  
“And I attempted to deal with the third, but my cover was blown. I’m now only left with a few possibilities.”  
“You rush back to your country?” Gibbs says.  
“Or carry out whatever mission I was assigned before I’m captured or killed.”  
“Bit she’s been in the states for three years. Of you had a mission, wouldn’t you have carried it out by now?” McGee asks her in confusion.  
“Not if I’m a sleeper, McGee.”  
“She could be here for decades before being activated,” Gibbs adds.  
“So tell us, Jane Bond, how do we tack you down, huh?” Tony asks Ziva.  
“You don’t, Tony. By now I’ve changed my appearance, I’ve replaced my identity with back-up documents and I’ve relocated,” Ziva continues.  
“Promise? Okay, so that about wraps it up. Who’s up for lunch? You might want think about this, boss, because I’m going to pay.”  
“No one’s eating until we find Yoon Dawson,” Gibbs snaps at us tightly.  
“Gibbs, not that Tony couldn’t stand to lose a little weight but we’ll all starve to death before that happened. She’s playing it like I would. She’s gone,” Ziva reminds Gibbs what she just said.  
“There’s one big difference between the two of you, Ziva. Alice. You don’t have a baby girl,” Gibbs informs her while calling me out of hitting the nail on the head.  
“Most likely part of her cover or an occupational accident.”  
“It’s more than that.”  
“How can you tell?”  
“My gut. Come one. You’re with me. Let’s go,” Gibbs orders Ziva and me, we leave the squad room.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“My wife is not a spy, sir,” Dawson exclaims as his baby cries. I gently take the cutie pie off he father and begin rocking her, making her stop crying.  
“Her south Korean passport’s a forgery,” Gibbs informs her.  
“It’s not possible, okay? Yoon loves this country. She knows more about it than I do.”  
“She was trained to. It’s called a ‘honey trap.’”  
“Her assignment was to meet an eligible serviceman, seduce him, and gain access into this country,” Ziva adds.  
“Oh, yeah? Then why was she trying to convince me to leave the Marine Corps and go back to college?” Dawson asks us.  
“Most likely you were not part of the assignment. You were just a means to an end.”  
“Listen! Okay, I’ve lived with her for five years. She’s the mother of my child, for God sake! I’m telling you, there’s no way. That’s this?” Dawson demands when Ziva shows him a photo on her PDA.  
“Your wife.”  
“No, that can’t be real.”  
“It’s real,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Min Crane and Sun Porter? Se killed them? Oh, my god.”  
“Has she tried to contact you?” I ask him softly while rocking my hips too keep the baby from crying with the rhythm.  
“No.”  
“She’s a foreign agent, marine. You lie about this, it’s treason,” Gibbs informs him.  
“She hasn’t. She hasn’t tried to contact me, sir.”  
“Okay, we think she might.”  
“If she does and you confront herm she will most likely kill you.”  
“I just… I just can’t believe this,” Dawson says in denial as his house phone begins ringing.  
“Go ahead,” Gibbs says while nodding to the phone.  
“Hello…? Yoon, what the hell is going on? NCIs is here and they’re telling me all sorts of things… you need to come home now… I don’t care, all right? Just tell me where you are and I’ll come get you… Just tell me why. Please, sweetheart… This is insane. Yoon, you can’t do this…Don’t! Don’t! Don’t! Yoon, don’t hang up!” Dawson says while the phone but she hangs up anyway.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I found out why the FBI isn’t responding, boss. She’s definitely here,” Tony reports over the radio when we get to the street where Yoon called her husband from.  
“Keep looking DiNozzo. I’m right behind you” Gibbs orders him as he drives the car to the street. We rush into the storage area to see Yoon holding a gun to Lee.  
“Drop the weapon,” I order her.  
“There’s bomb set to go off in this building. If you kill me now, we all die,” Yoon informs us.  
“Put your weapon down,” Gibbs orders again.  
“I was a north Korean operative.”  
“We kind of figured that part out on our own,” I inform her tightly.  
“The part that you didn’t know is that my cell included Sun Porter, Min Crane and this man.”  
“She’s lying,” Lee exclaims.  
“I swear on the life of my daughter that I’m trying to prevent this attack.”  
“And I swear if you don’t release your weapon, I will kill you,” Ziva threats her.  
“The bomb is in his truck. Please, we may only have minutes left,” Yoon informs us making Gibbs single with his gun for her to show us. She leads us out to a truck that she opens the back to show us a huge bomb. She turns to us and asks us, “Now do you believe me?”  
“Can you disarm it?” Ziva asks Gibbs while we holster our guns.  
“If I had a couple of days, maybe. You?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I could try. I suggest not standing within five miles of here while I attempt it.”  
“Can,” Yoon exclaims.  
“She put it there. She’s trying to kill us all,” Lee exclaims.  
“They’re evacuating the building, boss. And the uh… ah, it’s a really big bomb,” Tony comments.  
“You think, DiNozzo?” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“I didn’t kill them to maintain my cover, agent Gibbs. I did it to keep my family. I failed,” Yoon explains.  
“She’s a north Korean spy!” Lee exclaims again.  
“Not anymore. At least let me prevent this.”  
“McGee, get Sung out of here. Get the cuffs off her,” Gibbs orders us making McGee jump to.  
“Gibbs,” Ziva begins.  
“It’s not a debate, Officer David. Go. Go on. Get out of here! All of you. Give me a clear distance away. I’ll handle it from here.”  
“I don’t care how hard you whack me, boss. I’m not going anywhere,” Tony informs Gibbs while planting himself.  
“Nor am I,” Ziva adds.  
“I’m staying,” I agree with them two.  
“If we survive this, you’re all fired,” Gibbs threats us. Yoon begin working on disarming the bomb and I grab Gibbs arm in fear, I might not be leaving him to face this alone but I’m still scared. The bomb makes a serious of beeping tones that increase in speed making me hold Gibbs are tighter.  
“That’s supposed to do that, right?” Tony begs of Yoon while taking not of how I am holding onto Gibbs.  
“It’s done. The bomb is no longer armed,” Yoon informs us when the beeping stops making us all breathe a sigh of relief.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“So what happens now, sir?” Dawson asks Gibbs back in the squad room.  
“The FBI will take her into custody, sergeant,” Ziva informs him.  
“And then prison?”  
“You wide is an agent of a hostile power. It all depends what kind of deal she can make.”  
“She was also responsible for bringing down an entire North Korean cell and saving hundreds of lives, sergeant. I’m sure that will be taken into consideration, right, Officer David?” Tony asks Ziva in the hopes of giving this marine hope.  
“Yes, of course. Her knowledge of the inner workings of North Korean intelligence should prove to be invaluable.”  
“Guys, give her a minute,” Gibbs orders the officer who is escorting Yoon.  
“I’m so sorry! I was trying to do the right thing,” Yoon say to her husband sadly.  
“Everything you said to me on the phone… I believe it, Yoon. I’ll always believe it no matter what happens. Come here,” Dawson says while pulling his wife into a hug. Dawson whispers to his crying wife, “It’s okay.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“I know.”  
“Let’s go,” Gibbs orders them when the agent took Yoon and Dawson left too. Gibbs says to us, “Tony, Ziva, Alice, what happened back there with the bomb, I want you both to know…”  
“You don’t have to say it, boss. We know how you feel about us,” Tony assumes wrongly what Gibbs is going to say.  
“Gibbs, we’re a team. That’s what we do,” Ziva add.  
“I was going to say if any one of you three wingnuts ever disobey a direct order again, I’ll kill you myself.”  
“That’s our boss,” Tony laughs as Gibbs leaves. Before turning to me and asking, “How does your boyfriend feel about you giving the boss-man a free feel-up?”  
“He doesn’t care, as long as I’m faithful. Something you don’t know about,” I explain which is true because if I was to cheat, Gibbs would kill me. I just didn’t tell him who I am dating.  
“What is your boyfriend’s name?”  
“L.J.”  
“Were did you meet?”  
“On a beach.”  
“Can I meet him?”  
“I wouldn’t introduce you to you. So no, besides you already know him.”  
“Jimmy?”  
“Why does everyone say I’m dating or liking Jimmy?” I ask in confusion because that was Kate’s guess too.  
“Who else guessed Jimmy?”  
“Kate. Abby.”  
“I’ll work it out. I am the senior field agent here, and a good investigator.”  
“Hit me with your best shot. But you only get three guess and you’re one down already.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You should have left when I ordered you,” Gibbs informs me tightly while he ‘sands’ his boat.  
“Jethro. I’m not going to let you face a bomb on your own. I can’t… what is she did it wrong and it blow up?” I ask him in fear. I add, “We’re in this together and I’m not going to leave you alone, in danger.”  
“I want to keep you safe. All of you.”  
“We’re in this together, and you don’t want me to disobey orders, don’t give me orders I can’t follow.”  
“That simple,” Gibbs laughs at me as I sit on the board under the boat so I am facing him with the rib of the boat between us.  
“Yep.”  
“So, what happen that DiNozzo looked so serious when I returned to the squad room?”  
“He’s trying to work out who I’m dating. He thinks that the list can’t be so long because I told him Kate approved him. He’s only allowed three guess, and has already used one.”  
“What are you, a Gennie?” Gibbs laughs at me.  
“Nope. I am just restricting the guessing game, making him have to investigate it, instead of offering anyone Kate and I might have meet.”  
“What are you going to do if he doesn’t work it out?”  
“Don’t know yet. But I’ll think of something.”  
“I’m sure you will.”  
“It shouldn’t be that hard, I’ve given him enough hints.”  
“What hints?”  
“My boyfriend’s name is L.J. and we meet on a beach. He doesn’t care when my boss gets a feel of my breasts when I’m scared.”  
“I don’t mind that last one, as long as it’s only your boss.”   
“Of course. My boss probably couldn’t get it up with a pill anyway, he’s too old,” I comment making Gibbs give me a look.  
“Is that so,” Gibbs exclaims ask I climb of the other side of the boat and run up the stairs with Gibbs following me. I squeal when Gibbs catches me at the top step and picks me up off the ground. He tickles my ribs making me laugh and try to squirm out of his arms. He whispers to me, ”Take that back. I’m not too old to get it up.”  
“I’m sorry. You’re not too old,” I laugh out making him release me before I add, “My boss is.” I sprint of towards the bedroom with him hot on my tail again but I manage to get into the room without him catching me. I quickly hid under his bed.  
“Alice. Baby, where are you?” Gibbs calls out while walking around the room and I have to hide my laughter in Ugly Tony’s belly. “I’m going to find you,” Gibbs calls out again before suddenly pulling me out from my hiding spot with my dog.  
“Jethro.”  
“Oh, so you’re into another women,” Gibbs laughs at me when he sees I’m holding Ugly Tony to my chest.  
“Sometimes,” I laugh at him as he picks me up and drops me onto the bed.  
“You hide as good as a toddler,” Gibbs laughs at me while climbing onto the bed and laying down with me.  
“That’s who taught me everything I know,” I joke. I lay my head on his chest while holding me dog between us so he can’t tickle me again.


	17. Head Case

“NCIS!” Gibbs shouts as he run into the chop shop during the night.  
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” Jones, one of the chop shot workers, exclaim in surprise.  
“FREEZE!” Ziva orders them.  
“Hands in the air!” Tony orders them.  
“Okay. Okay. All right. All right,” Hobie, another chop shop worker, exclaims.  
“Cuff them!” Gibbs orders us.  
“Against the car. Assume the position!” McGee orders them.  
“Okay. Okay,” Hobie exclaims while doing it.  
“The first mistake was stealing tools from the motor pool, geniuses,” I inform them as they are cuffed and Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, it’s Gibbs. I need prisoner transportation for three. Get a hold of Metro P.D. since we busted them on their turf,” Gibbs talks into the phone as Ziva and I open the trunk to see a severed head.  
“Gibbs? The car’s not the only thing they’ve been chopping here,” Ziva calls over to Gibbs.  
“I swear we didn’t kill anybody! Come on! It’s not even our cooler! We had nothing to do with this!” Hobie exclaims in fear as we load them into the transport van.  
“Do you believe him?” McGee asks Gibbs as the van pulls away.  
“They had a human head in the trunk of a car, McGee. What do you think?” Gibbs saps at McGee for his stupid question.  
“First severed head? Mine was a motorcycle accident in Baltimore. I thought I was just picking up a helmet,” Tony rambles as I return inside.  
“Trust me, it’s far worse when you know the person,” Ziva overlaps him.  
“You knew someone who was beheaded?”  
“A friend. He infiltrated a Hamas cell in Ramallah. Ah… they sent his head overnight express.”  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t…”  
“That’s when I decided that I’d… I’d never be captured alive,” Ziva comments as Ducky, Jimmy and Gibbs walks in.  
“You did me a favour tonight, Jethro. Tonight is smack down night at the Mallard residence. Can you believe it? Mother’s favourite television program. Wrestling.”  
“Mine, too! I love the WWE,” Jimmy exclaims.  
“I haven’t the heart to tell her it’s not real. Where’s the body?”  
“Three sailors running the chop shop, Duck. We found it in the trunk,” Gibbs informs him.  
“You’re not going to need the gurney for this one, Palmer,” Tony informs them before showing him the head.  
“Oh, my. Decapitation,” Ducky exclaims while looking at the head.  
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“Who is Naomi Krutzhammer? One of your girlfriends, yes?” Ziva asks Tony while reading his email over his shoulder.  
“I’m trying to read my email here. You mind?” Tony asks her.  
“Not at all. I didn’t know your nickname was ‘honeybuns.’”  
“Only Naomi and I call him that,” Gibbs informs her while sweeping into the squad room with two cups of coffee and hands me one.  
“Didn’t think you were going to say anything about that, boss,” Tony exclaims.  
“Who owns the car with the head in the trunk?”  
“We don’t know yet.”  
“You’re reading your email and you don’t know yet?”  
“We traced the VIN to a Mercedes dealership in Riverdale, which sold it two weeks ago. The registration’s temporary and hasn’t been processed by the DMV.”  
“We called the dealership. They don’t open for another twenty five minutes,” Ziva adds.  
“The car’s registered to an Epsilon Corporation,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Thanks for sharing, McGee,” I say to him politely.  
“I just found it. Had to hack into the DMV’s processing computer.”  
“Is that legal?” Tony asks in confusion.  
“I doubt it,” Ziva answers him.  
“I wonder what the penalty is.”  
“Less than reading your emails on my time, honeybuns,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Corporate address is in care of Sean Oliver, Attorney at Law. Two-two-five Sheraton Street,” McGee informs Gibbs while handing Tony and Ziva the address.  
“Phone number, McGee,” Ziva asks him.  
“When they answer the phone, what are you going to say, Officer David? Hey, we found your car. Anybody at Epsilon missing a head?” I ask Ziva sarcastically.  
“Tony, take Ziva with you. Go,” Gibbs orders them making them leave. When they are gone he continues, “That’s a good job, McGee.”  
“Thank you, boss,” McGee says proudly.  
“Tony’s right. Hacking is illegal.”  
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“Have a seat,” McGee orders Hobie as he leads him into the integration room.  
“I’m not saying anything ‘till I get a lawyer,” Hobie states.  
“You’re not here to talk, Petty Officer Hobie. You’re here to listen. They said you jacked the car and they know nothing about what was in the trunk. Me? I believe them,” Gibbs informs him as we sit across from us at the table while McGee stands.  
“It means you’re screwed, Petty Officer,” McGee enlightens him tightly.  
“Agent McGee? Seven stolen cars in two weeks. That’s he looking at?” I ask McGee.  
“First offense? Let’s see, seven to ten for theft. Another four to five for selling stolen property. So roughly twelve years. Maybe out in six with good behaviour.”  
“What about carrying around a human head in an ice chest?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Well, capital offense? With the gruesome nature of the crime? I’m thinking… life. That’s if he’s lucky. It not…”  
“The death penalty,” I explain to him.  
“Whoa, hey! I didn’t know that was in there. Look, when you boost a car, you don’t check to see that’s in the trunk first!” Hobie exclaims in fear.  
“Where?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“It was in a parking lot. Chez Nude. It’s a strip club in Anacostia. I took it around midnight.”  
“Did you see the driver?” I ask him.  
“No. all I saw was the chrome.”  
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“Abby,” Gibbs greets Abby as we enter the lab.  
“Gibbs! Okay, so we have two questions for. Where’s my caff-pow?” Abby asks while turning around to see Gibbs is empty handed.  
“The machine was empty. Second question?”   
“That’s wasn’t one of the questions. The machine’s never empty.”  
“Abby?” I ask her when she looks like she about to begin pouting.  
“According to the Armed Forces DNA registry, the head in the autopsy room belongs to navy captain Parker Wayne.”  
“You want to know who he died and why,” Gibbs states.  
“We know how and why.”  
“He suffered a fatal coronary infarction at Bethesda Naval Hospital four months ago,” Ducky reports.  
“SO what is his head doing in the trunk of a stolen car?”  
“And where is the rest of his body?”  
“What did the family do with the body? Did they cremate it? Bury it? Or donate it to science?” I ask them because if they donated it to science, it could still be around, kept fresh-ish.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Can’t connect Captain Wayne to any of the three suspects, Boss,” McGee reports to Gibbs back in the squad room.  
“No common service, ship, or base. If they had any contact, it wasn’t through the Navy,” Ziva adds.  
“You’re asking me to believe a sailor jacked a car with a head in the trunk and he didn’t know it?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“If the glue sticks?”  
“She fits,” McGee corrects her.  
“DiNozzo!” Gibbs turns to his last agent.  
“I’m with you, boss. Our carjackers definitely knows more than he’s telling us. We don’t believe in coincidences around here, Ziva,” Tony reports to her.  
“However, we do believe in bad luck. Otherwise you and McGee are murdered,” I remind Tony.  
“You get the search warrant?” Gibbs demands of Tony.  
“Uh… Faith Coleman says that we need to petition for a preliminary injunction to compel Sean Oliver, Esquire, too give up the name of her client,” McGee corrects Gibbs.  
“So do it.”  
“Done it. I mean I did it. Since the captain died of natural causes, it’s going to take the judge a while to sign off on it.”  
“The lawyer drooled over Tony. Why doesn’t he just sleep with her?” Ziva asks us but we all glare at her making her add, “What? It’s a viable interrogation technique.”  
“I’ve done it,” Gibbs admits making me smile because I could see him doing it, but he’s not allowed to do it anymore, he’s mine and I don’t share anything.  
“Me, too.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ah, Jethro. Special Agent Gibbs, Todd, Commander Ross, the M.E. who performed the autopsy on our Captain four months ago,” Ducky introduces us.  
“I must admit I’ve never been involved in anything this… strange,” Ross comments.  
“Remind me to show you some of our cases sometime. Last year we had a patient who spontaneously combusted, or so we thought.”  
“Are you certain heart attack was the cause of death?” Gibbs talks over Ducky.  
“Absolutely. Captain Wayne was pronounced dead on the operating table by one of our best heart surgeons. I performed the autopsy two days later,” Ross informs us.  
“When you last saw the captain… his head was attached?” I ask him in amusement that I even have to ask it.  
“If course,” Ross chuckles at my question too.  
“What happened to his remains?” Gibbs asks him.  
“At the request of the widow they were released to a mortuary. The uh… let’s see… Vernon Family Mortuary. In Annandale, Virginia,” Ross reads of the file he brought with him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hi. What’s your name? I’m Jethro. And this is Alice. We’re here to talk to your mum,” Gibbs says to our victim’s daughter when we arrive at the victim’s house door and sitting on the chair next to the door.  
“Did you know my daddy?” Chrissy, the victim’s daughter asks us as I knock on the door.  
“No. no, we didn’t. Not personally,” I inform her.  
“He’s dead, you know,” Chrissy informs me as her mother opens the door.  
“Hey, do you like dogs?” I ask her while Gibbs follow’s her mother into a house.  
“Yeah.”  
“Do you want to see my dog?”  
“Can I pat it?”  
“Of course. Come on,” I say while leading her back to the car where Ugly Tony is sitting happily on the passenger seat.  
“What’s her name?” Chrissy asks me as he pats ugly Tony.  
“What’s your name first?”  
“Chrissy.”  
“Chrissy, meet Ugly Tony,” I introduce them before explaining to her where she got her name, “My sister wanted to call her Tony but we work with a Tony, and he has better hair. So ugly Tony it is.”  
“Your funny,” Chrissy laughs at me. She grabs Tony’s lead so she can show her mother the dog. We walk into the house to see Gibbs with her father’s ashes making Chrissy exclaim, “Where are you taking my dad?”  
“Oh, Chrissy. It’s okay. Agent Gibbs is a marine. You know how much Daddy liked them. Twenty years in the navy. I know a marine when I see one, agent Gibbs,” Jocelyn, the victim’s wife, informs her daughter.  
“As soon as this is verified, it’ll be returned,” Gibbs promises Jocelyn.  
“Our last command was a cruiser, the Manassas. They deploy for eight months next Thursday. Parks’ last wish was to have his ashes scattered at sea by them.”  
“You’ll have them back,” Gibbs promise her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’ve hit a dead wall. Have any of you heard of the Nation of Nevis?” Ziva exclaims while hitting her desk.  
“No,” McGee answers.  
“Yes,” I answer without looking up; my father has an account with them.  
“It’s in the Caribbean,” Tony answers her.  
“I’m impressed,” Ziva say to him.  
“Well, if you’re looking for the most attractive and convenient offshore corporate domicile, like my father, it’s the place.”  
“That’s where Epsilon’s incorporated. It’s a haven of confidentiality. I mean, they won’t disclose the names of owners, officers, or directors.”  
‘That’s why the old and seems to like it,” Tony and I say together.  
“It sounds suspicious,” McGee comments.  
“I have a contact who can get me that info,” Ziva comments.  
“Ziva, don’t talk about it. Do it,” Gibbs orders her while walking over to his desk where I have placed a cup of coffee for him.  
“Well, it’s a delicate situation, Gibbs. Perhaps I should elaborate a…”  
“Martin Broussard. Raised in New Orleans,” McGee begins reporting to Gibbs after a beat of silence.  
“Orleans, boss. Barely graduated high school. Dropped out of,” Tony cuts McGee off.  
“Junior college after only one year.”  
“Record?” Gibbs asks.  
“Ah, two DUIs and a…”  
“Shoplifting charge,” Tony cuts McGee of.  
“We got prints from his room. Abby is…”  
“Trying to match them from the Mercedes from the chop shop.”  
“You think Broussard could be Sean Oliver’s client?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“No way. This guy’s apartment makes McGee’s look like the four seasons.”  
“Whoa, what is wrong with my home?” McGee demands insulted.  
“Nothing that a bulldozer and a few coat of paint wouldn’t fix.”  
“At least I wasn’t afraid to open a cooler.”  
“I wasn’t afraid to open cooler,” Tony snaps at McGee making Gibbs hit his head making Tony add, “I’m shutting up, boss.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, they refilled the machine!” Abby exclaims while standing on her head.  
“What are you doing?” Gibbs asks her while turning his upper body upside down so he is looking at her the right way.  
“It’s been a long day. Yoga. Sirs asana. It increases the blood flow to the brain.”  
“I thought that’s what this is for,” I ask while pointing to the caff-pow in Gibbs hand.  
“Oh. That helps, too.”  
“I assume you’re done,” Gibbs says to her while handing her the caff-pow.  
“With the ashes? Yeah. Since cremation destroys all DNA, then genetic fingerprinting of the cremains won’t work. So I put them through a particle accelerator to try to ferret out any trace elements,” Abby informs us while walking back to her computer.  
“And?”  
“And I found calcium which is present in human bones, but no phosphorous.”  
“Which means?”  
“There’s really no foreplay with you, is there, Gibbs?” Abby asks Gibbs making a blush run up on to my checks.  
“What? Have you been talking to my ex-wife again?”   
“I have too. Alice wouldn’t tell me anything,” Abby exclaims making em blush when they are both looking at me.  
“Don’t drag me into that conversation. I’m not commenting,” I exclaims while holding both hands up in surrender.  
“The urn contains burnt wood chips, concrete, dust and pebbles. The askes are bogus.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ask yourself what kind of guy lives in a coffin storage shed at a funeral home?” Tony asks us in confusion in the squad room.  
“Don’t offer Abby, or she would,” I warn Tony making him grin at me.  
“Perhaps a poor one?” Ziva overlaps me.  
“I’d buy that except for the fact that it looks like this guy did an episode of ‘trading spaces’ with Satan. What we need to figure out is why this guy decided to keep the man’s head,” Tony comments again.  
“And how it ended up in the trunk of the stolen Mercedes,” McGee adds.  
“Maybe he needed it for some sort of ritual,” Ziva offers.  
“Or sacrifice,” Tony suggestions.  
“Witchcraft?” McGee asks Tony.  
“Whatever you want to call it, probie.”  
“I agree. Anyone so obviously fascinated with death has to be deeply disturbed on some level. I mean, take these masks, for instance. What kind of person would collect suck horrid-looking things?” Ziva asks.  
“Me,” Abby exclaims while holding her hand up happily.  
“Of course, by horrid I mean, finely crafted and artistic. Good morning, Abby.”  
“Hi. The masks are Ogu. They’re used in tribal ceremonies in Africa. A friend of mine makes them.”  
“I see, and this?”  
“Drapeau or flag. It symbolizes the bridge between your spiritual and your earthly planes. I’m not an expert, but I would say that Martin Broussard is in to voodoo but time.”  
“If you’re not an expert, I don’t know anyone who is,” I comment making Abby smile as we as she sits on the corner of by desk.  
“So it is witchcraft,” McGee comments.  
“No, McGee, its voodoo,” Abby and I correct him because those are two very different things.  
“What’s the difference?”  
“Haven’t you ever seen Voodoo Island with Boris Karloff? The believers? Martin Sheen? Serpent and the rainbow? Sleepless in Seattle,” Tony talks about one of his movies again.  
“That was about voodoo?” Ziva asks him.  
“No, but the first time I saw it, it scared the bejeesus out of me.”  
“Is that a fact, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks Tony making me laugh at Tony’s misfortunate.   
“Yes, sir. We think we just had a major breakthrough in the case.”  
“You found Broussard?”  
“Nope,” I answer him happily while popping the p.  
“You got the warrant to search the law offices?”  
“Not yet,” McGee answers him next because Gibbs is talking to him with that question.  
Your contacts found out who owns Epsilon Corporation?”   
“They haven’t gotten back to me yet,” Ziva admits.  
“In retrospect, ‘major’ may have been overstating things, sir. I’m sorry,” Tony apologizes while backtracking as Abby bounces on the corner of my desk with her hand in the arm like in school.  
“What, Abby? You have to go to the bathroom or do you have something to say?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I do. But that’s not the point. Ducky and I might have found something that’s min-jor. It’s maybe not major, but it’s more than minor,” Abby rambles making me smile at her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He, duck, are you saying Captain Wayne was used in some kind of sacrifice?” Gibbs asks Ducky in the lab.  
“I’m just saying it’s a possibility, Jethro,” Ducky admits.  
“We found traces of blood on three of the knives from Martin Broussard’s room,” Abby adds.  
“All three came back the same type.”  
“Captain Wayne’s?” Ziva guesses.  
“Nope. Chicken,” Abby corrects her.  
“Chicken. Well, it’s not an uncommon substance to find at a voodoo ritual,” Ducky overlaps Abby.  
“Yeah, or at KFC. What else?” Gibbs says.  
“Patience, Gibbs,” Abby orders him.  
“Abby, say that again. But slowly,” I say making her grin at me because Gibbs doesn’t now the word patience.  
“I ran the fingerprints from the Mercedes, the cooler in the back of the car, and Marine Broussard’s room. They’re all the same and they’re all his.”  
“Broussard stole the Mercedes?” Tony asks in surprise.  
“Either that or he just really likes to touch stuff.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I want the remains verified for everybody Broussard was supposed to burn,” Gibbs orders us in the elevator.  
“Not a problem, boss. What do we tell the families?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“Depends on what we find.”  
“You think he’s done this before?” Ziva asks.  
“The guy’s cutting up chickens and carrying heads around in coolers, bitch. I don’t know,” I answer her sarcastically.  
“What’s your gut tell you?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Well, I never want to be cremated,” Ziva answers him as we step out of the elevator and McGee bumps into Gibbs chest.  
“Whoa! Whoa! Sorry, boss. Uh… one, got the warrant,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Good job, McGee. Tony, Alice, you’re with me,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Uh, Mrs. Wayne is here and Director Shepard is with her.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Special Agent Gibbs, I didn’t know the new Director was punishing you. She always seemed very fair to me,” Shepard calls to Gibbs as we walk into the squad room.  
“Well, you’re a woman. She doesn’t have anything to prove to you,” Jocelyn says but that’s not the reason, it’s because the director want’s my man.  
“How about you? What do you think? Do you think the new Director is reasonable?” Shepard asks Ziva because she knowns I wouldn’t lie.  
“Very,” Ziva answers her.  
“Yeah well, you fucked her to get on the team. She’s a bitch who only likes people who is fucking her or has fucked her for her own promotion. And only likes the people when they solve case her way weather it matches the evidence or not,” I answer straight up, while smiling at Jocelyn before asking, “So, how are you doing?”  
“Why are you here, Mrs Wayne?” Gibbs asks him while ignoring my dig at the director because he knows what I say is mostly the truth.  
“Have you made a positive identification?” Jocelyn asks Gibbs while smiling at my opinion of the director who is glaring at me.  
“Lab’s working on it,” I answer softly.  
“I’m sorry to be troubling you.”  
“No trouble at all,” Gibbs answers her.  
“The Manassas has been put on alert to sail early.”  
“How early?” I ask her because this guy is going to be on this ship if we have to burn the director to give her a body.  
“Tuesday. I have to have Parker’s askes there by Monday night. I don’t want to have to wait another year to honour my husband’s last wish.”  
“I’ll do my best,” Gibbs says to her softly.  
“You’ll have your husband’s ashes by Monday, won’t she, Agent Gibbs?” Shepard demands of Gibbs.  
“If you say so,” Gibbs answers her before Shepard walks away.  
“She isn’t the new,” Jocelyn asks without finishing the question we all now.  
“Uh-huh.”  
“Yep. Isn’t she a saint?” I ask her with a grin.  
“Oh. You don’t like each-other?” She asks me.  
“If I had to choice between dealing with her, and the devil, who I call him Ari. I pick Ari,” I answer him making Jocelyn laugh at me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hi. Nice to see you again. NCIS. We have a search warrant,” Tony says to the receptionist at the lawyers.  
“GO right in. Ms. Oliver has been expecting you,” the receptionist says to us while opening the door for us to walk into the office.  
“That was fast,” Sean, the lawyer, states.  
“It gives us the right to search the premises for every and all documents pertaining to Epsilon Corporation,” Gibbs says while I hand her the warrant.  
“I think you’ll find everything you need in those boxes. Your director is not the only one with friends in the U.S. attorney’s office. You have the papers so I can’t stop you, but I do think this is overkill for a stolen car.”  
“Actually, we’re more interested in who was driving it before it was stolen,” I state.  
“Why?”  
“Oh, I’ll make you a deal. You tell me who runs Epsilon Corporation, I tell you why,” Gibbs offers her a deal making me give him a look in surprise because he never makes deals with lawyers.  
“Unfortunately I can’t make deals without consulting my clients.”  
“You make the call, Sean,” Tony orders her.  
“At least give me a clue as to what it is we’re dealing with here, Tony. Was it drugs?”  
“More alone the lines of human sacrifice.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“She’s had twenty four hours to cleanse these files. What are we hoping to find?” Ziva asks us as we go throw the files from the lawyer’s office.  
“Names of employees and addresses,” McGee answers her.  
“We might get through this by the end of the month if you actually help us, Tony.”  
“I’m supervising,” Tony informs her.  
“Hey, Gibbs,” I say while waving at Gibbs who is standing behind Tony.  
“Nice one.”  
“Yeah, it is,” Gibbs agrees with me making Tony jump because he thought I was lying.  
“Hey, boss, I was just about to call you.”  
“What a coincidence. I’m just about to put my boot up your…”  
“I got a lead. Found an electric bill in one of the boxes. An industrial space in Anacostia. Three miles from the strip club where the Mercedes was stole,” Tony reports.  
“Ziva, McGee, go check it out. Tony? Go on. Supervise,” Gibbs orders them making them rush off to do it. Gibbs sits at his desk before informing me, “You got me in trouble.”  
“I didn’t do anything,” I say innocently before asking, “What did I do?”  
“The director wants your job.”  
“She can’t have it. Every time she gets involved in the case, she’s wrong and arrests and crucifies the innocent people.”  
“Just, don’t push her to far,” Gibbs begs of me through his smirk.  
“I only tell the truth. If she doesn’t like it, change it.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You know what this place reminds me of?” Tony asks us as I walk into the warehouse were Tony, McGee and Ziva has found more body parts.  
“One of your stupid voodoo movies?” Ziva snaps him.  
“No. my uncle Vincenzo’s shop on long island. He’s a butcher.”  
“Yet another reason why I’m considering becoming a vegetarian,” McGee comments.  
“We may need a couple extra gurneys on this one, Palmer,” Tony informs Jimmy who is walking into the room.  
“How many are we looking at, Duck?” Gibbs asks Ducky who is looking at the body parts.  
“Based upon size, skin tone, and gender difference, there are at least partial remains of six cadavers in here,” Ducky answers him.  
“This isn’t voodoo,” I say.  
“I agree, based upon the surgical skill in which they were dissected. You’ve found yourself another chop shop, Jethro. Only instead of automobiles being harvested…”  
“Body parts?” Gibbs and I finish for him. Gibbs continues to talk, “Do any of these part belong to Captain Wayne, Duck?”  
“Oh, Jethro, please,” Ducky says to the innocently grinning Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“So how grisly was it?” Abby asks us in the lab while talking about where we found the body parts.  
“Not bad,” Ziva admits.  
“Shelves lined with body parts is not bad?” Tony asks her in disbelief.  
“At least they were surgically removed.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Were all the bodies supposed to be cremated?” Abby asks us.  
“We don’t know. Yet,” I answer her.  
“McGee’s getting the mortuary records for the last few months,” Ziva informs her.  
“I do not know hey anyone would want to be cremated,” Abby states in disbelief.  
“Do you really want to be stuck in the ground?”  
“She already has a coffin,” Tony informs Ziva.  
“She has already broken it in too. With McGee,” I add making Abby grin at me.  
“Oh, no,” Ziva says.  
“Behave or I’ll tell them how you are dating,” Abby threats me half-heartedly making me laugh at her because that’s not why I haven’t told them. I just want them to see how good they are as investigators and for noticing things. Abby then informs Ziva, “I just want to know that the rest of my body parts, after I donate whatever I can to science, are going to rot for eternity in a familiar place.”  
“How about you, Tony?”  
“Ah, slow rot or the fast burn? Hm… neither please, thank you very much,” Tony answers her making me laugh.  
“What’s your alternative?” Abby asks him in confusion.  
“Ted Williams. Cryogenics.”  
“Appropriate under the circumstance, agent DiNozzo. The only thing Ted Williams had frozen was his head. Here’s the information you were looking for. The principal and sole shareholder of Epsilon Corporation,” Shepard informs Ziva while handing her the information.  
“Sean Oliver! Now I really do hate lawyers. Thank you, Director,” Ziva exclaims.  
“Glad I could be of help.”  
“Yeah, thank you Madam Director,” I intimidate Ziva sarcastically before adding, “So you can work out Sean is the owner of Epsilon Corporation in an offshore account but you can’t find out that Chip corrupted evidence and then got the job here to frame Tony. Amazing what you can do, when you want too.”  
“Is something wrong?” Shepard demands of Tony while glaring at me because I am being rude but still not fireable because it’s true.  
“Oh, I was just wondering if Gibbs’ knows whose Ziva’s secret contact is,” Tony ask her wile placing his body between me and the director so I don’t hit her and get myself fired.  
“We had a saying in Europe. Whatever Gibbs doesn’t know…”  
“Can’t hurt him.”  
“No. can’t hurt us.”  
“So it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t get hurt, Madam Director? Is that what you’re saying,” I demand of her,  
“Watch your mouth, Todd. I’m the director.”  
“I do watch it. And when Gibbs finds out you and your girlfriend is lying to him about someone on his team, well, I’ll have popcorn.”  
“You not going to tell him,” Shepard orders me but I just give her a look that say, I may or I may not.’  
“Well, see,” I state before she storms out of the lab.  
“So, Alice when you die, what are you doing with your body,” Abby asks me after a moment.  
“Doesn’t matter. You’ll all be dead, so you won’t have to see.”  
“Alice.”  
“I don’t care, I’ll be dead, so I don’t need it anymore. So it’ll be up to whoever is still alive, so, probably a random M.E.” I inform Abby before leaving the lab to go down to autopsy with Ziva, the elevator ride is silent.  
“Yeah, yeah. Do it,” Gibbs orders Ducky as we walk into autopsy.  
“My contact came through, Gibbs. The client Sean Oliver was protecting was,” Ziva begins reporting.  
“Sean Oliver,” Gibbs cuts her off.  
“Tony and McGee are picking her up.”  
“Not bad officer David.”  
“Well, I do what I can.”  
“When you see the director, thank her for me,” Gibbs says to her making me laugh as Gibbs and I leave autopsy.  
“How long you know Shepard was Ziva’s contact?” I ask Gibbs as we step into the elevator.  
“Since she hesitated to call her.”  
“Heads up. I yelled out the director and pissed her off.”  
“You so owe me a coffee for having to deal with that storm,” Gibbs informs me without surprise.  
“She had it coming,” I say unapologetic.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“There’s a reason you couldn’t find her anywhere last night, Jethro. She was meeting with the District Attorney’s office… cutting a deal,” Shepard informs Gibbs in observation where we are looking in on Sean and her lawyer, Gibbs is standing between us and he has threatened to not touch me for a whole week, if I start something with the director.  
“What kind of deal?” I ask her tightly, trying not to do something I will regret later.  
“More than she deserves. Do you think it would be inappropriate if, as Director, I went in there and smacked that smile off her face?”  
“Yeah, it would. But that’s what you have me for,” Gibbs informs her before leading me out of observation and into the integration room.  
“His name was Captain Parker Wayne. He was married,” Gibbs informs Sean and her lawyer while placing Wayne’s’ photo out of his file in front of them.  
“Had a nine year old daughter who just worshiped the ground he walked on,” I add.  
“My client admitted her involved in the sale of illegal body parts already, agent Gibbs,” Simon Katz, her lawyer, snaps at Gibbs.  
“His last request was to have his ashes scattered at sea. What would you like me to tell this little girl, Ms Oliver? That that can’t happen because you wanted to join the more expensive country club?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“This was never about money,” Sean snaps at Gibbs.  
“Sean, he’s baiting you,” Simon Katz informs her.  
“Let him, Simon. The deceased were to be cremated. By supplying their bodies for medical research, advances were made to benefit the living.”  
“Any profits you made were just incidental, right?” I ask her innocently.  
“Part of my client’s plea agreement is to make financial restitution,” Simon Katz snaps at us.  
“You client was carving up dead people and selling parts like meet. Where’s Martin Broussard?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“Not part of our arrangement.”  
“I’ve got the parts of six different bodies downstairs. She is not going anywhere until we I.D. them. Every last one,” I inform them as Gibbs gets up and walks out to talk to the idiot knocking on the door. After a moment he returns.  
“We located Martin Broussard,” Gibbs informs us.  
“Then you have no further need to question my client,” Simon Katz exclaims while getting up.  
“We have him downstairs in autopsy.”  
“To identify the bodies?” Sean asks us.  
“Nope.”  
“Sean. They can do whatever,” Simon Katz begins.  
“He’s one of them.”  
“Martin is dead? I didn’t know anything about it! Simon?” Sean exclaims.  
“We found his body parts in your building. The only thing we can’t locate, it seems, is his head.”  
“I think your deal with the D.A. just went south,” I comment.  
“I didn’t kill him!” Sean yells.  
“If you didn’t… you know who did.”  
“As your lawyer, I advise you not to answer any more questions, Sean,” Simon Katz advises Sean.  
“A man was murdered here, Simon! Vernon supplied the bodies. Marin was… was just a delivery man. They must have thought he was too weak to stand up to an investigation,” Sean exclaims.  
“They?” Gibbs and I ask her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I appreciate you volunteering to help, Doctor Ross,” Ducky says to Ross who is helping identify the body parts as we hide around autopsy.  
“Anything to get out of Bethesda for a couple of days, Doctor Mallard,” Ross informs Ducky.  
“Where do you want this one, Doctor?” Jimmy asks Ducky while holding a body part.  
“Oh, uh,” Ducky says before pointing somewhere.  
“IS that what this is all about, the body parts?” Ross asks Ducky.  
“It would appear that way.”  
“It’s understandable. That arm alone would be worth a fortune,” Ross says while pointing to the arm Jimmy is still holding.  
“Really?” Jimmy asks him in surprise.  
“Pharmaceutical and medical instrument firms would pay vast sums for cadavers,” Ducky informs Jimmy.  
“Where do they get them?”  
“The willed body program. Universities. But the need far outstrips the supply.”  
“A human body can be worth as much as two hundred thousand dollars,” Ross informs them making me pull a face, that’s sad, all he cares about is money.  
“Well, how much do you suppose just a little arm would be?” Jimmy asks.  
“A lot. It’s not unlike car theft. A vehicle stripped and sold for parts is worth far more than when it’s whole and harder to trace. Table two,” Ducky informs him.  
“Wow. This could pay off my college loans.”  
“Don’t give me cause to check your car trunk tonight, Mister Palmer. Oh, um… we haven’t yet determined the cause of death of this poor man. Would you care to open?” Ducky ask Ross while handing him a scalpel.  
“Oh, my pleasure, Doctor,” Ross says while opening the body.  
“I suppose you’ll tell me you didn’t do it for money.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Dissecting these bodies,” Ducky informs him as the door slide open; Gibbs, Ziva, Sean and I enter from the front door while Tony and McGee walk in through the ambulance bay, blocking all the possible exits.  
“What… what would ever make you think that?”  
“By the way you used this,” Ducky answer while taking the scalpel off him.  
“They know, Ross,” Sean informs him.  
“What? I… I admit the money was good, but… my intent was to help people,” Ross informs us.  
“Is that so?” Gibbs asks in disbelief.  
“Yes. I don’t care whether you believe me or not. As long as you do, Doctor.”  
“Before you buy this, he murdered Broussard,” I inform Ducky.  
“No! No, I didn’t!”  
“The hell you didn’t!” Sean snaps at him in fear, for her own life.  
“She presented his body to me as a fait accompli!”  
“I did not!”  
“I don’t give a damn which one of you did it!” Gibbs snaps at them tightly.  
“We, I do,” Ducky informs Gibbs.  
“Tony, get them out of here.”  
“Scum ambulance chaser! If you think for one minute I’m going to take the rap,” Ross yells out Sean.  
“Stop lying! For once in your life tell the truth,” Sean yells over Ross as Tony and McGee takes them out of autopsy.  
“It was all your idea.”  
“Mister Palmer, would you leave us alone a minute, please?” Ducky asks Jimmy making him leave. Ducky then informs Gibbs, “Jethro, you do realize that Captain Wayne’s remains are considered evidence in this case.”  
“Ah,” Gibbs says.  
“Well you can’t possibly be considering cremating them in time to give them to his window. Right. I’ll go with you to the crematorium.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Chrissy was really starting to worry. But I told her that Marine always keep their word. Sweetie, go get changed. We have to leave for the ship soon,” Jocelyn says when we hand back her husbands, real ashes.  
“Okay, Mummy,” Chrissy says.  
“And put the dress on that daddy brought from France. He loved you in it,” Jocelyn orders her daughter who walks off to get dressed. Jocelyn asks, “Are those my husband’s ashes?”  
“Yes, Ma’am. I give you my word. It would be my pleasure to escort you and your daughter to the ship,” Gibbs says to her.  
“Um… the navy’s sending a car, but thanks,” Jocelyn says to Gibbs before kissing his check before continuing, “Thank you, agent Gibbs. And Parker would never forgive me if I didn’t say… semper fi.”  
“Fair winds and following seas, ma’am,” Gibbs says to her before she takes her daughter’s hand and walks away down to the car that just pulled up.  
“She’s braver then me,” I moment while watching the little girl bravely walking towards the car.  
“I don’t know. I heard what you said to the director, that’s pretty brave,” Gibbs informs me with a grin as he places his hand on my back and leads me to the car.  
“She annoys me.”  
“Everyone annoys you.”  
“Tony and Kate don’t annoy me,” I defend myself as I slip into the car.  
“What about me?” Gibbs asks me as he gets in the driver seat and starts the car.  
“You have your moments. When you give me coffee,” I inform him as he takes off making him smirk at my line.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro,” I say while walking down the stairs to see him sanding the boat.  
“Alice,” Gibbs responds while thoroughpin me a quick look.  
“What are you doing down here, it’s the middle of the night,” I complain while stumbling over to him and wrapping my arms around his back, because I’m half asleep.  
“Can’t sleep,” Gibbs says while working the sander over the wood of the rib.  
“But the beds cold without you,” I complain while snuggling into his back.  
“Sorry baby. Why don’t you go back to bed, I’ll be up soon,” Gibbs says making me node into his back but I don’t attempt to move, just converting us both, and if he needs to talk, he knows I’m here. After a while he says, “Wayne and his family didn’t deserve what happened to his body. And they didn’t care who they hurt.”  
“Jethro, what are you thinking? Tell me and I’ll do what I can to help you feel better.”  
“How many other families haven’t got their love ones?”  
“We gave all the ones we can back. And a semi wise, old person once told me, don’t worry about thinks you can’t change.”  
“I said that didn’t I?”  
“What gives you that idea?”  
“Because you always call me old,” Gibbs answers me before finally putting the sander down and leading me up the stairs.  
“Well, you are old,” I laugh at him while happily walking back towards the bedroom.  
“What’s that make you?”  
“A fool, because I got an old dog with no good tricks,” I joke before climbing into the bed as he does to change because he is covered in sawdust. I ask Ugly Tony, “What do you think? How many centuries old do you think Jethro is?”  
“You talking to your dog again?” Gibbs asks me while climbing into the bed with me and my dog.  
“I need expert human advice.”  
“She’s a dog,” He reminds me while he pulls me into a hug where he promptly buries his head in my breasts.  
“So is my boyfriend. Doesn’t mean that sometimes she can’t be extremely smart,” I inform him while rubbing his hair while falling back to sleep with the hopes Gibbs while stay through what is left of the night.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Alice, so can I have a hint?” Tony begs of me back in the office the next day as we are working on the paper work. Ziva and McGee are at their desk while Tony is sitting on the corner of my desk as Abby is sitting at his desk.  
“What do you want a hint about?” I ask him innocently.  
“How are you dating? I can’t think of anyone with the name L.J.”  
“What about Gibbs?” Abby asks Tony innocently making me return back to work.  
“Nah. Alice is too young to want the boss,” Tony immediately dismisses my boyfriend as the possibility to be my boyfriend.  
“Why not? They would make cute babies,” Abby exclaims making me snort my coffee out my noise.  
“That’s not how I picked my boyfriend,” I explain to her.  
“How do you pick a boyfriend?” Ziva asks me innocently and in confusion.  
“He’s hot, sexy, and handsome. Workaholic. Coffee drinker; smells good, polite. He treats me right and doesn’t care that I have a rat and marine as a pet,” I comment making Abby laugh at me because I’m calling Gibbs a pet, and not my boyfriend.  
“I can’t believe the fact that he’s a coffee drinker is in that last,” Abby laughs at me.  
“Kate hated coffee, because of the smell. If I’m going to date you, you can’t hate my drink,” I explain to her making her node at me after thinking about it.  
“Abby, do you think Alice has a tattoo?” Tony turns to Abby when he releases that the hints I’m going to give him are useless because everyone at NCIS drinks coffee.  
“No comment,” Abby grins at me before informing me, “I talked to Mark, he can do it.”  
“Cool. When, and where?” I ask her making Tony give us a look.  
“Where ever you want it he’ll do it,” Abby informs me making Tony pull a face releasing that line is dirty.  
“I want it on my body but I need to know where I want to show up and the time for showing up.”  
“Lunch today. I’ll take you.”  
“Cool.”  
“What are you talking about?” Tony asks us innocently in confusion as Gibbs walks into the squad room making us all get back to work.


	18. Family Secrets

“What are you doing?” Ziva asks Tony who I am watching work his way towards a sexual harassment charge, because he is using McGee’s computer pretending to be McGee.  
“I’m in the middle of very serious negotiation,” Tony answers her without looking up from the computer.  
“You misspelled that,” I inform Tony while pointing to the wrong word.  
“On McGee’s computer?” Ziva asks Tony while giving me a look that says, ‘why are you allowing this and helping?’  
“I know where you’ve going with this and the answer’s yes,” Tony answers.  
“Then what’s the question?”  
“Does he have any shame? He was born without it,” I inform her without care because Kate and I have already accepted his ways, as long as he doesn’t involve us.  
“Who are you IM’ing? Agent Larsen? And she thinks you’re McGee?” Ziva asks while reading the IM’ing over Tony’s shoulder. She continues with a chuckle, “And this is because she warned you that if you spoke to her again, she would have you brought up on sexual harassment charged?”  
“That was a misunderstanding,” Tony defends himself.  
“Yeah, Tony wasn’t trying to be pervy, he was just looking for Kate in the ladies room,” I defend Tony, badly.  
“Oh, so now you’re correcting the record,” Ziva asks Tony.  
“I’m just trying to let her know that I… McGee feels that she may have misjudged me. And, that as a close personal friend, I can,” Tony defends himself.  
“Tell everyone that the males you work with are gay and the females have fucked you, after getting fake breasts,” I finish for Tony making him fake laugh at me.  
“Vouch for Tony’s strength of character,” Ziva reads before laughing at me.  
“I don’t have much time. She’s being reassigned in two days,” Tony hisses at us.  
“Yeah, well you’ll be reassigned if Gibbs catches you.”  
“Doing what?” Gibbs demands as he sweeps into the squad room.  
“We were looking at McGee’s bookmarks, trying to get an idea for a…”  
“Birthday present?” Tony lies badly.  
“Morning,” McGee walks in as Tony finishes lying making me laugh as I move out from behind the desk, placing space between me and the bad liars.  
“Happy birthday, probie. Have a bagel,” Tony says to McGee while handing him a bagel.  
“It’s not my birthday.”  
“Grab your gear. Medical transport just exploded,” Gibbs orders us while leaving the squad room, I quickly grab my stuff and follow him with the team slowing following us. Gibbs asks me when we’re alone, “What’s really going on?”   
“You don’t want to know. Trust me, I don’t want to know,” I explain to him innocently making him give me the glare but I just smile at him. I admit, “DiNozzo’s trying to get fired.”  
“I thought that was your line.”  
“I’m trading up.”  
“Mm-hmm.”  
“I am. Just not on purpose, Tony just beat me to the punch line today. And it’s not the madam director his pissing off.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We left the van unattended four, maybe five minutes, ups,” Patterson, one of the paramedic, informs us at the crime scene because they only just got out of the ambulance before it exploded.  
“As soon as Patto hit the brakes,” Bielsman, the other paramedic, agrees.  
“The whole thing exploded into flames.”  
“I think someone’s trying to kill us.”  
“Would you please stop that, JB? It was… it was an accident.”  
“Who’s trying to kill you?” I ask them.  
“Who knows? There’s a lot of weirdos out there,” Bielsman asks us.  
“Tell me about it. Talk to me, Duck” Gibbs orders him.  
“Lance corporal William Danforth, Junior. Survived IEDs in Iraq, RPGs in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the local Odocoileus Virginians was too much to bear,” Ducky informs us making me feel bad for our burnt man.  
“That’s a white-tailed deer,” Jimmy informs Gibbs like he’s stupid.  
“Yeah. I know. Are you saying Bambi killed this marine, Ducky?” Gibbs asks Ducky after cutting Jimmy off.  
“No. but swerving at sixty miles an hour into a tree to avoid Bambi did,” Ducky inform us.  
“His girlfriend is still in a coma at the hospital,” Jimmy adds.  
“Danforth was D.O.A. when they brought him in last night. This morning he was on his way to Bethesda for a routine autopsy when fate intervened.”  
“Fate?” I ask Ducky because even I don’t believe in fate, and he says this to Gibbs.  
“No, the scorching of the body is consistent with a gasoline fire accelerated by on-board oxygen. This could have been an accident, Jethro, Alice. Lucky for those two to get out.”  
“Yeah. Lucky in a way I don’t like,” Gibbs comments making me look at the two ‘lucky’ men.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Good morning. Good morning! Good morning. Good… good morning, to you! You! You! Good,” Tony signs as he walks into the squad room the next morning before seeing something on McGee’s desk making him stop singing and walk over there, “Ooh. What’s that?”  
“Looks like an IPod,” Ziva answers him when Tony picks it up off McGee’s computer and unlocks it.  
“IPod photo.”  
“Anyone who might have possibly had a motive to try to kill them…”  
“Either has an alibi or is out of town. Way ahead of you,” Tony and I cut her off together without looking at the information she has put on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“You could have told me and saved me the trouble.”  
“Just say you need the practice and leave it at that. What kind of music does the McGee listen too? Ooh, Barry Manilow. Julie Andrews? Zamfir? Let’s go to photos,” Tony comments while looking through the photos on the IPod.   
“What are you doing?”  
“Well, McGee had a date with Agent Larsen last night. He didn’t return any of my emails about a set-rep. but maybe he took some photos.”  
“Those are his private phots.”  
“Well, he left them, on his public desk. Oh! Where’s the clicker?” Tony demands of Ziva who hands him the clicker for the plasma screen. He puts up a photo of a beautiful girl that makes me look plain, Tony comments, “Ah, who is this?”  
“Well, it’s definitely not Agent Larsen.”  
“It’s gotta be his sister.”  
“Why?”  
“Are you kidding? This girl’s way out of McGeek’s league.”  
“I don’t think the drivers were the target, Tony. Um… I actually think it was the body,” Ziva informs Tony, warning him that Gibbs is coming but she’s not very subtle about it.  
“Why blow up a dead guy?” Tony asks when he sees Gibbs coming and closing the photo of McGee’s girl.  
“Put it back up there,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“Put what back?” Tony asks innocently before Gibbs hits the back of his head making him put the photo back up.  
“McGee’s got good taste. Going for coffee,” Gibbs says while hitting Ziva on the back of the head.  
“Ow! What was that for?” Ziva asks Gibbs.  
“Alerting DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs her before smacking my ass, making me rub my bottom because it stings, even though my jeans.  
“Ow! What I didn’t do anything?” I complain.  
“You didn’t do anything to stop it,” Gibbs informs me before walking away making me pout because I’m innocent, this time.  
“Why do you always get me in trouble?” I complain of Tony making him laugh.  
“I don’t always get you in trouble,” Tony defends himself.  
“Yes you do. Stop snooping, I need to be able to sit at my desk for this case,” I beg of Tony.  
“What about me?”  
“There’s nothing up there, to get hurt.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The fuel line to the gas tank cap was ruptured here. Torn by a loose belt on the differential housing,” Abby informs us in the garage after looking over the van.  
“Lessened how?” I ask her in confusion because that doesn’t sound like something by accident.  
“Unknown. The van also had a short in the electrical system. Coincidentally in the taillight right by our ruptured fuel line.”  
“You know how I feel about coincidences, Abs,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“Equatorial pygmies know how you feel about coincidences, Gibbs. So one would wonder… accident or not an accident? That is the question. Our first player… an innocent differential housing bolt that is rubbing and straining on the molecular bonds of our vulcanized fuel line. Until, after eons. Our hapless hose finally ruptures. The gas moves quickly into the floorboard of the van when it’s in motion. The driver smells it… what could it be? He hits the brakes, and the short in the taillight ignites the pooling gas vapours! The flames quickly super-heat the on-board oh-two and when the canisters can no longer contain the growing pressure… KABOOM!”  
“Not an accident,” Gibbs and I say together making her grin.  
“Not unless that angel of death is going through a rube Goldberg stage.”  
“Boss, we found remnants of what may have been the trigger on an oh-two canister,” McGee explains to us because he’s been helping McGee today.  
“May have been, McGee?” I ask him.  
“There were traces of mercury fulminate, sodium azide and tetryl on the material,” Abby informs us.  
“Blasting cap,” Gibbs states.  
“The oh-two would never have blown on its own. The fire wasn’t hot enough,” McGee explains.  
“The perp rigged the transport to make it look like an accident,” Abby adds.  
“And he might’ve gotten away with it if he’d detonated it sooner. The fire dispersed pieced of the trigger.  
“He waited for the drivers to get out,” I release.  
“So he’s not a murderer. At lease, he wasn’t trying to kill the ambulance drivers.”  
“Trace it,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Gibbs, this is a garden-variety laminated paper substrate! It’s used as a cheap shieling in thousands of electronic devices,” Abby exclaims.  
“Yeah, so?” Gibbs asks her with a half-smile.  
“So maybe I should get back to work?”  
“Did we get a positive match on our marine’s DNA?” I ask Abby.  
“You know, I’ve been a little busy here, Alice, with all the rubbing and the looking and the analysing and the… I should mention that Ducky is taking care of it,” Abby informs us making Gibbs walk off to the elevator and I follow him.  
“How is Tony and McGee going working out who you’re dating?” Gibbs asks me with a smirk because he knows I am having fun watching Tony struggle with not knowing about my personal life.  
“You have been ruled out, along with Jimmy, McGee, Tony, Abby, and Ziva,” I inform him because it’s funny that Tony had to rule the women out after a couple of weeks because my discerption doesn’t match one of them.  
“How did he work that out?” Gibbs asks me tightly, letting me know he isn’t happy about be ruled out.  
“Tony ruled himself out because he didn’t leave the hickies on my neck. McGee, Ziva, Abby, and Jimmy don’t match my description of my boyfriend.”  
“How did they rule me out?”  
“I think it’s because Abby said it might be you,” I admit before placing a kiss on his lips before I add, “Though I am glade, because when I hang off you, he isn’t think I am dating you. So I can do anything out him thinking he is walking in on anything,” I admit as well before placing another kiss on him as the door opens. I step out making Gibbs follow me with a smirk.  
“You wanted to see me, Duck?” Gibbs asks Ducky as we finally walk into autopsy.  
“Well, actually, yes, Jethro,” Ducky answers Gibbs while looking at him in surprise.  
“Then why do you look surprised to see me?”  
“Because I haven’t told you that that I wanted to see you. Yes. Well, our… our latest houseguest has thrown us quite a little mystery.”  
“Define mystery?” I request of him nicely.  
“Yeah, well, the young lad’s death certificate lists blunt force thoracic trauma as the cause of death… typical in motor vehicle accidents. But I’ve only partially been able to verify that. Since, as you can see, the post mortem damage is extensive.”  
“Ducky?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Yes?”  
“Mystery?”  
“Of course. Well, you know me, Jethro. I attempted to make an identification myself. The blast destroyed his jaw and shattered his teeth. It would take an inordinate amount of time to get an identification from dental records. Also, the fire so defrauded his DNA that, you know, I spent the better part of yesterday scouring his body.”  
“Mystery?” Gibbs and I ask him, well I ask, and Gibbs orders.  
“Ah… almost there. By a stroke of luck, I found a piece of tissue viable enough to send to have run against Danforth’s DNA, at the Armed Forces Repository.”  
“This isn’t William Danforth, Junior,” I ask Ducky while pointing to the burnt corpse.  
“Uh-uh.”  
“Then who us this?” Gibbs demands of Ducky.  
“That, my dear Jethro, is the mystery.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Such as enraged acts of violence, sadistic curiosity,” Tony offers Ziva reasons why someone would smash the victim’s teeth out.  
“Trying to hide the real identity of the victim,” Gibbs and I add to Tony’s list as we walk into the squad room.  
“That was the next one on my list.”  
“Is his identity in question?” Ziva asks us.  
“Yeah, now it is,” I inform her tightly, I don’t like this, all I can think about is the time Ducky got kidnapped by someone who faked his death and then killed everyone who testified and got him sent to prison, rightly so.  
“Tony, get me a copy of that,” Gibbs begins ordering Tony.  
“The names of the cops who processed Danforth’s crime scene report. Already on its way, Boss,” Tony cuts Gibbs off.  
“Ziva, take me through…”  
“Have a chat with the doctor who pronounced the body dead. Find out who made the I.D.” Ziva finishes for him.  
“Hey, you want me to go and supervise that, boss? Actually, no, I’ll stay here just in case you need me. Ooh! Zamfir. I’m not saying you need me. That’s a bad ord. need’s the wrong word. Oh! Uh, the director needs to see you in her office ASAP,” Tony informs Gibbs making him move up to the stairs. I follow him because I don’t want her to order him off the case because she thinks we don’t have to work it, epically if she wants to arrest one of my friends.  
“I was just going to tell the director you’re here,” Cynthia says to Gibbs as we arrive in the outer office.  
“Cynthia. Did you know that when a Roman emperor made a triumphal march into Rome, he had a slave on his chariot who,” Gibbs begins inform her while leading into her desk as he is looking straight into her eyes as she stays sitting down.  
“Who whispered, ‘you’re only human’ into his ear?”   
“Going in unannounced is whispering into her ear.”  
“So you’re the director’s slave?”  
“She likes to think so,” I inform her as Gibbs opens the door and lets me in.  
“Cynthia is there to direct traffic, Agent Gibbs,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs.  
“I’m just responding to your ASAP,” Gibbs defends himself.  
“This is Lance Corporal Danforth’s father, William.”  
“My sympathies, Mister Danforth,” I say to him softly.  
“Thank you, Agent,” Danforth says to me because Shepard hasn’t introduced me to him so he doesn’t know my name.  
“The SECNAV would like us to keep mister Danforth in the loop throughout the entire investigation,” Shepard informs Gibbs.  
“More than usual?” Gibbs questions her.  
“Yes.”  
“Gordo and I served together in Beirut, agent Gibbs. And quite frankly, I’m using that friendship. Wouldn’t you?” Danforth asks Gibbs.  
“He would.”  
“Sixth or eighth?” Gibbs asks Danforth.  
“Two six. Fox Company,” Danforth informs Gibbs.  
“One-one. Scout sniper platoon.”  
“Beirut?”  
“Desert storm.”  
So what can you tell me about my son, agent Gibbs?”  
“Jethro,” Gibbs corrects him as he finally shuts the door into the director’s office.  
“Bill.”  
“Only what I have read in the hospital and police reports.”  
“Mister Danforth has seen those. He’s asking how his son’s body was incinerated,” Shepard says tightly because Gibbs isn’t being helpful.  
“It wasn’t. AFIS couldn’t match the body in autopsy with Lance Corporal Danforth DNA,” I state because she has a copy of Ducky’s finding but she’s being a pain.  
“You’re saying that it isn’t Mister Danforth’s son?”  
“Not according to AFIS,” I state tightly.  
“Could there be a mistake?” Danforth asks us.  
“One in nine million,” Gibbs informs him politely.  
“Have Abby rerun the DNA,” Shepard orders us.  
“Already on it, madam director,” I inform her knowing she can’t get up me for calling her that in front of Danforth.  
“Well, if it’s not Lance Corporal Danforth, who the hell is it?”  
“I’ll let you know when I find out,” Gibbs informs her.  
“What should I tell his mother?” Danforth asks us.  
“I would tell her anything yet.”  
“Right. My numbers. Director Shepard, I’ll tell Gordo how cooperative you’ve been.”  
“The lease we can do,” Shepard says to him.  
“Hey, Mister Danforth. Did you identify your son’s body?” I ask him softly because that couldn’t have been easy, I couldn’t look at Kate’s body, even when I wanted too.  
“No. the police notified us that he had died. Said his body was being shipped to Bethesda. Do you think Billy… could still be alive?” Danforth asks us.  
“I think the hospital transported the wrong body,” Gibbs answers him, before Danforth leaves the room.  
“Bull,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs when the door is shut.  
“You looking in a mirror again?” I ask her innocently making Gibbs laugh at the glare Shepard throughs at me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Definitely moving. Definitely moving. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Who’s your daddy now?” Tony asks as he place basketball before being knocked over making em laugh at his pained expression.  
“Are you having fun, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks him while standing over his fallen agent.  
“All done interviewing Danforth’s C.O.”   
“Are you done interviewing his platoon?” Gibbs asks Tony over my laughter.  
“Nothing builds like a good game of ball. Thanks, guys!” Tony finally gets up and limps over to the bench were he sits down and a marine begins to wrap his right foot. Tony reports to Gibbs, “The guys said Danforth was a top marine. But the word is, he only joined ‘cause his father was a marine. Ah! Ah! Oooh… a little looser, please. My toes have gotten used to the whole blood this. Circulation.”  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps at him, getting him back onto topic and off his feet.  
“The word is that he was inseparable with another marine… a corporal…”  
“Kenneth Merrill,” Gibbs and I finish with the name Tony can’t find in his messy notes.  
“Yeah.”  
“Followed Danforth into the corps on the buddy program,” I inform Tony.  
“Of course he did. That guy is as loyal as a saint Bernard,” the corpsman that is working on Tony’s foot informs us.  
“Would you just focus, please? And I’m starting to lose feeling in my pinkie toe. Does that look right?” Tony snaps at the corpsman before continuing to report to Gibbs, “Apparently he was as loyal as a saint Bernard.”  
“According to the C.O, the corps worked out pretty well for him,” Gibbs informs Tony in return.  
“Oh, yeah. He got into boxing, got his first girlfriend, and get this… it turns out he had a knack for disarming IEDs. His platoon called him the…”  
“The Forrest Gump of explosives,” the Corpsman cuts Tony off.  
“I’m not trying to do your job, am I?”  
“Put an ice pack on that. Fifteen on, fifteen off.”  
“Yeah, I know the drill. Thanks, corpsman,” Tony says making the corpsman walks away and Tony continues talking to Gibbs, “Oh, that’s real swollen. I don’t think I’m going to able to walk on this thing, boss,” Tony comments but when Gibbs begins walking away, he following on his ‘unable to walk on leg.’ He continues, “Ah! Look at that. Look, it’s a miracle.”  
“Yeah, loyal as a Saint Bernard,” Gibbs comment.  
“I always wanted to get one of those until I found out they didn’t come with that barrel of whiskey around their neck. You’re wondering if Merrill helped his buddy fake his own death to get out of the corps?”  
“No. I’m wondering who they got to play the part of the dead body.”  
“If anyone cares, I’m wondering who much alcohol Gibbs had to drink to think it was a good idea to hire you. I think it would have been three bars, “I comment making Tony fake laugh at me while Gibbs just smirks because I haven’t changed my belief on Tony getting a job in two years.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You really think Lance Corporal Danforth faked his own death?” Ziva comments in the squad room.  
“You got a better theory?” Tony demands of her.  
“Actually, we do, Tony,” Tony defends his friend.  
“I’d like to hear it, Agent McGee. And yours as well, agent DiNozzo,” Shepard orders us while walking over to Gibbs desk and sitting down. She continues when no one talks, “Both preferably sometime today.”  
“We think Corporal Merrill may have killed Danforth, Director,” Ziva explains to Shepard making me peg a dog food can at her and it hits my mark for a change.  
“Why?”  
“Merrill conveniently forgot to tell us about the fight they had the night Danforth was killed.”  
“A fight over what?”   
“Gibbs is not going to like this,” Tony warns them as I glare at Shepard and Ziva.  
“I don’t like it. We are not doing what we’re order to,” I remind the traitors tightly.  
“Is there a problem, Agent McGee?” Shepard demands of McGee while ignoring Tony and me because we’re not betraying Gibbs.  
“Uh, no. No, Ma’am. Merrill claims that he was trying to stop him from drinking and driving. According to the bartender, they broke two tables and a chair over it,” McGee betrays Gibbs.  
“Sounds like more than two good friends fighting to me.”  
“I agree. Merrill also passed Danforth’s accident on the way home. He could easily have finished him off,” Ziva informs her.  
“Merrill goes to hide the body. When he comes back to clean up, corps are already on the scene,” McGee adds.  
“What about the other body?” Shepard demands of them as I throw more dog food at Ziva and McGee.  
“There was a third party in the car. We only have Corporal Merrill’s word that the two of them drove off,” Ziva reminds her.  
“No way! Wrong!” Tony caves.  
“Tony, shut it. Don’t go there all we’ll all be in trouble. Instead of elf lord and the bitch,” I snap at Tony in warning, I am not getting in trouble with Gibbs because his team can’t keep there fat mouths shut.  
“Merrill shows up at the hospital, confirms the false I.D,” McGee continues not hearing Tony and me talking to each other.  
“Then later goes back, torches the ambulance before the real I.D. can be made,” Shepard continues for McGee making me roll my eyes at her.  
“Okay, I’m sorry. I’ve got… I’ve got to interrupt because… here’s the thing. I have a theory that actually has motive, which might be helpful. I don’t mean to belittle my colleagues’ efforts. I seem to feel Lance Corporal Danforth didn’t hit a deer. He hit Ducky’s John Doe. Stick with me here. He’s drink, right? Wasted. Looking five to ten for manslaughter. So he switches the John Doe with his body, then skip town. Right? And then he has his buddy Corporal Merrill come along and torches the evidence. That’s how it happened. Pretty simple. It’s really just detective work connecting the dots… hey, boss. The director wanted… she wanted,” Tony reports his theory before seeing Gibbs coming and attempting to get out of the trouble he just got into.  
“With me,” Gibbs orders us while taking off up the stairs.  
“Okay,” Tony mumbles as we all follow him into the director’s office where Gibbs sits down behind the director’s desk making me snort at his actions.  
“Dramatic, but duty noted, Agent Gibbs,” Shepard says to Gibbs tightly making me laugh.  
“So it’s okay for you to do his job and sit at his desk. But you have a problem when the tables turned?” I ask her in disbelief because that a bitchy thing to live your life like that. We leave the office without Shepard who satays behind to do her own job.  
“That wasn’t the way it looked, boss,” Tony defends them when we arrive at the stair case back on the way down to the squad room.  
“I know,” Gibbs says in disappointment for his team.  
“The director kind of suckered me into that deal.”  
“Ziva caved first.”  
“I don’t cave in! I was trying,” Ziva defends herself.  
“McGee next.”  
“Boss, it wasn’t what it looked,” McGee attempts to defends himself.  
“And my loyal Saint Bernard held out ‘till last.”  
“Well, I think,” Tony says happily.  
“Probably all of thirty seconds. So what is my team, can I call you my team?”   
“Yes!” Ziva exclaims.  
“Yes, boss!” McGee agrees with her.  
“What are you going to do now?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“Well, I think we should,” Ziva begins but she doesn’t have an end in mind.  
“We could uh,” McGee cuts her off with his own attempts.  
“Solve the case,” I state slowly because they are acting like idiots trying to prove their innocents without caring about our victim.  
“Tony, you impound Danforth’s car. Have Abby see if it hit anything besides the tree. Then you and McGee go to the original crash site. McGee, I want an agent standing by Rebecca Crawford’s room to get a,” Gibbs orders them tightly.  
“A statement the second she wakes up, boss. You got it,” McGee finishes for Gibbs.  
“And I’m with you, yes?” Ziva asks Gibbs.  
“I don’t know, Ziva. Are you?” Gibbs snaps at her because this is the second time she has betrayed information on a case to Shepard because her girlfriend asked her to do so.  
“Definitely.”  
“Right, it seems that way,” I say sarcastically.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The improvised explosive device, gentlemen. The weapon of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan. The problem is spotting them when they look something like this. Now these are just a few of the I.E.D. configuration I encountered on my last pump in Iraq. Today I’m going to teach you how to locate, disarm, or if need be, blow them all in place. Corporal, you got it. Take over. They’re yours,” Merrill says to the class he is teaching in a random training classroom.  
“You got it, Corporal Merrill. Give me a holler,” a Corporal says when Merrill sees to us in his class room.  
“Can I help you, sir?” Merrill asks Gibbs when he walks up to us.  
“Did you know that lying to a Federal investigator is a crime?” Ziva demands of him while taking her anger out on him because Gibbs doesn’t trust her again, from her own actions.  
“I didn’t lie.”  
“What was the fight in the gold monkey about?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Billy was drink, sir. I tried to take his car keys away and he started swinging. I guess I didn’t try… hard enough.”  
“You told me you placed him inside the car,” Ziva reminds him tightly.  
“I did. Billy must have made B-Becca pill over. I should have… have…”  
“You should have taken him home yourself?” I ask him while cutting of his sadden stuttering.  
“Yeah. Billy’s dead because of… me.”  
“Are you sure he’s dead?” Ziva demands of him.  
“The burned body isn’t Lance Corporal Danforth,” Gibbs informs him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Come on. Say it,” Tony begs of Ziva back in the squad room.  
“Say what?” Ziva demands of him angrily.  
“’You were right, Tony.’ You’ll be the bigger women for it. I’ll just have to content myself being the… well, the righter one.”  
“Woman?”  
“You know what I mean. I found Merrill’s scrip at the scene which means they were in it together. And the DiNozzo Body Swap Theory takes the lead!”   
“What if he dropped it while killing Danforth?”  
“Abby found Danforth’s blood all over the windshield and hood,” Gibbs informs us while he walks into the squad room.  
“So much for your body swap theory, Tony.”  
“I’ve seen more than a few people survive the windshield taste test, Ziva,” Tony informs her tightly so he isn’t wrong.  
“Give it up, Tony. You said Merrill was the Forrest Gump of explosives. Who else had the equipment and expertise to blow up the ambulance?”  
“Ziva’s right,” Gibbs and I say but I look like I just ate a lemon for having to say it. Gibbs continues to order his agent, “Bring him in.”  
“You’re feeling pretty smug, aren’t you?” Tony demands of Ziva.  
“Oh, yes. Very,” Ziva agrees with him as they leave.  
“Come on,” Gibbs says while walking to the back elevator to see the director waiting on the elevator.  
“So what’s bugging that famous gut now? Yes, you’re that easy to read. I learned how to speak Gibbs a long time ago,” Shepard says to Gibbs in the elevator.  
“Are you going to Abby’s lab or autopsy?” Gibbs demands of her without answering her question.  
“Abby’s.”  
“Not to work my case?”  
“I have the right to dig into any NCIS investigation that I want to.”  
“Not mine. Unless you want me behind your desk again,” Gibbs informs her making me snort at the fact he is using that as a threat and she looks afraid of that. He continues, “Of course, you could just observe and keep quite.”  
“Fine,” Shepard agrees with him while walking into the lab.  
“As you know, this is the only piece of the trigger I found,” Abby explains before turning around and seeing the director making her freeze.  
“I’m not really here.”  
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to cross over into an alternate dimension?”  
“Well, you’re still here, Abs,” I inform her with a grin making her smile wilt slightly because her lifetime dream hasn’t come true yet.  
“For now,” Gibbs adds.  
“Don’t listen to him, he’s grumpy today. Something about his team betraying him because the madam director said please,” I explain while waving Gibbs mood off making Abby smile again because I’m informing her on what she’s missed out on.  
“What is this?” Gibbs asks Abby while giving me a look, because I’m not having a social meeting but one about our case, but once again I just wave him off.  
“That’s laminated paper substrate, boss. Found in any number of electronic devices,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a trace of single one. But then, I was surfing around on my favourite origami web-ring, and it hit me. Origami! The ancient art of paper-folding! Maybe the laminate substrate was the trigger,” Abby rambles.  
“Are you telling me Merrill folded himself a bomb?” I ask her in surprise and disbelief.  
“No, that’s impossible. It came pre-folded.”  
“You see, several companies have been exploring the use of paper circuit boards for disposable products,” McGee adds.  
“Metallic ink is printed on laminated paper and then folded into the desired ship. I coated our burnt substrate with a metallic iron particulate.”  
“Which would attach to any residual metallic ink still present.”  
“And then I ran the whole thing through an x-ray to pick up on any latent patterns. Voila. You’re looking at a partial circuit board for a disposable cell phone.”  
“Any chance we could read the,” Shepard begins.  
“Any chance we could read the,” Gibbs copies her reminding her of her deal with him.  
“…Call log.”  
“Call log?”  
“I have a better chance of getting McGee to wear a speedo to church,” Abby answers him.  
“Please don’t. That’s not something I need to have nightmares about,” I beg of her.  
“But I was able to pull a list of all the incoming call to the hospital’s cell zone. Only three came in immediately prior to the explosion. One of them was the triggering call. Corporal Kenneth Merrill,” McGee informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I appreciate you meeting me, Bill,” Gibbs says to Danforth at the hospital where his son ‘died’ and his son’s girlfriend is in a coma.  
“Sir. How’s she doing?” Danforth asks us.  
“She’s stable. Still in a coma,” I inform him politely.  
“Are you waiting to question her?”  
“Listen, the fire wasn’t an accident. How well do you know Corporal Kenneth Merrill?” Gibbs asks him while getting us back on topic and off the poor girl behind us in ICU.  
“Kenny? He’s like a son to me. It wasn’t an accident?”  
“No. The van was rigged to explode,” I state.  
“Because Kenny defused IEDs in Iraq, you think he has something to do with this? Nah, impossible.”  
“His mother told me that Rebecca used to be Kenny’s girlfriend.”  
“Oh, when they were children. They’ve been best friends since elementary school.”  
“The night of your son’s accident, he was also in a fight,” Gibbs informs him.  
“My son liked to drink. Sometime in excess. Kenny was just trying to stop him from driving home drunk. Kenny had nothing to do with this, Jethro.”  
“It looks like the call that triggered the fire came from Kenny’s call phone.”  
“What time was that?”  
“Zero nine hundred about,” I inform him.  
“It wasn’t Kenny. He was with my wife and I from… I don’t know, since… since before dawn up until at least noon.”  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs answers him phone.  
“What that about my son?” Danforth demands of Gibbs as he hangs up his phone.  
“No. corporal Merrill. After I question him, he walked out of the class he was teaching. No one’s seen him since.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
“I don’t recall ordering room service. Is that steak au poivre? And frisee salad. Oh. Oh. You know, the last time we had steak au poivre, six people died. What is this meal going to cost me?” The director asks me as I set up the food and wine on her table in her office.   
“Can’t a guy just sit down and have a bite with his old partner?” I ask her innocently while thinking about what Alice is doing tonight. I know she is having dinner with Mrs Mallard and she knows that I am going to talk this case through with Shepard but Alice knows that I’m too busy thinking about this case to stop out with Jen, not that I would. I don’t know why I ever dated her because her personality annoyance me on a good day, before she makes my team betray me, or tells me how to do my job, or yell at my girl.  
“Old partner? Must be worse than I thought,” Shepard says but I’m not paying attention to which she misinterprets it as something going wrong with my meeting with Danforth, she continues, “How’d it go with Danforth at the hospital today?”  
“It went okay. If you’re Corporal Merrill. Danforth gave an alibi for the day of the explosion.”  
“I assume you didn’t believe him.”  
“Why’s that?”  
“Because I wouldn’t be eating steak au poivre right now if you did. If Danforth’s covering for Merrill, he has to believe Merrill didn’t kill his son. And the only way he can know that for sure is…”  
“If the kid is still alive.”  
“But you don’t believe that, either.”  
“The alibi was B.S. the grief was real.”  
“You sure Danforth wasn’t playing you? Sorry. But that still doesn’t mean his son’s dead. There was an accident. He could be hurt.”  
“He could be recovering in a private hospital somewhere.”  
“Wouldn’t be the first time a parent with means used them to keep a child out of trouble. Are you going to eat that aspara,” She asks me in the middle. I hand it to her because I don’t eat it, “Thank you. There is another possibility. If Danforth is grieving his son… then he’s only covering for Merrill because…”  
“He refuses to believe that Merrill attempted to kill him.”  
“Let’s hope he’s not wrong. Either way, however it went down, Jethro, you find Merrill, you’ll find Danforth, Junior.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice’s pov  
“Merrill. M-E-R-R-R-R-! Like Ricky Ricardo,” Tony says into his phone as we all work the next morning in the squad room. I am doing an in-depth background check on Merrill and Danforth in the hopes of finding something to help us with this mystery.  
“Okay, I got his ATM records… checking for any recent activity,” McGee informs us.  
“Vehicle is a tan Sierra, license plate D-P-H,” Ziva report on her phone.  
“Ricky Ricardo! You know, from ‘I love Lucy,’” Tony says into his phone.  
“No withdrawals in the last two weeks. Credit card records coming up,” McGee continues.  
“Tan. If I meant burnt umber, I would have said burnt umber… what,” Ziva snaps into her phone.  
“Ricky Ricardo. You know, you some ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy!” Tony says into his phone before Gibbs smacks him on the back of the head on the way past, “Hey, boss. Just updating the BOLO on Merrill.”  
“And checking the DMV to see if he’s had any traffic violations recently.”  
“And going through his financial records to try and pick up any leads off any recent purchases,” McGee adds.  
“And?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“And we can’t find them. Uh… but we’re not going to give up until we do,” Tony adds.  
“Or die trying,” McGee finishes when Gibbs keeps glaring at them. I quickly get up and follow him.  
“How was your dinner?” I ask him.  
“Good, you should have joined us,” Gibbs answers me.  
“I don’t need to get the title of the person how physically attacked the director because she was annoyed with her double standards. Or just shoot her,” I inform Gibbs as we enter the elevator and hit the button for autopsy.  
“You really don’t like her.”  
“I would prefer to spend the night in autopsy again with Ari then deal with her for longer than five seconds.”  
“You wanted to see me, Duck?” Gibbs asks as we walk into autopsy.  
“Yes, I did. I was just about to call you. Small wonder DiNozzo is always looking over his shoulder. I managed to put a couple of bits together. Yes, lower canine,” Ducky informs him.  
“How long?” I ask my father.  
“Oh, a week… maybe longer.”  
“And the odds of this reconstruction getting us an I.D?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Exceedingly long. But it’s the only method I have for identifying these remains.”  
“I’ve had long shots come in.”  
“I once wagered a five hundred-to-one on the Irish Sweepstakes. He fell at the first jump, but then recovered. He fell at the second jump. You’ll never guess what happened next.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his phone as he walks into the lab.  
“That’s me, Gibbs! You’ll never guess what I found! Come on, Gibbs. Guess! I ran the prints from the bottle of ibuprofen that Tony found at the Danforth accident site. Can I at least get a drum roll?” Abby begs of Gibbs as Gibbs hangs up his phone.  
“Ta-da,” Gibbs says sarcastically.  
“Pathetic.”  
“Prints,” I beg of her.  
“The prescription belonged to Corporal Merrill. All of the prints on the bottle belonged to Lance Corporal Danforth!”  
“So Merrill gave Danforth some of his grunt candy,” Gibbs says dismissible.  
“It wasn’t grunt candy! The bottle was empty, so I swabbed it and I ran it through the mass spec. cyclosporine, azathioprine.”  
“Come again. Again in English,” I beg of her.  
“They’re anti-rejection drugs, Gibbs! If Danforth was taking them, he’s had a transplant! The DNA I ran could be from a donor organ. It kind of turned me on. I’m going to get another sample from Ducky. This body could be Lance Corporal Danforth. So urban myth.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Stay here,” Gibbs orders me in the elevator.  
“You’re going to talk to Mister Danforth senior?” I ask him.  
“Mm-hmm.”  
“Jethro, please be careful.”  
“Always. Don’t worry Alice,” Gibbs promises me before placing a quick kiss on my lips before we leave the elevator and he goes to talk to Danforth.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
“Hey, bill. I called your home. Your wife said you were here,” I say to him as I walk into the ICU room to see him sitting next to Rebecca.  
“You have bad news for me, don’t you?” Danforth asks me.  
“Yeah. Where’d your son have his transplant?”  
“Does it matter?”  
“No.”  
“You can’t stay in the corps with a kidney transplant, Jethro.”  
“Who burned in the fire, Bill?”  
“An unclaimed body at the hospital morgue scheduled for cremation. I made a donation. They switched a toe tag. And the county saved itself the cost of a cremation.”  
“It could have killed those EMTs, Bill.”  
“No. I didn’t detonate that oxygen until they were clear.”  
“Why? Your son was dead. The corps doesn’t care if he had a transplant now,” I remind him before releasing I am talking about the wrong son so I add; “They were more than friends. They were a match! Merrill gave your son a kidney.”  
“An autopsy would have revealed the transplant. I was afraid that the M.E. would run a DNA check on the donor organ.”  
“And you can’t be on active duty if you give away a kidney.”  
“The corps means the world to that boy, Jethro. It’s his life. And he risked everything. He risked it all to help out his best friend. My son.”  
“He rigged an IED to burn that…”  
“I did that!”  
“Bill!”  
“I’ll swear I did it. Kenny had nothing to do with this.”  
“Why’d he go UA?”  
“He didn’t go UA. He was at my place. The things that Kenny’s teaching those marines going to Iraq will save their lives, Jethro. Come on; let me take the hit on this one.”  
“Where is your son’s body?”  
“At the hospital morgue.”  
“Come on.”  
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“I do apologize. Usually one scraping is sufficient, but you are so crispy. That should satisfy Abby. Ah, Jethro. Abby told me about the transplant and her theory,” Ducky says to me as I walk into autopsy.  
“Hmm… you buy it?” I ask him.  
“Well, it is possible.”  
“My money’s on your teeth, Duck. Get back to them.”  
“As soon as I give this to Abby,” Ducky says to me while holding the evidence jar.  
“I’ll do it.”  
“Jethro!”  
“Ah.”  
“I’ve never seen you break evidence protocol before.”  
“You don’t trust me, Duck?”  
“Well, that’s not the point. Chain of evidence is chain of evidence.”  
“You’re right about that. I’d slap DiNozzo silly if he did it,” I agree with him as I finally get the evidence and signs for it in front of him.  
“Jethro, you surprise me.”  
“Must be getting old,” I say before leaving with the evidence and back into the elevator. I open the evidence jar and swop the DNA sample with the one I have taken from Danforth, because I have just contaminated evidence, I smack myself on the back of the head. I exclaim in pain, “God.”  
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“Yes! Yes! Whoo! Yes! Yay!” Abby exclaims when the DNA matches while jumping around.  
“That’s incredible,” Ducky says in surprise.  
“No need for a dental match now, Duck,” I comment innocently.  
“The odds on getting donor DNA from Danforth’s body are… astronomical!”  
“Alabama! Nineteen fifty four. A nine pound meteorite hits Annie Hodges. The odds of getting hit by meteorite… astronomical, no pun intended. But it happens and I’m going to be published again. Ooh. Yes,” Abby cheers making Alice smile at her.  
“Peachy for you. But we just lost our victim,” Tony complains.  
“Our suspect,” Ziva adds.  
“Our theories,” McGee continues.  
“We’ve been barking up the wrong tree the entire investigation.”  
“Bush,” Tony corrects her wrongly.  
“Sorry, bush. We’ve been barking up the wrong… bush.”  
“Tree,” Alice corrects her before asking me, “So who torched the ambulance and why?”  
“Don’t look at me,” I exclaim innocently.  
“Don’t tell me,” Shepard asks me as I step into the elevator with her and Alice.  
“Well, yeah. Abby was right. The first test picked up donor DNA. Our john doe is Lance Corporal Danforth,” Alice explains to Shepard without caring about all the theories Shepard heard when my team betray me.  
“Good. I mean not good a marine is dead. But good that the case is no longer ours.”  
“Mm-hmm,” I hum.  
“I know what you’re going to say Jethro and don’t. I want Lance Corporal Danforth’s remains returned to his father and I want the case turned over to the Maryland arson investigators. That will make mister Danforth happy, which will make the SecNav happy, which in turns will make me very happy. We have wasted way too many of our resources already.”  
“Okay,” I agree with her while leading Alice off the elevator. I lead her back to the squad room where we collect our gear and head home.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, what did Mister Danforth tell you? Who is his son’s donor?” Alice asks me in the basement that night.  
“Don’t worry about it,” I order her while pulling her into a hug because she is worrying about me.  
“Don’t get yourself into trouble,” Alice begs of me while holding onto the back of my coat. I rub her hair while I tightly hold her.   
“I won’t. Don’t worry,” I promise her, before letting her go. I pick up a sander to work on my boat, but Alice doesn’t get out from between me and the boat meaning I reach around her to sand the rib. I whisper into her ear, “Why don’t you help me sand this rib?”  
“I’m not good at woodwork,” Alice mumbles back but I take her hands and place them on the sander to guide her hands with the grain of the wood.  
“You don’t seem to have problems doing stuff you’re not good at, at work. Like lecturing the director,” I remind her softly.  
“She deserves it,” Alice hiss back at me while leaning against me.  
“She does. Just don’t push her too far,” I whisper to her while enjoying the feeling of her body against mine.


	19. Ravenous

“By doing that. What happens if you fail here?” Ziva asks Tony while watching an autopsy, Tony and her are still in their gym clothing.  
“Depends, Officer David. Some of them go on to become our director. You’ll have to reschedule your class, Duck. The rangers found a body in Shenandoah Park,” Gibbs informs Ducky while making me laugh because our ‘lovely’ director failed the autopsy test.  
Well, perhaps you’d be willing to share the specifics with the class. Yes, the three most frequent causes of death in our national parks are heart attacks, hiking accidents, and prolonged exposure to the elements,” Ducky rambles.  
“Not this time. Sailor was eaten… by a bear,” I inform Ducky.  
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“Yet another reason why I never want to go camping,” Tony complains at the crime scene, camp site.  
“Actually, Tony, bear attacks are quite rare,” McGee corrects him.  
“Really? Do you want to tell this guy?” Tony snaps at McGee while pointing to the mauled body.  
“Not a big fan of nature, huh?” Ziva asks him as she photos the crime scene.  
“Oh, I’m a big fan of nature as long as it’s on TV.”  
“I’d say three hundred twenty five pounds. Maybe six foot standing, Agent Gibbs,” Ranger Landis says to Gibbs while talking about the bear he assumes killed our soldier.  
“You found the dog tags here, Ranger Hendricks?” Gibbs asks the female ranger while pointing to the point on the map.  
“Right on the other side of the clearing. I followed the tracks back and found… found what was left of his body,” Hendricks informs him.  
“Well, the name matches the dog tags recovered by the park rangers. Petty officer Benjamin Riley,” Ziva informs Gibbs.  
“Bag it. Probie, you were a boy scout or whatever, right?” Tony orders McGee to collect the bear poo.  
“Yeah. Well, technically I was a Webelos but,” McGee defends himself.  
“Whatever. Use your expertise and go and bag and tag that bear poo down there. Bag the poop.”  
“When you’re done collecting scat, find out what the hell happened to Ducky,” Gibbs adds his own order.  
“Got it, boss,” McGee agrees with Gibbs.  
“This entire area is supposed to be off limits to campers,” Landis informs us.  
“A hunter was bear-baiting here last month,” Hendricks informs us why.  
“Bear baiting?” Tony asks her.  
“Have you spent any time in the woods, special agent DiNozzo?”  
“Well, heck yeah. As muck time as I can I’m in the woods. I’m a big fan of mother nature,” Tony lies making me roll my eyes at his bad flirting.  
“In the off-season, hunters set out food… always in the same place. Bears get used to being fed and, come season, all they have to do is wait,” Hendricks explains to Tony as Ziva continues taking photos of the crime scene.  
“That’s cleaver. I’ll have to try that the next time out.”  
“It’s illegal, Tony,” Ziva informs him.  
“Not to mention it is immoral, DiNozzo,” I inform him over Ziva, making me freeze before adding, “Kate just flow my mouth.”  
“If I has my way, hunting would be, too,” Hendricks add when Tony just stairs at me in fear that Kate still lingers.  
“Who was baiting the bear?” Gibbs asks her.  
“A local. Jason Edom. We pulled his license and banned him from the park,” Landis informs us.  
“For life,” Hendricks adds happily.  
“Petty Officer Riley know this was a potentially dangerous area?” Ziva asks her.  
“We hand this out to every visitor,” Hendricks informs her while handing us a package of information.  
“Had a real bad drought around here this year. The berries the bears normally feed on have been scarce. A hungry bear will eat just about anything,” Landis informs us.  
“The sad fact is they’re going to track down this bear and kill it because your stupid sailor couldn’t be bothered to read a three page pamphlet.”  
“No this stupid bear is getting killed because you couldn’t stop a local from bear-baiting. Our sailor isn’t stupid, he is brave. Braver then you can every dream of being, hiding behind your stupid insults, and animal, tree hugging ways. If you didn’t want people to camp here, you could have taped it off, put a big sign but no, you just insult someone who is in service of his country and died on your watch,” I correct her because this man is in service for his country and she insulted the dead man. She glares at me before storming off away from me.  
“You’ll have to forgive her. She’s what we like to call ‘opposed’ to hunting,” Landis informs us.  
“Yes, that’s not the only thing she’s opposed to,” Ziva says because she keeps turning Tony down.  
“You said Riley checked in alone?” Gibbs asks him while making sure I’m not going to attack Hendricks.  
“Monday afternoon. I signed him in myself,” Landis informs him.  
“We’re going to need a organize a search.”  
“I’m one step ahead of you. I’ve got a team out tracking the bear now. If he’s still in the area, we’ll find him.”  
“I’m more concerned about the women. There’s two sets of footprints. One is Riley. The other’s a lady’s size seven,” Gibbs informs him as I take a photo of the shoe prints and something else I see.  
“Are you sure about that?”  
“Yeah. Unless these are NAVY issue,” I inform him while holding up a set of lacy nickers.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Listen up! I want four-man teams in each sector. At least two of them armed with rifles. She’s been out there at least two nights, possibly injured, and most definitely scared out of her mind. All communications will run through mountain Tec one. Most of them have been working search and rescue in the park before I got stationed here. They’ll find her,” Landis orders his people before promising Gibbs.  
“Hope it’s before the bear does,” Gibbs comments before leading me over to the parking lot where Ducky is in the van finally.  
“I’m sorry we were so late, Jethro. Mister Palmer’s navigating skills still leave something to be desired,” Ducky explains to Gibbs.  
“Honestly, Doctor, I thought that moss grew on the south side of trees,” Jimmy defends himself.  
“It does in Australia.”  
“Petty Officer Riley’s vehicle isn’t in the parking lot, boss. According to the red… to the local guys, a lot of the campers park their cars at the general store outside the main gate,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Park’s been having problems lately with vandalism and left on unattended vehicles,” McGee adds.  
“Find it, DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders them.  
“On it, boss,” Tony agrees.  
“Move over, Palmer. I’m driving,” Gibbs orders Jimmy making him move into the middle of the truck while I get into the back with the truck.  
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“The American black bear has a narrow muzzle and a large hinged jaw with enormous crushing power. Six hundred pounds per square inch. No animal of equal size is nearly as strong. You never discovered any of that, did you?” Ducky rambles before asking Gibbs.  
“How do you know that?” I ask him.  
“Well, when Mister Palmer sponged him down, we didn’t find any evidence of slashing or wounds on his hand and forearm.”  
“He didn’t defend himself,” Gibbs summarizes.  
“More than that, I’m afraid. The bear’s claws and teeth have rounded edges that piece the flesh. Yes, when I examined Mister Riley’s heart, it revealed a very different story. Our petty Officer was killed with a flat blade. Death would have been instantaneous. Yes, he was dead…”  
“Before the bear started eating him,” Gibbs and I finish for Ducky.  
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“Oh, what’s to buy? She lured him out to the woods, made love to him, then hacked him while he was sleeping,” Tony explains his theory to Ziva, and McGee the next day in the squad room.  
“Or ran off while Riley was being stabbed to death,” Ziva corrects him with her own theory.  
“How about neither?” Gibbs snaps at them as we walk into the squad room. Gibbs is wearing a white, long, sleeve shirt with a green zip up vest over it. On top of all that he is wearing a cream zip up jacket with a black collar that is unzipped.  
“Rough night, Boss?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“Well, yeah, tony. We spent it tracking our missing woman with a bunch of volunteers in Shenandoah Park,” I snap at Tony because I’m tired but I couldn’t sleep knowing she is out there, somewhere. I am wearing Gibbs NIS sweat shirt, a hiking vest, with Gibbs Marine Corps field jacket to keep warm out there in the park.  
“You find her?” McGee asks us.  
“Yeah, she’s hidden in my pocket.”  
“No,” Gibbs overlaps me.  
“So she’s still out there?” Ziva asks us.  
“Park service thinks so. Here, McGee. Take the film doey-whacker out of there and put it up there on the plasma,” Gibbs orders McGee while handing him a digital camera.  
“Well, boss, actually, this is a digital camera. They use memory cards now. I’ll put the doey-whacker in,” McGee finishes with a little backtracking when Gibbs glares at him. He puts the photos up on the plasma screen above my desk.  
“There wasn’t a sign or a track of a ladies’ size seven boots ever leaving that campground,” I inform them what we have found while showing them the photo I took all around the camp site.  
“How’d she get out here, boss?” Tony asks in confusion.  
“Like this,” Gibbs answers him while showing a photo of the outline of a boot.  
“So that’s this?”  
“Snipers call that a ghost, DiNozzo. Someone who can move through the woods almost detected. I follow them for three hundred meters before I lost them. They left two obvious signs. The back edge of a military boot heel. And this,” Gibbs explains before pulling out an evidence bag with some jewellery we found.  
“Jewellery?” McGee asks.  
“Yeah. Get it to Abby,” Gibbs orders him making McGee leave to do it.  
“So you think someone carried her away?” Ziva asks us.  
“No, I think she was abducted by aliens,” I inform her sarcastically.  
“Well, Ziva, I think she didn’t just float out of that campsite. We need to find out who she is,” Gibbs snaps at her tiredly.  
“Right. I talked to the guys Riley worked with at the Navy yard. Only one of them… a seaman Brad Phillips, knew he was going camping. Riley mentioned taking a girl he met a couple weeks age. Phillips never caught a name,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Pull Riley’s phone records.”  
“Did it. And he has a cell phone he doesn’t use much. Went back two weeks. Made a couple of phone calls to his family in New York, and the rest were to local businesses and government agencies,” Ziva reports to Gibbs.  
“Check out his room.”  
“Went through his room at the Navy Yard. Nothing unusual. No sign of a girlfriend,” Tony informs Gibbs.  
“Rangers set up a temporary aid centre inside Jackrabbit Slim’s for the volunteers,” I inform Tony and Ziva.  
“I want you both there. I had them pull the files of all other deaths that happened in that park,” Gibbs orders them. They begin bickering between themselves as they leave.  
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“Got anything?” Gibbs asks Abby as we walk into the lab.  
“Define anything. No, thanks,” Abby demands of Gibbs before denying the caf-pow he is carrying.  
“Hair follicles?” I guess when she holds out on us.  
“Uh-huh.”  
“Our missing woman?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Most likely.”  
“And?” I ask her.  
“And Caucasian. Brunette, it’s in the anagen, or growth phase. So I can probably get DNA off the root.”  
“What about the one on the right?” Gibbs asks her because she’s put two hair samples onto the plasma screen.  
“It’s from Petty Officer Riley’s car. They’re both from the same person.”  
“She drove there with him?”  
“You think?”  
“Is something bothering you, Abby?” I ask her because I’m worried about her, she acting weird for Abby.  
“No. I did a further test on our lady’s birth control method of choice. It’s a low-level estrogen patch. Prescription dosage is based on weight and height. So odds are she’s of average to small stature. Is there anything else I can do for you?”  
“Find a name,” Gibbs orders her before leading me out of the lab.  
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“What do we have?” Gibbs asks Tony and Ziva who is boosting about their dates in the squad room. Gibbs isn’t wearing his cream coat, leaving him in his green vest with a white shirt and he looks damn hot in it.  
“Uh, over the last seven years, there’s been eight deaths in the park, boss. Three from natural causes, a stoke, and two heart attacks,” Tony reports.  
“The others?” I ask him.  
“All accidental. In two thousand, a couple drowned while canoeing. The women’s body was never recovered,” Ziva informs us.  
“In two thousand two a couple got lost hiking. Their remains were recovered last year,” Tony adds.  
“In two thousand four, a woman named…”  
“Tracy Roberts’ body was discovered nine months after she went into the park to photograph wildlife. Her remains were…”  
“Too ravaged by animals and the elements to determine a cause of death.”  
“I want to see a profile on the address,” Gibbs begins.  
“Boss, I think I found something,” McGee cuts Gibbs off bravely.  
“Passports. Get me a…”  
“Boss?”  
“What, McGee!”  
“Sorry. Uh... I think I found something here. The three dead women. They all fit the same description. Twenties, Caucasian…”  
“Brunette, petite?” I finish for him.  
“Yeah. Since we all know about how you feel about coincidences, I decided to pull their driver’s license photos.”  
“Wow, they look like they could be sisters,” Ziva comments while looking at the photos of the dead girls McGee put on the plasma above my desk.  
“Something tells me their deaths weren’t exactly accidental,” Tony comments.  
“We’re dealing with a killer who’s using park accidents to cover up murder,” Gibbs and I say together.  
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“That’s why I love you. When you get all hot and bothered like that, it really turns me on,” Abby says to McGee while hugging him.  
“Really?” McGee asks her in surprise.  
“Oh, yeah.”  
“Are you two done playing grab-assy, or do I need to transfer McGee to weather station in the Antarctic?” Gibbs threatens them making them release each other.  
“W-We were just,” McGee attempts to explain.  
“I think I found our missing girl, Gibbs. And McGee was just congratulating me. The birth control patch that our Jane Doe was wearing turned out to be a Rosetta stone. It delivers a very specific estrogen cocktail. It’s usually prescribed for women whose systems can’t handle the pill. The birth control pill is the most common,” Abby explains to Gibbs.  
“I’ve had a few wives, Abby,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“And yet, you know so little about women. Luckily, this patch was still in the rollout phase so the company is required to maintain detail medical profiles on the three thousand women that are using them. I crossed those profiles with the data I pulled off her DNA profile, and her blood type. I came up with two hundred women, Gibbs.”  
“Find out which one’s missing or you holding out?” I ask her.  
“I’m not done yet. From the hair sample we know that the woman was brunette. So if we subtract blonde women and those with black hair that brings us to forty three. Of the forty three, only fourteen live in the mid-Atlantic. I called them and I got thirteen. Number fourteen… is Jessica Fagan. She works at HUD in D.C. She didn’t show up for work on Monday. She’s missing, Gibbs.”  
“Have you got a picture?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I was waiting for the DMV to email me one before I called you. But fortunately, it’s already here,” Abby says while putting the photo up on the plasma making me stop breathing because she is identical to our other victims.  
“Boss, this definitely doesn’t look like a coincidence,” McGee comments.  
“Ya think, McGee?” Gibbs snaps at him.  
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“It’s confirmed, boss. She’s told a co-worker she was going to camping with her boyfriend in Shenandoah,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Duck, all three of these women’s deaths were ruled accidental. Pull their autopsy records along with the two guys who died with them,” Gibbs orders him.  
“To look for what specifically?” Duck asks him.  
“How they were murdered,” I inform him.  
“Oh, right,” Ducky mumbles as the elevator dings, announcing the arrive of Ziva, Landis and Hendricks.  
“Nice place you’ve got here, Ziva,” Landis compliments Ziva.  
“Thank you,” Ziva says.  
“They just cut our wildlife conservation budget and you guys have a skylight? Nice,” Hendricks bitches about the political unfairness in the world.  
“I understand things have taken a turn for the worst, Agent Gibbs?” Landis asks us.  
“If by worse you mean multiple homicides in your park since two thousand, then yeah. Worse,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Well there goes that theory,” Landis comments while looking at the girls on the plasma screen above my desk.  
“What theory?” Ziva asks him in confusion about what he’s talking about.  
“I was prepared to say that this could all be just a coincidence, but when you see them like that…”  
“It’s more than a little disturbing,” Hendricks finishes for him.  
“Yeah,” Gibbs agrees.  
“Yep,” I agree at the same time.  
“What can we do to help?” Landis asks Gibbs.  
“We’re looking for someone who knows his way around your park. Most likely a local,” Tony informs her.  
“We’ve got a list of the usual troublemakers; poachers and vandals. But I never figured any of them for a serial killer.”  
“Most likely you wouldn’t, James. The most successful ones blend into their environment,” Ziva informs him.  
“Yeah. I mean, look at the BTK killer, right?” Tony begins.  
“Pillar of the community, cub scout leader, president of his church,” I cut Tony off while inform them.  
“You’re saying it could be anyone?” Hendricks demands of us.  
“Not in this case. We’re looking for someone who carried a woman through the woods and hardly left a track,” Gibbs reminds them.  
“An experienced hunter?” Landis asks us.  
“Or someone with military training,” I add.  
“I’d like to send the photo of the missing woman out to our search teams.”  
“DiNozzo!” Gibbs orders Tony to give them the photo with that one word.  
“I’m on it,” Tony agrees while getting to it.  
“Get it to Pete at Jackrabbits Slim’s. Tell him to post it on every pole, every fence, every car near the park,” Landis orders Hendricks.  
“Got it,” Hendricks agrees as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Gibbs… yeah, we’re on our way,” Gibbs says into the phone before informing us, “Abby’s got something.”  
“Our forensic scientist. You’ll like her. She’s a vampire,” Ziva explains to Landis as we walk off to the lab, leaving Tony and Hendricks together in the squad room.  
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“I swabbed what’s left of Petty Officer Riley’s clothes. It’s mostly his blood and what I now know to be bear saliva,” Abby reports in the lab.  
“He was eaten by a bear, Abs,” I remind her with a small smile.  
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Gibbs orders her like a father talking to a child who is beating around the bush.  
“About the case or perhaps something more personal?” Abby demands of Gibbs.  
“Abby?”  
“I also found traces of a cornucopia of different chemicals sprayed all over his clothes. Phenyl acetic crystals, methyl anthranilate, and acorn, caramel and bergamot oils.”  
“A hunting lure?” Landis asks Abby in surprise.  
“You are correct, Mister Ranger, Sir. More specifically, it was uncle Bebo’s Bear Attractant. Somebody hosed the Petty Officer down with it.”  
“IU can pull a list of every hunter that applied for a bear hunting permit this year.”  
“You don’t have to. McGee just found who sprayed with it,” Ziva cuts of her ‘boy toy’ thing she is flirting with.  
“Boss, we pulled multiple prints from the equipment at the campsite. Most of them are Riley’s. A bunch, I assume are,” McGee begins reporting but his wording needs work.  
“You assume, McGee?” Gibbs and I cut him off.  
“Well, yeah. I mean, we’re working on getting Jessica Fagan’s prints to clear them, but we have three other matches belonging to a third individual. Jason Edom,” McGee reports.  
“Looks like he was baiting more than bears,” Ziva comments.  
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“This man makes my skin crawl,” Ziva complains as we watch Jason in interrogation room, Gibbs walks in behind us.  
“Can you interrogate him without breaking any bones?” Gibbs asks her as he stands behind me and I can see his reflection in the mirror, and he still isn’t wearing his cream coat.  
“Truthfully? No?”  
“I agree. That’s why I’m doing it. You’re going to spend the next few hours studying everything we know about home and the evidence.”  
“And supply the answers to you in there?”  
“No. no, I’ve got DiNozzo doing that. You’re on Edom’s side.”  
“Meaning?”  
“Meaning, you’re going to defend him. He wants you to assume that he’s innocent,” I explain to her.  
“The man’s a serial killing racist, Gibbs.”  
“He probably is. But you’re still going to do it,” Gibbs states.  
“Why?”  
“Because you can’t walk in there and interrogate him… yet,” Gibbs informs her before leading me out of the observation room and into integration.  
“You mind tell me why I’m here?” Jason demands of us.  
“You like hunting,” I answer him as Gibbs and I sit across from him.  
“Last time I checked that wasn’t illegal.”  
“You hunting license was pulled,” Gibbs reminds him making Jason laugh at him.  
“You’re a marine, huh? I can tell. My old man was a marine. Hated his guts. Get your hands out your pocket, boy. Shave your face, boy. Cut your hair, boy.”  
“See? A lasting impression.”  
“Semper fi.”  
“Did he teach you how to bait bears?” I ask him.  
“Nah, I learned that for myself. He was just a real loser.”  
“Your records include more than bear baiting,” Gibbs informs him.  
“I guess I’m a complicated man.”  
“You did time for assault and battery,” I state.  
“It was a bar fight. I didn’t even start it.”  
“Do you know him?” Gibbs asks while handing him a photo of our victim.  
“Yeah. That’s the idiot who got eaten by the bear.”  
“He was murdered first with a hunting knife. You baited the area where that occurred,” I inform him.  
“Lookee here, Miss Agent. I haven’t been in that park for over a month. Newsflash. I happen to be banned for life.”  
“Your fingerprints were found at the campsite. Last time I checked that was inside the park.”  
“No, that’s a damn lie. I’ve been nowhere near that area.”  
“Know her?” Gibbs asks while handing the photo of our missing girl.  
“Nope.”  
“How about them?” Gibbs asks while handing him the other photos of the girls.  
“Like I said… no, okay? I had nothing to do with this. I wouldn’t…”  
“Wouldn’t want?” I ask him when he trails off.  
“Kill people. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not some… some psycho.”  
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“Gibbs, we just,” Ziva begins reporting as we walk into the squad room.  
“Confirmed Edom’s alibi. He was in Manassas the night of the murder,” Tony cuts her off to finish the report.  
“He didn’t do it.”  
“I know,” Gibbs informs them.  
“He knows,” Tony complains.  
“So what now?” Ziva asks us.  
“You’re going to go down here and have a talk with him, Ziva.”  
“Why? You just agreed he didn’t kill the Petty Officer.”  
“Because he know who did. But he’s not tell Gibbs,” I inform her.  
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“Boss, State Trooper’s just missing Wes Rowan. He left Jackrabbit Slim’s with a rifle and a backpack. Said he was going to help with the search,” McGee reports because Jason informed Ziva that our missing girl gated Wes. Gibbs is wearing his cream jacket, ready to leave for the park again.  
“He is the search, McGee,” I remind him.  
“Jessica Fagan was Wes Rowan’s childhood sweetheart. It was all pretty must all over when she killed a restraining order against him in two thousand,” Tony reports.  
“Why am I just finding out about this now?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“She legally changed her name. It used to be Parker.”  
“Most likely to make it difficult for Rowan to locate her. When he couldn’t, he took his anger out on women who resemble her,” Ziva theories.  
“That could explain why she never let anyone at Jackrabbit Slim’s or the park see her.”  
“Oh, you think, DiNozzo?” Gibbs snaps at her as he’s phone begins ringing, “Gibbs. Abs, I have no time. Two minutes.”  
“Boss, state troopers are setting up roadblocks on all highways leading down from the mountains,” McGee reports to Gibbs who is hanging up his phone.  
“He took his backpack with him, McGee. He’s not planning on coming down,” I remind him.  
“Grab your gear! I’ll meet you out back in five,” Gibbs orders them before taking off and I follow him, I want to know what’s wrong with Abby.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You’ve got two minutes, Abby. Starting now,” Gibbs orders Abby as we step into the lab.  
“I don’t need two minutes. Just a minute. Or maybe only forty five seconds,” Abby rambles.  
“Abby.”  
“I pulled skin sells off the rhinestones that you found in the park, and the DNA matches Jessica Fagan’s hair.”  
“You could have told me that on the phone.”  
“Well, I also found traces of blood! I have a theory, Gibbs. I made this in high school,” Abby explains while holding up a jacket with a skull and cross bones on the back.  
“A minute thirty three.”  
“Okay. I screwed up a bunch of times and pulled these things off is really hard. I cracked two nails and I cut my finger.”  
“Oh hell, she’s leaving a trail. That’s great work, Abs.”  
“Wait, I still have a minute and change left. Um… I know you’re really busy with the case, and I understand.”  
“Understand what?” Gibbs and I ask her in confusion.  
“That you forgot my birthday,” Abby says.  
“I didn’t forget.”  
“You didn’t.”  
“No. I remember how old you are, too.”  
“Oh, you can forget that.”  
“Check your desk.”  
“No. I have been working in here all night. There is no way you snuck by me,” Abby exclaims as we walk away. She looks in her office, on her desk there is two wrapped presents. From Gibbs she got a Pulp Fiction, and from em she got a couple of tickets to her favourite band, that she had been disappointed for weeks because she was working and missed her opportunity to buy them.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’ve been searching the building for you,” Ducky informs Gibbs as we grab our gear in the squad room.  
“You found me,” Gibbs informs him.  
“She maybe still alive, Jethro. I re-checked the Rappahannock Country M.E’s records. All three victims had hairline fractures. The medical examiners assumed that these were caused by animals or fall in the woods.”  
“They didn’t know she was murdered, Duck.”  
“That bastard beats them,” I release sadly.  
“I’m afraid so,” Ducky agrees with me.  
“How does that make her alive?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Some of these fractures had minute calcification. They’d begun to heal, Jethro.”  
“How long?” I ask him.  
“Oh, I’d say a week or ten days perhaps after he beat them,” Ducky informs us making us leave the squad room quickly to find this girl as Ducky speaks to her photo in the squad room.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“There are hunting cabins along this edge of the park. He could have taken her to one of them,” Hendricks points at the cabins on the park map as all the volunteers stand around.  
“Any cabins in the park?” Tony asks her.  
“Two. Birch and Pine. Gotta reserve them a year in advance. They’re real popular.”  
“Is anyone there no?”  
“No. we only open them Memorial Day to Labour day.”  
“Where?” I ask them.  
“Pine’s here. Birch is here,” Hendricks informs us while pointing them out on the map.  
“The other night I lost the trail right here. Jessica could be in one of those cabins,” Gibbs comments while pointing to the maps, a place between the two cabins.  
“Checked them the first day.”  
“What if he held her in the woods while you searched the cabin? Search them again. Where Ranger Landis and the search party?”  
“Razorback Ridge.”  
“Well, he’s a lot closer than we are. Have him search them. McGee! DiNozzo, Alice, you’re with me. Ziva, you stay here with Ranger Hendricks,” Gibbs orders us while grabbing the gun one of the volunteers are giving him.  
“Gibbs, I think I’d be better suited if I actually went…”  
“We’re taking him alive. Let’s roll,” Gibbs orders us before taking off with everyone. We begin walking through park, only for Gibbs to pick up an overly obvious trail.  
“For a ghost, he’s sure leaving a lot of footprints,” Tony comments.  
“He took a knee here,” Gibbs comments while kneeling down there, looking at the trails.  
“Maybe he heard McGee coming.”  
“No. he’s tracking.”  
“Tracking who? He already knows where the girl is.” We continue walking for a while in silence before asking, “What is it, boss?”  
“The trail’s too obvious,” I inform Tony while holding my gun drawn in case I need it.  
“Rowan doesn’t know that we’re tacking him,” McGee reminds me.  
“Or he’s setting an ambush. McGee, I want you thirty meters to my right. DiNozzo, thirty to my left. I’ll stay on the straight. Alice, stay close,” Gibbs orders us making us move to where Gibbs order us to be.  
“What if it is an ambush?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“I want you guys to get him before he gets me. Go! Go! Be ghosts,” Gibbs orders us quietly. We all move quietly and slowly through the trail. We hear a gunshot making us all see Landis shot Wes.  
“I got him,” Landis calls out to us making us lower our guns.  
“I thought it was you, boss,” Tony comments.  
“Me, too,” McGee agrees.  
“I… I was trying to find Jessica,” Wesley Rowan whispers before passing out.  
“We’ve got to get him to a hospital,” I exclaim while running over to him and putting pressure on the bullet wound.  
“We ought to just let the bastard bleed to death,” Landis says dismissively.  
“If he dies, we may never find that girl alive,” Gibbs snaps at him as Tony and McGee hull him up and throws his arms over their shoulder.  
“Your station can’t be far.”  
“Maybe a quarter of a mile that way.”  
“You got him?” I ask the boys and they node at me.  
“I thought you were leading the search?” Gibbs comments to Landis as we walk through the park.  
“Bobby radioed. She had fresh searchers. I was cutting back to pick them up and I spotted Rowan sneaking through the woods,” Landis informs us.  
“He wasn’t sneaking, he was tracking,” I correct him.  
“Jim, this is Bobby. Officer David found Jessica Fagan. She was in your root collar. Jim? Jim? Do you read me?” Hendricks says over the radio making us all tense up.  
“Drop the shotgun,” Landis orders Gibbs while pointing a gun at us.  
“Jim, are you there?”  
“How many?” Gibbs asks calmly.  
“Twenty seven. No, twenty six. Can’t count Jessica. I didn’t finish with her,” Landis says before yelling at Gibbs, “Drop the shotgun!” Gibbs throws the gun and tackles Landis to the ground. They are struggling on the ground together.  
“Take him! Take him!” McGee says to Tony while trying to give him Wes.  
“No, no, no. Leave him,” Tony orders McGee.  
“We gotta help Boss.”  
“He doesn’t need your help. Look at him!” Tony snaps at him, but right as he says this Landis takes off running. Tony and McGee drop Wes while struggling to get their guns out. I pull my out but by time I have it out, I won’t be able to shot him with how far he is. Gibbs grabs his gun and rolls over onto his belly and aims and shoots Landis in the ass making me laugh.  
“Boss didn’t…?” McGee asks Tony as I pull Gibbs up before walking over to our dirt bag.  
“Whoa, remind me never to piss you off,” I comment making Gibbs proud smirk get bigger. When we are standing over Landis I ask Gibbs, “What do you think, we ought to just let the bastard bleed to death?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You look so cute,” Abby exclaims when I return to the lab after we arrested Landis in the hospital, with Jessica and Wes who are both getting medical attention.  
“I don’t look any different to normal,” I deny her making her grin at me.  
“Yes you do,” Abby gushes while pulling on the coat I’m wearing.  
“My warm coat Tony got destroyed when he tried killing me and commenting suicide. I haven’t replaced it yet,” I inform her making her grin at me.  
“Tony didn’t work out who you dating yet then?” Abby changes the topic off my outfit; that is composed of Gibbs warm clothing.  
“Nope. Don’t know if he is still working on it, or trying to get his dipstick wet with the rangers.”  
“Really? You don’t like her?”  
“She called our victim stupid because we might have had to kill a bear to catch his killer,” I explain to her before asking, “What did you think about your present?”  
“I love it. How did you get those tickets? They sold out within a minute of going up?”  
“I had nothing to do; Kate wouldn’t let me return to work. Apparently almost dying, means I wasn’t allowed to return to work,” I complain making her grin at me as she works.  
“Well thank you. I am glade, Kate wanted to give it to you when you were sad about not being able to buy it yourself,” I explain to her making her grin at me because she remembered me fighting with Kate over something in the squad room and I ended the argument with, ‘No, I said no. you can’t making me and if you try, I send these photo if you collage days around the building.’  
“What photos did you threaten her with?” Abby asks me making me smile as I pull up photos on my photo of Kate covered in food from a food fight, her wet t-shirt, her sleeping and drawling all over her pillow and other photos like that, nothing too bad.  
“She was always so afraid because she doesn’t know what photos I have and what phots I took,” I explain to her with a grin. Abby finds a photo of Kate with half red hair and hair bleach blonde. She is wearing a short police officer clothing.  
“When was this taken?”  
“It was a Halloween party and she lost a bet on who Rachel was dating, so I got to dress her however I wanted too.”  
“I didn’t think I would see Kate dressed so…”  
“Sexy? Slutty? Like the director, Cassidy and Ziva?”  
“Yeah.”  
“She might not have liked being dressed like that but she never would go back on her word,” I inform Abby with a smile, thinking of the good times with her, even if it hurts.  
“Yeah. So what are you doing down here?”   
“I wanted to make sure you were feeling better, that you know Gibbs didn’t forget you. He was trying to find our missing girl,” I explain to her, making sure she understands and doesn’t feel unimportant or easily forgotten.  
“I know. It’s just tradition,” Abby informs me making me feel bad for her.  
“Why don’t you go drag him off to dinner? No one is to leave until the paper works done, so you should be able to find him,” I say to her with a smile to make her feel better.  
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do that,” Abby says as we leave the lab together.  
“Make sure not to get drunk. That’s tradition for you and me,” I tease her as we get into the elevator.  
“Promise,” Abby promise me before we hug. When we arrive at the squad room I walk to my desk as Abby walks over to Gibbs. After talking quietly for a moment he grabs his coat and leaves with her, and she is jumping around happily because she is going to dinner with her work dad.  
“So, Alice, who is Mark?” Ziva asks me.  
“A friend of Abby,” I answer her making them give me a look.  
“Mark is her tattooist,” McGee informs Ziva making Tony grin.  
“So you got a tat. Where?” Tony asks while running his eyes over my clothed body looking for it.  
“You’re a pig, DiNozzo,” I say making me hear Kate again before pulling the sleeve of my (Gibbs) sweet shirt up to show Tony a love heart with wings that overlap each other at the bottom of the heart with Kate’s name and the date she died in the middle.  
“Very nice,” Tony says while staring at my tattoo.  
“I wanted something for Kate and it seemed like the right thing,” I admit making Tony run his fingers over Kate’s name.


	20. Bait

“The kid’s in a classroom in the south wing. SRT’s set up a command post in the east wing. McGee, Ziva, recon the exterior. Put the gear down. DiNozzo. With me,” Gibbs orders us as he leads us away.  
“On your six, boss,” Tony calls after him.  
“Target’s name is Kody Meyers, fifteen years old. According to the witness, he came to class with a bomb strapped to his chest. We set a perimeter outside the classroom. Evacuated all nonessentials. EOD’s on site sweeping for secondaries,” Wise, the man in charge, informs s in the admin office.  
“How many hostages?” Tony demands of him.  
“Four, maybe five. My men are doing a head count on the student body.”  
“The witness describe the device?” Gibbs asks.  
“She was rushed to emergency. Being treated for a panic attack.”  
“DiNozzo, find out who Kody Meyers is. Get his parents in here.”  
“On it,” Tony agrees.  
“He try to make contact yet?” I ask them.  
“No, sir. Not a word. We didn’t try to establish communication. We figured that was our job,” Wise informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Classroom is around the corner, second door on the right. The rooms can only be locked with a faculty key. Kody wouldn’t have access. My Tec team is ready to go. Snipers are moving into position outside, if you want to take him down,” Wise informs us while walking down the hall way to the classroom where the child is holding his classmates hostage.  
“Any other way into the room?” Gibbs asks him.  
“One door and a wall of windows. Blueprints are on the way so we can check for ducts.”  
“Boss! Sorry,” Tony whispers before walking up to Gibbs and informing him, I found Kody’s father. He was at a conference in Washington D.C. MPs are escorting him now. I just thought you’d want to know before you go in there. I’ll head back now.”  
“Kody Meyers! Special agent Gibbs, NCIS. Kody!” Gibbs calls though the door into the classroom.  
“Get away from the door!” Kody orders Gibbs.  
“Talk to me first,” Gibbs calls back.  
“Get away from the door or I… I blow this up!”  
“All right.”  
“I’m sending someone out,” Kody calls out.  
“I’m coming out!” Stephanie, another student, call out before walking out of the room slowly.  
“Debrief her,” Gibbs orders us.  
“It’s okay,” Tony says to her.  
“You’re okay. You’re okay. Come on,” I say to her while placing my arm around her shoulder and leading her away from the classroom and back to the admin office.  
“I need to get Nadia’s inhaler,” Stephanie informs us.  
“We’re getting it,” Tony promise her.  
“She need it!”  
“I know, that’s what we’re doing.”  
“She can’t breathe!”  
“Stephanie, we now. We’re getting it from her locker, okay? Can you tell us what happened?” I ask Stephanie softly.  
“I was in homeroom and I heard Joe messing with Kody. And then all of a sudden it got really quiet. And I looked up and Kody unzipped his sweatshirt. And he had a bomb!” Stephanie cries.  
“Okay, what kind of bomb?” Tony asks her.  
“Like in the movies! It was strapped to his chest!”  
“Okay, that’s really good, Stephanie. I would never be that brave,” I whisper to her while hugging her. I add, “Was he as calm as you?”  
“He was acting really weird. He’d… he was talking himself.”  
“Okay,” Tony knows.”  
“What about Nadia?”   
“We’re helping her. that’s what we’re doing right now. Okay, all right. I know this is hard. Stephanie, I need you to hold it together. Can you do that? Okay.”  
“Can you tell us about Kody?” I ask her.  
“He transferred this year. He’s like a loner. The football players, they’d screw with him. But they screw with everyone,” Stephanie explains to us bravely.  
“Okay,” Tony says to her.  
“Oh my god! Is that what this is about?”  
“Could be.”  
“He’s going to blow everyone up!” Stephanie cries.  
“No he’s not. Stephanie, it’s going to be okay,” Gibbs promise her.  
“Boss, I got the inhaler,” McGee exclaims him handing it to Gibbs.  
“See?”   
“I have to take it to her! that’s what he said. He said I have to get the inhaler and I have to bring it back to her,” Stephanie exclaims while grabbing for the inhaler.  
“We’ll take it to her,” I promise her.  
“She need it!”  
“Okay, calm down. DiNozzo, get her a drink,” Gibbs orders his agent.  
“You got it,” Tony promise it.  
“Okay,” Gibbs says as Stephanie and Tony leave.  
“Boss, you’re not going to really send her back in there, are you?” McGee asks Gibbs who glares at him making him add, “Of course not. You’ve got a plan. What exactly…”  
“Got background on Kody yet?”  
“I do. Searched the school records. He’s an average student, member of the chess club. He’s also a junior U.N.”  
“Background that’s useful, McGee,” I ask him.  
“Well, we’ve got a team right now at Kody’s house collecting his computer, personal effects, to transport back to Abby’s lab. I’m going to go back there and supervise.. okay,” McGee agrees before walking away.  
“This kids must be terrified, I was and he only had a gun,” I mumble in fear. I had Ducky and Gerald not someone I know having a bomb strapped to their chest.  
“We’ll save them,” Gibbs promise me while pulling me into a hug. We walk over to Wise who has a Robot with a claw that is holding the inhaler. Gibbs asks him while holding me still, “What is this? Robby the robot?”  
“Sort of. It can climb stairs, negotiate corners, unlock doors,” Wise informs Gibbs.  
“Impressive. Will it convince Kody to surrender?” Ziva asks him.  
“No. but it will deliver the inhaler to the sick student without endangering anybody else. And its camera might get a video of the bomb.”  
“I don’t trust anything controlled by a videogame thing,” Gibbs comments while pointing to the controller which is a joy stick.  
“I’ve seen one of these cross a minefield while under heavy fire in Iraq, Agent Gibbs.”  
“Well, we’re not in Iraq. We’re trying to deal with a child,” I inform him.  
“How long until this P.O.C (Point of Contact) is ready, Captain?” Gibbs asks him.  
“There’s a problem with the software, just have to run a quick diagnostic and… twenty minutes?” Wise guess.  
“We don’t have twenty minutes. Ziva, tell Tony channel two,” Gibbs orders Ziva before grabbing the inhaler and leaving the room.  
“Channel two,” Ziva agrees with him.  
“Gibbs what up,” I call to him while running up and grabbing his jacket to stop him.  
“Alice, stay with Ziva,” Gibbs orders me.  
“I know, I’m not able to go in there.”  
“Then what?”  
“Please be careful,” I beg of him.  
“I will, I promise,” Gibbs promise me, I quickly look around and don’t see anyone from the team so I place a kiss on his lips. The kiss doesn’t get deep but it is exchanging the feeling we have.  
“For good luck. Please be careful. If you die, I’ll kill you,” I threat him with a shaky smile.  
“When this is over, I’ll buy you a coffee,” Gibbs promise me with a quick hug and another kiss before walking off. Gibbs walks off to the classroom while I walk back into the admin office.  
“What the hell are you doing here?” Kody demands of Gibbs over the com he is wearing.  
“Nadia’s inhaler,” Gibbs explains.  
“Stephanie was supposed to bring it! Where’s Stephanie?”  
“Safe.”  
“No! this is all wrong.”  
“Give this to Nadia. I’ll make it right.”  
“I’m in charge here! Not you!”  
“You’re in charge, Kody.”  
“Get Stephanie back in here!”  
“I’m not going to do that.”  
“You’re killing everyone!”  
“I’m not the one wearing the bomb. I am giving this inhaler to Nadia now,” Gibbs informs him as we hear the gasping breath before it stops making Gibbs asks, “Better?”  
“She’s fine now, get out!”  
“I’m a valuable hostage, Kody.”  
“More valuable than a room full kids?” Kody exclaims before yelling, “Get out now or we all die!”  
“You’re surrounded by marines who all think you’re crazy. Kody, I’m the last chance you have of getting out of here alive.”  
“Shut the door! Search him. Like they do on Corps! Empty his pockets!” Kody orders the scared students.   
“Now I know why Gibbs didn’t go armed. Where’s Stephanie?” Ziva ask Tony who returned allow.  
“With her folks,” Tony answers her.  
“Check his ankles!” Kody orders the other students.  
“This kid is pretty smart.”  
“He’s not just smart. He’s trained,” Ziva comment.  
“Put everything you find on the desk,” Kody orders them.  
“This could be a political statement.”  
“Come on!”  
“He’s a fifteen year old kid,” Tony informs her  
“Well I’ve seen twelve year old suicide bombers in Israel.”  
“This is the unit state if America not Israel. He’s not a terrorist,” I inform her tightly while rubbing my new tattoo in the hopes I can see some of Kate’s strength.  
“Well then he’s obviously mentally disturbed. And if that’s the case, well, I think…”  
“I know, that’s not good,” Tony cuts her off.  
“He’s clean, Kody,” Joe, another student, informs the gonna be bomber.  
“Check his ears!” Kody orders him.  
“For what?”  
“Do it!”  
“The guy’s wearing some sort of hearing aide.”  
“Take it out. Check his wrist. Step on both of them,” Kody orders before the audio cuts off.  
“He is very well trained,” Ziva states, but I’m more concerned about Gibbs, he’s not allowed to be hurt.  
“We need eyes in that classroom,” Tony states while stepping up to the leader position.  
“SRT snaked cameras through the vents here and here. Both were taped shut. Kody was covering his plates.”  
“Bases. What about the door?” I ask while forcing me voice to be steady.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“W.W.G.D.?1” Tony asks himself.  
“Is that a weapon acronym?” Ziva asks Tony.  
“No. it stands for ‘What would Gibbs do?’”  
“Well it’s too bad we can’t ask him.”  
“Captain, your team’s are in place?”   
“We’ve got three snipers in position, sir. If the target looks out the blinds again?” Wise attempts threats the child.  
“No one is shooting a child. You don’t shoot children,” I snap at the captain because he’s only a child, not that much younger than myself.  
“No one takes a shot unless I clear it. You’re with me,” Tony agrees with me.  
“Where are you going?” Ziva asks him.  
“To talk to Kody,” Tony answers her. I walk with him down the long hall to the classroom where Gibbs is being held hostage. Tony asks me, “How are you holding up?”   
“He’s just a child. What could possibly wrong in his life that he has to take his school hostage?” I ask Tony what I am thinking while trying not to think about my boyfriend’s stupidity.  
“Kody, this is special agent DiNozzo. How’s Nadia?” Tony calls through the door as we come to a stop in front of the classroom.  
“She’s fine for now,” Kody snaps at Tony.  
“How are the other kids?”  
“They’re fine, okay?”  
“I’m going to have to take your work on that. But I’m going to needs some proof, Kody. Open the door.”  
“No! No way! You try to get in here… I’m… I‘m setting this off.”  
“No one’s coming in.”  
“We’d like to speak to Special Agent Gibbs,” I called into the room softly in the hopes that a female voice with calm this kid down.  
“Everybody’s okay, boss,” Gibbs call to Tony making em laugh softly at the fact he is calling Tony boss.  
“Well, that’s good to hear… Special Agent Gibbs,” Tony informs Gibbs.  
“Your agent says he’s a negotiator,” Kody gets us back onto topic.  
“Well, that’s right. He’s my best man.”  
“Your best man’s a moron for getting caught in here.”  
“No one said he was smart,” I state.  
“He always had an attitude problem. We’re all going to work this together, that do you say to that, Kody?” Tony calls through the door.  
“You know, I want the man in charge. Not the field commander. The one who makes the final decision.”  
“That’s me, Kody.”  
‘If I ask for an airplane and a million dollars, would you just give it to me?”   
“Is that what you want?”  
“Answer my question!”  
“Are you the man or not?”  
“I’m the one you want.”  
“Bring my mother to the classroom. No deals, no stalling. You have until sundown. If you… if you can’t do that, then… everyone dies.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I need to see he’s okay,” Meyers yells at Ziva as we return to the admin to see our bomber, child’s father here.  
“Aside from holding five people hostage, he’s doing great,” Tony informs him.  
“What does Kody want?” Ziva asks us.  
“He wants his mother brought to him,” I state.  
“Oh, god,” Meyers exclaims.  
“What?” Ziva asks him.  
“Kody’s mother is dead. she died a year ago. A boating accident. Angela liked sailing. Kody took it… well, we all took it hard,” Meyer explains making me rub Kate’s name, I wouldn’t my sister and this child wants his mother, it makes sense.  
“Clearly,” Ziva says without caring how much it hurts to want someone who wouldn’t ever return.  
“Kody’s had some difficulties, but he’s never acted out before.”  
“Your son strapped a bomb to his chest, kidnapped his homeroom, and is demanding to see his dead mother. I’d say he’s past the acting out stage, major. And frankly,” Ziva says heartlessly making me hit her on the back of her head, that is heartless and bitchy and if she said that when Kate died, I would have shot her.  
“Let me talk to him. I can clam him down. I can get him out of there,” Meyer cuts Ziva of.  
“Contact with you may only exasperate the situation,” Tony explains.  
“He’s my son! He’s having a breakdown. His mind is playing tricks on him.”  
“Tricks? What kind of tricks?” Tony demands.  
“Please, help us. Listen, if this is going to end well, we need all the Intel you can give us on your son, please. My friend and your son need us to understand where his mind is and how to defuse the situation without any deaths,” I beg of him softly.  
“Kody thought he saw his mother a couple of months ago,” Meyer explains to us sadly.  
“Alive?” Ziva ask him.  
“His therapist said it’s completely normal, a coping mechanism. A lot of people imagine seeing dead loved ones.”  
“Well, it’s the part where he wants to talk to her that’s got us a little worried,” Tony explains.  
“I saw the SRT team outside the school. I know what comes next. I’m begging you, please, give my boy a chance,” Meyers begs of us.  
“We’re going to do everything we can to get all those kids out there safely, major. All of them, including your son.”  
“Thank you.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“No! No! Don’t touch me!” Kody calls as we return to outside the classroom.  
“Kody! Is something wrong in there?” Tony asks of them.  
“What the hell are you doing here?” Kody demands of us.  
“Giving you an update. I just wanted to let you know that Special Agent Caitlin Todd is out looking for your mother,” I explain to him while inform Gibbs our problem, I wish that was true.  
“Don’t come back until you find her! I… I won’t tell you again!”   
“All right, I’m going,” Tony promise.  
“How are you going to tell Gibbs the kid’s mum’s dead?” Wise ask us as we walk away from the door.  
“Already did. My sister, Kate is dead,” I explain sadly making him node in understanding as Tony’s phone begins ringing.  
“DiNozzo… he won’t accept she’s dead. He thinks he saw her recently… I know, Director. I’m working on it… SRT’s in place. Working on getting visual access into the room and a way to contact Gibbs… And we’re just getting started… sundown. About five hours… Uh, don’t know yet. Sciuto and Agent McGee are going through the kid’s computer and everything found in his room. Trying to work out what the explosive is… hoping Sciuto and McGee can tell us that… you want me to take him out… I’d like to get them all out alive, director. Including Kody… I’ve done it before… okay, if you don’t trust me, I suggest you relieve me. Otherwise, leave me alone. I’ve got work to do, ma’am,” Tony say into the phone before hanging up on the director making me applause him because she is being a pain in the ass.  
“She asked if you had the calzones for this, yes?” Ziva asks him.  
“Cajones,” I correct her.  
“Do you?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I don’t see squat, Probie,” Tony snaps at the nerds in the lab, who released that we can see the bomb on one of the computers in the classroom where the bomber is with my idiot.  
“Tony… are your laptops even on?” Tony asks us stupidly.  
“McGee, don’t be a smart ass we don’t have the time to waste,” I snap at McGee over the radio.  
“Wait, Alice, Tony. It’s not our end, okay? It’s still buffering. That should do it,” Abby informs us.  
“You are amazing, Abby,” Ziva comments as we can see into the classroom.  
“Actually, that was my idea… would you stop doing that. Hey, cut that out!” McGee orders Abby but I don’t know what is going on because I am watching Gibbs in the classroom.  
“Ah!” Abby exclaims.  
“Oh, why is it so hot in here?” Kody demands of them while opening up the jacket he is wearing, sawing us his bomb.  
“You can walk away from this,” Gibbs offers to him.  
“Do… do you have any idea what they will do to me if I walk out of this building?”  
“No one will touch you.”  
“You have no idea.”  
“I won’t let them, Kody,” Gibbs promises him as I lean over the computer and begins typing a message for Gibbs.  
“GIBBS, WE CAN SEE YOU,” I type onto one of the computer Nadia sees the message and gasps.  
“What’d you… what’s you just do? What just happened?” Kody demands of Nadia.  
“I... I don…” Nadia gasp out.  
“She dropped her inhaler. Let Nadia go, Kody. As a sign of good faith while we look for your mum,” Gibbs saves her with lying.  
“No one leaves! Do you get this?” Kody snaps at Gibbs.  
“Electro blasting caps wired into a central circuit board. Four visible charges, all equipment with nails to inflict maximum shrapnel damage. This is no fake bomb, Tony. Good news. The detonator appears to be remote in his hand,” Ziva reports while looking at bomb over my shoulder.  
“Good news?” Tony demands of her in disbelief.  
“Well, it doesn’t seem to be a dead-man’s switch. A head shot will stop this without setting off the bomb.”  
“Just like that. A head shot of a child? Is this the same thought pattern you used when you sanctioned Ari to kill Kate?” I demand of her.  
“Oh, yeah.”  
“MUM IS DEAD… LAST YEAR,” I type again into the computer.  
“Tell me about you mum, Kody. Doesn’t she want to see you?” Gibbs asks Kody innocently.  
“Don’t say that!” Kody demands of Gibbs angrily.  
“I’m just wondering why you’re threatening to blow all of us up just to see her.”  
“Because I… I do, okay?”  
“She’s dead, Kody.”  
“I know,” Kody says sadly before continuing after a beat of silence, “I know I saw her! Shut up! Shut up! Just… just…”  
“Target acquired. I say again, target is acquired,” the sniper informs us.  
“We may not get another chance, sir,” Wise informs Tony.  
“Do I have a go? Over?”  
“Tony?” Ziva asks Tony who is hesitating on giving the go head.  
“The shot is still good, sir. Over.”  
“Sir, we’re going to lose the target,” Wise informs Tony.  
“He’s not a target. He’s a fifteen year old boy who misses his mum,” I snap at everyone who wants to shot them before continuing, “Would you have shot me when I refused to give Gibbs my gun after Kate’s death or when I demanded to talk to her?”  
“All sniper units stand sown. Do not take the shot,” Tony concedes while saving the child’s life.  
“All units stand down,” the sniper repeats.  
“Why?” Ziva demands of Tony while glaring at me because I didn’t need to guilt him.  
“It’s a Gibbs’ thing. My gut,” Tony defends himself.  
“Stop! Don’t! What are you doing? Just get away from me” Kody orders Gibbs who is signing.  
“He’s signing,” I exclaim while watching it.  
“What’s he saying?” Tony asks me.  
“It’s not a very good angel, puppet or something similar,” I say and after a moment Gibbs nodes at what McGee and Abby sent him.  
“Why’s you just node?” Kody demands even though he was facing the other way.  
“What?” Gibbs asks him innocently making me laugh because Gibbs isn’t innocent of anything, least of all of nodding.  
“You just nodded.”  
“Did I?”  
“Yes!”  
“I don’t know. Nervous. Jumpy. I guess.”  
“Are you signalling someone in this room?”  
“No. I swear.”  
“They’re not just talking to Kody. They have eyes in the classroom too, McGee,” Abby exclaims making me look sad, this kid is in a bad spot.  
“Tony, did you copy that?” McGee asks.  
“Roger. Dirt bags have eyes and ears in the classroom,” Tony agrees.  
“Good,” Ziva comments.  
“Good? In what part of hell is this good?” I demand of her.  
“We back track the feeds. It’ll lead us to them.”  
“Earwigs have a limited range and only a handful of frequencies. We have the equipment here to sweep,” Wise informs us.  
“Do it,” Tony orders Wise.  
“Yes, sir. Get the equipment. Set up for frequencies,” Wise orders his team.  
“Abby, SRT is sweeping earwig freqs to trace the source. Can you guys do the same thing with the eye?” I ask Abby and McGee.  
“McGee?” Abby asks him.  
“We have three computers with webcams in the back of the classroom. We’re using one of them. They must be using,” McGee rambles.  
“The one with the blocked router! The one we couldn’t get into?” Abby cuts him off.  
“How long?” Tony asks them.  
“Depends. They could be using counter attack software. If they’re using a sophisticated encryption system it could be a hundred and eighty to two hundred and fifty six bit,” McGee rambles.  
“Probie!” Tony cuts him off.  
“On it, boss. Tony.”  
“What?” Ziva asks Tony who looks proud and happy.  
“He called me boss,” Tony exclaims.  
Yeah, he’ll never live that down.”  
“Nope.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What happens if they can’t find your mum, Kody?” Nadia asks Kody.  
“You know what will happen!” Kody states.  
“Kody, just let us go, man,” Joe demands.  
“Shut up!” Kody yells at his classmates making Nadia cry. He continues a little more calm, “Just don’t… don’t ask me that again. Okay, Nadia?”  
“Okay,” Nadia cries.  
“You don’t want to carry out your threat, do you, Kody?” Gibbs asks him.  
“No,” Kody admits before continuing after a moment of silence, “But I will if I don’t talk to my mother.”  
“Talk or see? We might have time…”  
“See! See! I have to see her right here in my homeroom!”  
“I’m just saying that talking to her might give us more time.”  
“There is no more time, okay? She has to be here before sunset!” Kody shouts at Gibbs.  
“Nautical, civilian or astronomical?”  
“What?”  
“Which sunset? There are three.”  
“Before it gets dark.”  
“Astronomical.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How’s it coming, captain?” Tony asks Wise who is searching for the signal.  
“Narrowing it down,” Wise answers vaguely.  
“I can’t stand doing nothing while everyone else is working.”  
“Well then do something,” Ziva prompts him.  
“Aby suggestions, Zee-va?” Tony demands of her.  
“Yes, DiNozzo. We didn’t really have time to question Major Meyers. He may be able to tell us who’s controlling his son.”  
“Captain, have your men bring Major Meyers in here.”  
“That’s going to be a problem. The major was taken to NCIS headquarters,” Wise informs us.  
“I didn’t authorize that.”  
“No, sir. Your boss did.”  
“Our boss is being held hostage right know. Something tells me is he isn’t able to authorize anything at the moment,” I snap at him.  
“Not that boss, ma’am.”  
“He’s the only boss I have,” Tony informs him.  
“Ah, ah, ah, ah. You are forgetting the director,” Ziva corrects us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The detonator in Kody’s hand is a prop. The people controlling him have the real one,” Ziva suddenly informs us.  
“You think?” Tony asks her in surprise.  
“Yes. I think shooting Kody wouldn’t have saved anyone in that classroom. Doesn’t make you Gibbs.”  
“No, but it makes you wrong and that’s all that really matters when you are being a bitch and I am not allowed to shoot you,” I state making Ziva glare at me again.  
“Someone went to a lot of trouble to raise Angela Myers from the grave,” Tony states.  
“Well, obviously he, she or they don’t believe she’s dead. They intend to kill her with a big boom,” Ziva reminds us.  
“And blame it on Kody,” I state.  
“Got the freq on Kody’s earwig!” Wise informs us when his machine beeps.  
“Where are they?” Tony asks him.  
“Don’t know. They’re communicating in short bursts. We can’t get an accurate fix.”  
“Look, we’re… we’re running out of time. Where’s my mother?” Kody demands of Gibbs making me tense, he might not have the detonator but he is still holding my boyfriend hostage and I want him back.  
“Let me talk to my… to my boss. I’ll get a progress report,” Gibbs offers Kody.  
“Do it. Put it on speaker,” Kody orders Gibbs who rings my phone.  
“Alice, Gibbs how’s it going in there? How are the kids?” I answer my phone while putting it on speaker and muting the feed so that Kody doesn’t know we are watching and listening in on them.  
“Hey, is the boss there?” Gibbs asks me.  
“Yeah?” DiNozzo ask Gibbs.  
“Have you located Kody’s mother yet?”  
“Agent Todd has her phone number and is trying to make contact,” I admit sadly, I want my sister back.  
“What is the number?” Kody demands of us.  
“We don’t know, Kody. Agent Toss is on it” Tony admits.  
“I want the number,” Kody yells at us.  
“Better get him the number boss,”” Gibbs orders Tony disguised as a suggestion.  
“I’ll contact Agent Todd and get back to you,” Tony says before hanging up.  
“You had to say you had her number?” Ziva snaps at me.  
“He needs hope, I gave him hope,” I snap back at her bitchiness.  
“Sir, EOD’s been studying the pictures of the bomb vest. This is the remote to the detonator. One shot could destroy it,” Wise explains while pointing at the pictures of the bomb as I turn sound back on.  
“And Kody,” Ziva states while turning around on her opinion from before.  
“There’s more than just one life at stake here, ma’am.”  
“McGee, tell me you’re making progress,” Tony begs of him.  
“I’m making progress, Tony. Back tracking their connection to the classroom computer now. Okay, they’re in Triangle, Virginia,” McGee reports.  
“Piggy backing off a Wi-Fi mode at the warehouse outside the main gate,” Abby adds.  
“I’m sending you the address. Now do you want us to cut their connection to the webcam?”   
“Negative, probie. I’ve got a better idea,” Tony informs him before explaining his plan making me pull a face because I know where that plan came from.  
“You know what, Tony? This might actually work,” McGee exclaims once the plan is made.  
“Don’t sound so surprised, probie.”  
“Oh, he’s right, Tony. We should have thought of it,” Abby exclaims.  
“Ow!” McGee suddenly exclaims in pain.  
“Ow!”  
“What the hell was that?” I demand when there is a loud bang on the other end of the radio.  
“McGee tripped.”  
“Trip on your own time, probie. Can you make it happen or not?” Tony demands of them.  
“The problem is finding the right stream to mirror, Tony.”  
“We’ll need to recreate a virtual hard drive,” McGee adds.  
“To replace the physical one.”  
“The key is the insertion phase, so we’re going to need…”  
“A natural buffering period so we won’t be detected.”  
“Using a pretty standard code…”  
“Which means they’ll be able to retag the algorithm during decompression.”  
“So what we need is a mutli point control until to enable a seamless…”  
“Guys, Phys ed major here,” Tony cuts them off.  
“Please, English, I,” I beg of them but I can’t finish my sentence.  
“We can do this, Tony, Alice,” Abby promise us.  
“When?” Tony begs of them.  
“Uh… now if you want,” McGee informs of us.  
“On my mark. DiNozzo out,” Tony say before turning the radio off.  
“Answer it,” Kody orders Gibbs when I ring him back and then I mute the video again.  
“We’re here,” Gibbs answers making me feel better to just hear his voice responding to us.  
“Kody, Agent DiNozzo here. I have some good news. We have your mum,” Tony reports.  
“You found her?”  
“Yes, we did. She’s being escorted onto the base as we speak. She should be at the school in twenty minutes. You sit tight, we’ll have a happy ending here,” Tony informs him before hanging up on Gibbs. Tony then picks up the radio and orders McGee, “Okay, probie, now!”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Do you hear those sirens, Kody? You might just survive this after all,” Rico says into the radio talking to Kody from the van while watching the classroom before the sirens get louder and he exclaims in Spanish, “The boss was right. She wasn’t dead! But she will be.” After saying this, the computer returns to retime, show that the classroom full of children was a recording the classroom is empty making him exclaim in Spanish, “What the hell?”  
“I don’t know,” The driver states in Spanish.  
“Shalom!” Ziva exclaims while pointing her gun through the passenger’s side of the van.  
“What’s going on?” the driver demands in Spanish.  
“Hold,” Tony say with a smile from beside Ziva.  
“Hi. Not bad, DiNozzo. Not bad at all,” Gibbs comments while pointing his gun through the driver door.  
“I beg to differ, he almost let Ziva talk him into shooting a child,” I state while standing beside Gibbs with my gun pointed in the driver door too.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It takes guts to testify against Carlos Mendez,” Shepard comments in her office that night.  
“It took more guts to fake her death and walk away from a husband and son to protect them,” Gibbs corrects her as I take a sip of the coffee Gibbs bought me, as promised.  
“Eighteen years is a long time to seek revenge, even for a Colombian drug lord.”  
“Jen, I’ve got to find her.”  
“No. you don’t.”  
“You know, Kody Meyers has had one hell of a day. It’s the least I can do for this kid,” Gibbs informs her before she opens the door into a side room off her office to show him that she has found the mum and a family reunion is going on inside that room.  
“Good to see I can still surprise you, Jethro,” Shepard comments.  
“Where’s Kate? If you can find one dead loved one, where’s mine?” I ask the director because it wants fair that she found someone else’s loved one but she never tried to find Kate making me want to cry.   
“Kate is dead. You saw it,” Shepard says straight up, she didn’t surge coat my pain. After he gets over the shock, he leaves the office for the night because it is getting late.  
“What a day,” I complain while yawning because it’s been a long and stressful day.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Kate,” I mumble as I sit down on the roof top where Ari stole my sister from em.  
“You still coming here to talk to me?” Kate asks me while sitting across from me. She look exactly like she did the day we meet Gibbs on air force one, she is… was so beautiful and I don’t know why Gibbs fall for me when Kate was always standing beside me, I thought he would fall for her charm.  
“I miss you. Did you know the new director found a dead mother of a bomber who was threatening his classroom and Gibbs but she didn’t even look for you,” I inform Kate.  
“I’m dead. Ari killed me.”  
“She was dead to, boating accident, dead for a whole year. You haven’t been dead that long,” I complain to her with the tears falling down my face, I need my sister.  
“Alice, no one can bring me back, you have to accept that.”  
“She could have tried, but she didn’t care.”  
“I know. But Alice, you have to find someone new to prank, I think you should prank DiNozzo.”  
“Probie called Tony boss because he was running the case,” I inform Kate with a laugh.  
“Who was that? Tony doesn’t seem like someone who would make a good lead investigator.”  
“There wasn’t any investigating for Tony to lead. He saved everyone by playing a recording of the classroom that he stole of Speed,” I laugh while inform Kate making her laugh with me.  
“That’s DiNozzo.”  
“Did I tell you about this park ranger he was flirting with? First he made an ass out of himself like normal, before getting a date and then cancelling it because she didn’t shave anything.”  
“You turned someone down beside the polar bear?”  
“Yep,” I laugh with her. We talk for hours about everything and anything, I know she’s not really here but it makes me feel better talking to my sister, even if it is just in my head.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey,” Gibbs says when I return to his house and down into his basement where he is working on the boat ribs. He knows where I went to spend some time with my ‘sister’ and even if he doesn’t like that I talk to my dead sister and see her where she died, he has accepted that it is what I need. What my mind is doing to save me from the pain of life without her.  
“Hey,” I mumble back while hugging his back without restricting his ‘work’ on the boat.  
“You feel better now?”  
“A little. I miss her so much.”  
“I know you do. You’re doing so well, baby,” Gibbs says tome while putting the sander down and pulling me into a proper hug.   
“Are you hungry?” I ask Gibbs while pulling away from the hug.  
“Yeah. What do you want to eat?”   
“I want a burger, I big burger,” I admit making Gibbs smile while giving me a kiss on my lips before informing me.  
“Okay, I’ll go buy us burgers. Lock the door, don’t let anyone in,” he orders me while moving up his stairs and out of the house while I locked the door behind him like he told me.  
I walk upstairs and pick up my book before settling into the couch to read the book as I wait for food that Gibbs is getting for us. Ugly Tony jumps up onto the couch, and he curls up on my lap. I am almost to the end of the book when Gibbs returns making me smile at him. Without saying a word, he hands me my food before sitting down next to me. We eat is silence and when we are done eating, we head back down to the basement. Gibbs works on sanding his boat while I finish my book happily.  
Once I am finished with my book I get up and walk over to Gibbs so that I can hug his back again, just enjoying his warmth, knowing he is alive and didn’t die today.  
“You scared me today,” I admit while placing a kiss on his neck.  
“Sorry,” Gibbs says while ignoring what I am doing to his neck.  
“Don’t know it again if you can, please,” I beg of him while moving to the spot I know will affect him and begin sucking and biting that spot, making Gibbs groan while stopping his sanding motions.  
“Alice, you don’t want to keep going,” Gibbs warns me but he doesn’t try to stop me. I stop kissing his neck and move away from him making Gibbs spin around to look at me and I smile at him innocently before leaning forward and kissing him on the lips. He quickly takes control of the kiss while grabbing my hips and using them to pull my body against his. He runs his big right hand up my body to my left breast that he grabs a handful of over my clothing. I run my hand up to his hair and pull on his hair making him groan into my mouth.   
He moves his mouth away from my mouth to kiss down my neck and sucks on it, leaving a mark.   
“We should move this up to the bed room,” Gibbs informs me while moving his mouth away from me.  
“I know,” I mumble while reluctantly moving away from Gibbs. I turn and begin walking up the stairs for the second time tonight, I am two steps up the stairs when I feel a hand land on my ass making me gasp and jump away from the hand. I exclaim, “Jethro.”  
“Hurry up,” Gibbs orders me while walking up the stop so his whole body is pressed against my back, including his boner.


	21. Iced *

“Apricot oil, aloe Vera… sea butter?” Tony reads off a hand lotion bottle while sitting behind his dead in the squad room in late afternoon.  
“I didn’t know you were so interested in skin care,” Ziva comments while looking at Tony as I take my phone out and begin recording this because it’s going to be good and hilarious.  
“Yeah, it’s not mine. It’s McGee. Maybe the probie is gay.”  
“Or uses it to jackoff at work,” I offer to Tony who pulls a disgusted face at that thought.  
“I’m not gay, Tony,” McGee exclaims while trying and failing to snatch the bottle out of Tony’s hands.  
“Are you saying there’s something wrong with being gay, Timothy?” Ziva asks him.  
“No, that is not what I am saying.”  
“Bi-curios. I suppose now you’re gonna tell us that a lot of your friends are of the homosexual persuasion and that I should be more sensitive,” Tony teases McGee.  
“No, actually, I was going to tell you to stay out of my desk,” McGee corrects him.  
“Right, because you wouldn’t want work spreading that you’re ‘deep moisturizing to bring out your feminine glow,’” Tony reads off the bottle.  
“I have dry skin, okay? My doctor recommended it,” McGee exclaims while snatching the bottle out of Tony’s hands and returning it to his desk.  
“Well, you’re walking a slippery slope there, probilitous. Before you know it you’re going to take bubble baths with your clogs.”  
“What is wrong with bubble baths?” McGee asks as Gibbs strides into the squad room.  
“Load up. Just got a break in the Ryan Downing case,” Gibbs informs us making me stop recording and we all grab our gear.  
“Downing?” Ziva ask in confusion.  
“Weapons Company First Sergeant,” McGee informs her.  
“Went U.A. last November on leave from Iraq,” I add.  
“Not a peep since,” Tony continues.  
“What’s the break, Gibbs?”   
“Two kids found the First sergeant floating under six inches of ice,” Gibbs informs us.  
“Ice? That means,” Tony begins telling a joke.  
“You’re now going to make a really juvenile cold-case joke?” Ziva cuts Tony off.  
“It was a really good one, too,” Tony whines as we head to the elevator as a team.   
“Know I want to hear it,” I whine back at Tony as we step into the elevator. Gibbs is looking McGee over while ignoring our child-ness.  
“Is something wrong, boss?” McGee asks him when it becomes unconfutable being stared at by his boss.  
“Just admiring your feminine glow,” Gibbs informs him making us all laugh at McGee’s misfortune.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Can’t say I’m disappointed this one’s yours. We’ll leave the lights if you guys return them. We’ve worked with NCIS before,” Talbot, the local LEO, informs us before leaving.  
“What you got?” Gibbs asks Ducky who is looking at the body in the cold night air over the creek we are standing on tonight.  
“Hopefully not pneumonia. That could be the death of me,” Ducky answers him.  
“He’s talking about the dead guy, Ducky,” I inform him with a smile.  
“Technically, paramedics have a saying concerning cold-water drowning, Agent Gibbs, Todd. They say the victim isn’t dead until he’s warm and dead,” Jimmy informs us.  
“I think we can make an exception in this case, Mister Palmer,” Ducky informs his assistance.  
“Not downing. This pond’s barely six feet deep,” Gibbs comments while looking at it.  
“Yes, I once conducted an autopsy on a man who drowned in his kitchen sink. Yes, apparently he couldn’t loosen the drain plug and he attempted to use his teeth.”  
“I thought you were cold, Ducky?” I comment because he’s wasting time instead of getting out of the cold air as quick as possible.  
“Yes, well, it will be impossible to determine the exact cause of death until he thaws. These three holes in his coat could be crucial.”  
“How about time of death?” Gibbs prompts his friend.  
“Yeah, well decomposition suggests well, anywhere from two weeks to…”  
“Four months. Depending on how many times the pond has thawed out this winter,” Jimmy cuts Ducky off while inform Gibbs what he knows.  
“Very good, Mister Palmer. Of course, I’ll have to check the meteorological data for the area before we speculate further. Strap him up,” Ducky orders Jimmy because our victim in on the gurney, Tony and McGee are walking around and talking about something.  
“Tony, back it up!” McGee orders Tony who is rambling.  
“I know. It’s think coup, man,” Tony says to him.  
“The flash light! Back it up!” McGee orders Tony making move the light back showing something under the ice.  
“What? Tree branch?”  
“Wearing a steel-toed boot?” Gibbs and I ask them together.  
“Eagle eye, boss,” Tony complements Gibbs.  
“Mark it,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Got another one!” Ziva calls out to us.  
“These things always come in three,” Tony complains.  
“Already got three, Tony,” I state.  
“Make it four!” McGee calls out.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Many theories abound,” Ducky is rambling to Jimmy down in autopsy as we walk in the next morning.  
“And you know them all, don’t you, Doctor Mallard?” Gibbs asks him while cutting him off.  
“Know them? I once wrote a sonnet on the subject for an old flame. She suffered from the most horrendous allergies. Yes, how did it go? ‘Doth they heart skip a beat when…’”  
“I’m not a big fan of poetry, Duck,” Gibbs calls over his friend.  
“Well, as it turned out, neither was she. In fact…”  
“Why am I here?”  
“Why?”  
“Why am I here?”  
“Oh, you were correct earlier on, Jethro. Our first sergeant didn’t drown. None of our bodies did.”  
“They were all shot,” Jimmy informs us.  
“First Sergeant Downing received the most damage. Three in the chest. Here, here and here. And one to the back, just below the heart.”  
“That’s the kill shot,” I state.  
“Yes, well it ruptured his inferior vena cava. As to our walking pictograms, one bullet each.”  
“Are these gang tats?” Gibbs asks while looking at the other bodies we found.  
“That’s not my field of expertise. But I’ve had Mister Palmer document the entire line for further investigation.”  
“Some of them were quite um… explicit,” Jimmy informs us.  
“Jethro, this young man was shot in the front, just below the left clavicle. And this young man was shot in the back. This young man… ah… was also shot in the back. Like or First Sergeant. Back, front, front, back. The pattern is quite random. I believe the phrase is turkey shoot,” Ducky explains while pointing to our extra bodies.  
“More like a massacre,” I state.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Just a feeling. I’m sure you know what those are like, don’t you, McGee?” Tony teases McGee as Gibbs and I walk back into the squad room from autopsy.  
“Feeling, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“That and I faxed a copy to a buddy at the Baltimore P.D. He’s sending me intel that he’s got back…”  
“What you got?” Gibbs cuts Tony off while turning to McGee as he sits at his desk and I sit at mine.  
“I have got an upper limit on the time frame,” McGee explain before handing Gibbs a photo of a blank piece of paper and continuing to report, “It’s an ATM receipt. It used to be an ATM receipt. The ink’s washed off, but the dimensions matched the receipt paper used by first sergeant Downing back. I checked his records. Last withdrawal November eighteenth.”  
“The day he was reported missing,” I state.  
“No I.D. on the other three ice cubes yet. But the dredge team did find a weapon. H.P. Browning. Ziva brought it down to Aby,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Brass,” Gibbs ask them.  
“Nothing. It’s pretty far off the beaten track about five hundred meters from the nearest main road. You know what that means.”  
“The bodies were dumped,” I state.  
“By who?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“That’s a good question, McGee. Why didn’t you find me an answer?” Gibbs orders McGee before getting up to go and talk to Abby, with me following him into the elevator and down to the lab.  
“Balance isn’t usually the primary concern on a mission,” Ziva informs Abby while showing her how to stand while firing a gun.  
“What is?” Abby ask innocently.  
“Ari,” I answer  
“The guy shooting back. Which is what I’m going to start doing if you two don’t get back to work,” Gibbs informs them while answering Abby over the top of me but they both heard us both.   
“Gibbs, I was the one waiting for you!” Abby defends herself while smiling at me.  
“What are you waiting for now, Abs?” I ask her innocently.  
“I ran ballistics on the Browning.”  
“Ruffling patterns indicate it didn’t fire any of the slugs Ducky pulled from the first sergeant,” Ziva adds.  
“Thirty nine millimetre Parabellum and a forty five.”  
“Which means the downing was shot by at least two unaccounted for weapons.”  
“I got that part,” Gibbs informs Ziva.  
“The dredge crew is still looking. Hopefully more weapons will turn up.”  
“The good news is I matched the browning to the slugs pulled from the other three victims,” Abby reports.  
“Any prints?” I ask her.  
“No, not by a long shot. And a GSR would be pointless because it’s been underwater for so long. But I did run the serial number. The gun is registered to first sergeant Ryan Downing. Looks like he went down fighting for his life.”  
“Or committed triple homicide,” Ziva corrects Abby.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The three bodies found with first sergeant Downing,” Gibbs begins reporting to Shepard in MTAC, she is sitting in the dark.  
“Were killed with his personal weapon. I heard. Where are your glasses?” Shepard asks Gibbs when she hands him a file and he attempts to read it without his glasses that the team doesn’t know he needs.  
“Oh, I forgot them,” Gibbs lies, he left them at home on purpose. Shepard hands him her glass that he uses to read the report as I read over his shoulder.  
“I didn’t like what it says wither.”  
“First sergeants don’t go looking for this kind of payback,” I report to the director tightly, he is innocent.  
“You would,” Shepard says to Gibbs.  
“I was only a gunny,” Gibbs says like that changes everything.  
“The Marine Corps is worried his company is going to come back from Iraq and look for revenge. It could be a bloodbath,” Shepard explains before bravely taking a sip of Gibbs coffee, but she can’t stand the taste making her exclaim, “Ah, how do you drink that swill?”  
“How much time do we have?” I ask her.  
“They were ordered to return this week.”  
“Were?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“The rotation’s been held up ‘til your investigations over. They’re still in a war zone instead of with their families, Jethro. I don’t care if First Sergeants Downing killed those gang bangers. If he didn’t, find out who did. If he did, close the case.”  
“They’re wrong, Jenny. You do care,” Gibbs corrects her as we get up and he hands back the file and glasses.  
“If you don’t care, you are heartless and shouldn’t work in law enforcement or as director,” I inform her before leaving MTAC with Gibbs.  
“SO I’m not tough?” McGee asks Ziva as we walk into the squad room.  
“If you have to ask. Are these the other victims?” Gibbs asks them while looking at the photos and criminal records on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“Alejandro Marquez, Jorge Rubio, and Hector ‘the hammer’ Menendez. All members of the L.V.M,” Ziva reports to Gibbs.  
“L.V.M., boss, that stands for,” McGee begins.  
“La Vida Mala. El Salvadorean street gang,” Gibbs cuts McGee off.  
“Not just a street gang, Gibbs. They have thirty thousand members worldwide. They deal drugs, run guns,” Ziva reports.  
“They also hire themselves out as hit men.”  
Yes. Which is what two of their members were allegedly doing a year ago, when they mistakenly shot a private first class…”  
“Martin Reggio. A marine from First Sergeant Downing’s company. We couldn’t prove it,” I cut her off.  
“Downing was on a revenge mission.”  
“First Sergeants don’t go on revenge mission, Officer David,” Gibbs and I snap at her.  
“I would. Why not a marine first sergeant?”  
“They have more control than you do. Do either one of you have anything new to offer to this?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“Yeah, boss. I think I do. These three here. They weren’t just members of LVM. According to the FBI here, they are all Lieutenants in LVMs Manassas chapter,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“The boss?”   
“Miguel Sosa.”  
“Why are we standing here?” I ask them in confusion because we should be talking to the boss.  
“He’s missing. He’s been MIA since these three disappeared a few months ago.”  
“Let’s go meet his replacement. DiNozzo! Where the hell have you been?”  
“I come bearing gifts. I spent the night at Rock Creek Park. And I found these when they drained the pond,” Tony comments while holding up the bag full of guns.  
“Whoa. That’s a big one,” Ziva comments while looking at one of the guns.  
“Are you expecting an ‘Atta boy?” Gibbs asks Tony who is standing there looking overly proud of himself.  
“I thought it would be nice,” Tony comments making Gibbs step close to him and Tony flinches but Gibbs rubs the back of his head instead of hitting it.  
“’Atta boy.”  
“I’m just doing my job, boss.”  
“We know that!” I state.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I don’t think this is the head-quarters of a worldwide crime syndicate,” McGee comments as we, Gibbs, McGee, Ziva and I, get out of the car.  
“What did you expect, McGee? Corporate headquarters building?” Ziva ask him. Ziva looks at all the men before commenting, “They’re all armed.”  
“Keep your eyes open. Spread out,” Gibbs orders us before turning to a member and asking him, “Who’s El Jefe?”  
“You are, officer,” Caesar, one of the members, informs Gibbs.  
“Who’s in charge?” McGee asks him next while stepping close to him, trying to intimidate him.  
“In charge? In charge of what?”  
“The Manassas chapter of La Vida Mala.”  
“Inside,” Caesar finally informs us, making us walking into the restaurant where the ‘boss’ is eating.  
“You’re either DEA or Immigration. You’re not FBI. They wear suits,” Tomas, the boss, informs us of our jobs.  
“NCIS,” I correct him.  
“Navy cops,” Caesar states.  
“What’s we do to piss you off? Come on, man. We get blamed for everything these days. Help me out. We steal the admiral’s car?” Tomas jokes.  
“Or cazoncillos?” Caesar laughs at us.  
“You killed two marines. The first in a drive-by shooting. The other in Rock Creek Park,” Gibbs informs them in complete seriousness.  
“Take me away. You want one of them instead? Go with the federals. They need a suspect,” Tomas orders one of his gang members.  
“We know who did it,” I inform him.  
“You can keep those,” McGee informs him while laying out the photos of the gangsters on the table.  
“Don’t look surprised,” Gibbs orders him when he looks surprised to see his missing members.  
“I never seen them before,” Tomas denies.  
“They used to run your organization,” McGee explains.  
“Organization? We’re a social club,” Tomas laughs at McGee.  
“You’re not El Jefe,” I stater.  
“No. who am I?”  
“El Gordo,” Gibbs informs him, which means the fat one making Caesar laugh, making Gibbs continues, “See? Nobody laughs at the boss. You have El Jefe give me a call, or I book him the next seat on the flight to Gitmo.”  
“He can deal with Cassidy,” I say with an innocent smile while Gibbs lays his card on the table.  
“You can’t do that. We’re not terrorists,” Tomas denies in fear.  
“Of course your terrorists, only terrorists go to Gitmo.”  
“Ziva?” Gibbs asks his agent while ignoring my comment.  
“I’ll have Tel Aviv produce an intercept between Al Qaeda and this… social club. You want photos?” Ziva asks.  
“That would help drive the point home and get a quicker plane,” I inform her.  
“It might take me twenty-four hours.”  
“Okay. Twenty four hours,” Gibbs informs Tomas, El Gordo, before leading us out of the restaurant and back onto the street. Gibbs orders us, “Get a surveillance team on this taco shack.”  
“Actually, it’s a pupusa shack, boss. I’m just saying, tacos are historically associated with,” McGee rambles.  
“Ziva, you make sure they’re visible. Okay, McGee? You come back here. You pick up anybody who’s got a La Vida Mala clown tat.”  
“What for, exactly?”   
“I don’t care, McGee. Driving around the block. I don’t care, McGee.”  
Okay, so you want us to shake them up.”  
“If they’re worried we’re on to something, they start talking to each other,” Ziva informs McGee.  
“Get me intercepts on their cell phones, computers, pager, smoke signals… any way they communicate,” Gibbs orders then.  
“Uh, boss? How are we going to get a judge to sign off on all that?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Don’t you hear, McGee? La Vida Mala has ties to Al Qaeda,” Ziva informs him.  
“Well, yeah. But weren’t we just saying that to…”  
“Unbelievable,” I mumble as I get into the car.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“U had a buddy on the Baltimore gang unit, did that to the local LVM. They found his head in Crawford Park. Never did find the rest of him. You think I’d lie to you?” Tony teases McGee as I follow Gibbs into the squad room.  
“Yes,” Gibbs answers him.  
“To McGee I would lie. Never to you, sir. Never to you. Look out! Look out!” Tony says before stealing McGee’s food. Gibbs leads me though the squad room to the back elevator to talk to Abby.  
“I hope you’ve earned this, Abby,” Gibbs says while shaking the caf-pow.  
“Oh, the director already hooked me up. She wanted an update. But I didn’t tell her anything. I swear. She’s been on her phone since she got here,” Abby informs Gibbs making him walk over to her and take the one the director gave her, replaced it with his and throws the director’s caf-pow in the bin like a little child.  
“Oh, that’s mature,” Shepard says as Abby computer beeps.  
“You have something useful for us? Beside bad investigators?” I ask Abby while insulting the director.  
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Abby answers me.  
”You looking over my shoulder again, director?” Gibbs asks Shepard who is standing chest to chest with Gibbs.  
“Why? You feel a little crowded?” Shepard flirts with Gibbs.  
“Yeah, a little,” Gibbs admits making her back up.  
“Hoe’s that?”  
“Better,” Gibbs says while walking over to me and Abby, so he is standing right behind me.  
“These are the four rounds taken from First Sergeant Downing’s body. Three nine-millimetres Parabellum and one forty-five. I matched the forty five to the colt. That’s a no brainer. The nine millimetres are trickier. But I got a definite match on the Beretta and the Tec-Nine. That leaves us with this final round. The runt of the litter. Ducky said it went into the back and lodged in the chest plate,” Abby reports to Gibbs.  
“Kill shot,” I state.  
“The riffling was almost stripped. It made it impossible to find out which weapon it came from. But I did it.”  
“Which one was it?” Shepard demands of her while giving me a look for Gibbs standing so close to me.  
“Neither.”  
“We’re missing a weapon.”  
“Then we’re missing a shooter,” Gibbs reminds her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I understand you’ve got a job to do, Agent Gibbs. My marines have done theirs. It’s time for them to come home,” Arvidas says to us in MTAC.  
“I agree, captain,” Gibbs says to him.  
“Well then why is my company still sitting in Iraq?”  
“You lost two marines to a Virginia street gang, skipper. Would you like us to spell it out for you?” I ask him.  
“Headquarters is afraid of reprisals.”  
“Not only headquarters. PFC Reggio was killed in a drive-by shooting one week before you deployment. Now your First Sergeant turns up dead?” Gibbs begins to explain.  
“You think First Sergeant Downing was out for revenge?”  
“His body was found in a frozen pond with three dead gang-bangers. His weapon was used to kill them. You tell me, Captain.”  
“No way. Not his style, Agent Gibbs.”  
“What was he doing back on leave in the states?” I ask him.  
“His father had cancer. Terminal. He wanted a chance to say goodbye.”  
“I hope he got it. He was shot four times. Kill shot was in his back,” Gibbs informs him.  
“You’re a marine. Do you know any First Sergeant that would leave their men in combat to go chase after some street punks?”   
“No, Skipper. I don’t.”  
“Neither do I. well, what are you going to do about it?”  
“We’re working this case on this end. As soon as we know, you’ll know,” I promise him.  
“Sir? You people had a year to catch Reggio’s killers and didn’t do it!” Silva, one of the marines, call to us over the video call.  
“At ease, Lance Corporal Silva,” Arvidas orders his marine.  
“But sir!”  
“At ease, Marine!”  
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to…”  
“Your watch is over, marine. We’ll talk about this later.”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“I got one hundred and eighty two other marines wondering the same thing, Agent Gibbs. Don’t let them down this time,” Arvidas guilt’s us before hanging up on us.  
“You looking over my shoulder again, Jen?” Gibbs asks Shepard when he turns around to see her.   
“Not exactly. He’s right, you know. You can’t let them down,” Shepard informs him while handing him a coffee. He leads me out of MTAC and down to the squad room where Tony is stroking McGee’s face as he leans over McGee’s desk.  
“DiNozzo!” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Hey, boss,” Tony replays while rubbing McGee’s face.  
“Why are you touching his face?”  
“I don’t know, it feels good, though. It’s like a bunny rabbit.”  
“Don’t!” Gibbs orders him while hitting in on the side of the head.  
“Sorry.”  
“I guess McGee’s not the gay one. What are the wiretaps telling us?” I ask them while moving away from Tony in disgusts because he was stoking McGee.  
“Not much. Zepeda, the big guy, U.S. citizen, made five calls today. Twice to his mother, two for food, and just no concerning…”  
“’Hoes, slang for,” Ziva inform Gibbs before trying to treat him like an idiot.  
“I know what it’s slang for, Ziva,” Gibbs snaps at her.  
“The rest of the gang’s conversations are even less promising,” Tony reports.  
“The only member we’ve been unable to listen to is Cesar Bernal,” Ziva adds.  
“Almost invisible, boss,” McGee informs Gibbs.  
“Almost, McGee?” I ask him.  
“He never talks on the phone. Only sends and receives text messages.”  
“Twenty two since yesterday. All of them from Miguel Sosa in San Salvador,” Tony adds.  
“Texts are coded, but it looks as though Sosha’s still making the day to day decisions for the gang.”  
“Then Bernal is his number two. Tony, get him in here,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“On it, boss,” Tony agrees.  
Use your contacts. Find to everything you can about Sosha and what he’s doing in El Salvador.”  
“Done,” Ziva informs him.  
“McGee?”  
“Yeah,” McGee ask while looks at Gibbs waiting for his order.  
“You’re trying too hard,” Gibbs informs him while handing him a can of shaving cream he just pulled out of his desk.  
“On it,” McGee agrees before going to shave.  
“Why does the director get you a coffee and not me?” I complain to Gibbs.  
“Because you two don’t like each other,” Gibbs answers me before taking a sip of his coffee.  
“But I want coffee too.”  
“Well don’t piss the director off and she might buy you coffee.”  
“No she won’t. If she was ever going to like me, she wouldn’t have hired her girlfriend who murdered my sister,” I state while staring at Gibbs coffee.  
“I guess but you don’t have to stoop to her level,” Gibbs informs me while handing me his coffee for me to have a sip.  
“The director hasn’t drunk out of this cup has she? I don’t need her STD.”  
“Just drink the coffee,” Gibbs orders me making me take a sip of his coffee.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Your friend Zepeda’s a chump,” Gibbs comment as we walk over to the table in integration room.  
“You’re probably right. Zepeda’s an idiot. But last I heard, being stupid wasn’t illegal,” Cesar informs us, because he laid back.  
“We’re more interested in who killed my first sergeant,” I state.  
“You’re talking to the wrong cholo, senor, senora. I’m just a small fish. Talk to the jefe.”  
“I would, but I can’t type. How about you?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Why, do you want to hire me as your secretary or something?”  
“No. No, because I can’t pay you as well as your current employer, Miguel Sosa. No, I can’t do that. You tell him I want to speak with him.”  
“Si. I delivered your Gitmo threat. Sosa said to ask you why you let your people live so far from work. That vato, McGee, and the Israeli chica, all the why out in Silver Spring? A long way, si? What if they need you pronto?”  
“Threating my people is never a good idea,” Gibbs just into action while standing up and leaning down in front of him.  
“I’m just the messenger.”  
“A messenger that knows what happened at Rock creek Park,” I state while hiding my fear.  
“Estoy muerto if I talk to you,” Cesar ask us, estoy muerto means ‘I’m dead’ in Spanish.  
“Estas muerto if you don’t,” I agrees with him, estas muerto means ‘you are dead,’ in Spanish.  
Two marines called Sosa to help unload captured Iraqi weapons.”  
“Two marines?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Si. He sent our people to do a deal. He figured maybe the Marines would back off or, you know… what happened before.”  
“Who was the other marine?” I ask him.  
“They don’t invite me to these things. I’m just a messenger. I don’t know!”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Three Marines from the company were on leave at the same time as First Sergeant Downing. Of those three, two were nowhere near D.C. Which leaves Lance Corporal Jose Silva. Juvenile record, and suspected pre-corps gang activity. He was also with PFC Reggio the night he was murdered,” Tony reports back in the squad room.  
“I want him on a plane. Yesterday,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Mo, no, no, no. no, human bodies sink until the gases created by the internal putrefaction have had time to accumulate,” Ducky rambles to McGee as Gibbs and I walk into autopsy.  
“How long does that take?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Under the forecasted weather conditions? Ten to fourteen days.”  
“Bodies went into the water between November twenty fifth and December ninth. Or they would have resurfaced to the top and ice would have formed around them,” I summarise what Ducky is saying.  
“Precisely. Have we had any idea what our marine was doing there yet?”   
“No, ducky. I don’t. But we’ve got to find it out in eleven hours and thirty minutes. Hey!” Gibbs calls McGee to follow him as Ducky begins whistling again.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How was the flight, Lance Corporal,” Gibbs asks Silva as he gets of the plane in tarmac.  
“It was um… long, sir. How much trouble am I in?” Silva asks us.  
“Trouble? Why would you say that?” I ask him innocently.  
“Five NCIS agents escorting one Lance Corporal?”  
“You got it all wrong, Marine. She’s Mossad,” Tony corrects Silva while pointing to Ziva as we get into the car. Ziva is driving with me in the middle seat, and McGee is next to me. Gibbs and Tony are in the back with Silva between them.  
“I hope you slept on the plane, lance corporal,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Yeah, it’s going to be a long night. You want to get the cash first, or the Iraqi weapons?” Tony asks him as Ziva accelerates and cuts another car off.  
“I’m not scaring you, am I?” Ziva asks him innocently.  
“I’m fine,” McGee answers her.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,” Silva denies.  
“Really? Because you were on leave with First Sergeant Downing, and then you were with PFC Reggio the nigh he was killed in the drive-by shooting,” Tony informs him.  
I can’t help a coincidence.”  
“A coincidence, Lance Corporal? Five dead bodies, you’re our only link,” I inform him as a car honks at Ziva again.  
“Your company, your fellow marines, are stuck in Iraq until we solve this case,” Gibbs adds.  
“You don’t think I know that, sir?” Silva snaps.  
“He knows, he just doesn’t care,” Tony informs us.  
“Hey, so you know what? We had a name for guys like you when I was on active duty. Bravo Foxtrot,” Gibbs informs him.  
“And explicit term for sexual…”  
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” Silva admits as Ziva accelerates again.  
“Like what?” Gibbs asks him  
“If a drive-by killing isn’t solved right away, the cops forget it. NCIS forgot about it. Private Reggio was my best friend. He died in my arms. I couldn’t just let that go, sir.”  
“So you decided to turn a quick buck?” Tony asks him.  
“No. I called Sosa to meet… but not to sell him any weapons. I wanted blood.”  
“And your first sergeant found out about it?” Gibbs and I ask him together.  
“I don’t know how. But he did. He yanked my leave and restricted me to base.”  
“And he went to the meeting in your place,” Gibbs finishes for him.  
“He didn’t go down there to kill anyone, sir. He went down there to make peace. To end it. He didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. If I could… I’d switch places with him. I would.”  
“Yeah. Yeah, I think you would, Lance Corporal.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It checks out. Quantico gate log shows that Downing restricted Silva to base on November twenty sixth for the duration of his leave. Lance Corporal Silva wasn’t at the pond. He didn’t kill anyone,” McGee reports to Gibbs while he stands in front of Gibbs’ desk where Gibbs is sitting, back in the squad room that night.  
“Thank you. I owe you one, Simon,” Ziva says into the phone before hanging up and turning to Gibbs to report, “That was my contact in San Salvador.”  
“He locate Sosa?” I ask her.  
“No. he’s not there.”  
“He has to be. Bernal is texting him there a dozen times a day,” McGee reminds her.  
“If Simon says he’s not in San Salvador, then he’s not there, McGee!”  
“He has to be,” Gibbs snaps at her.  
“Gibbs, I…”  
“If not, we’ve wasted three days. I am not wasting one more to bring Marines home. You find him. Now!”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Uh-oh! What is this meal going to cost me this time?” Shepard asks Gibbs as he walks into her office carrying a paper bag full of food.  
“It didn’t cost you anything last time,” Gibbs informs her as she takes the bag.  
“You mean aside from the thousand extra calories I didn’t need?”   
“I can leave,” Gibbs offers while starting to walk to the door.  
“I didn’t say that. Salvadorean food? How fried,” Shepard say making Gibbs begin walking to the door again but she orders him, “Sit. I’m sorry. Another Marine was injured in Captain Arvidas’ group.”  
“I know,” Gibbs informs her as we sit down and split the food up.  
“I heard you found the man responsible for First Sergeant Downing’s death.”  
“His name is Cesar Bernal,” I state while trying the food.  
“Can you make a case? I knew this meal was going to cost me. Okay, what do you have so far?” Shepard asks Gibbs while ignoring me.  
“Cesar is making a power play for control of his crew. He’s been faking orders from Miguel Sosa to the rest of LVM for the last four months,” Gibbs informs her.  
“And Sosa?”  
“He’s dead. It’s the only way Cesar could have gotten away with it,” I explain to her tightly while trying to offer her an olive branch.  
“So First Sergeant Downing wasn’t the target. He was Cesar’s lure. The real targets were the three LVM Lieutenants. Cesar was taking out the leadership. Do you have any physical evidence?”  
“Nothing linking Cesar to the crime scene,” Gibbs admits while eating his food.  
“Jethro, you’re going to need more than motive to get a jury to convict.”  
“Depends on the jury.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The autopsy of First Sergeant Downing revealed four entry wounds. However, of interest is the fact that the three frontal wounds showed no sign of internal haemorrhaging. The shots were fired after First sergeant Downing was dead,” Ducky says while pulling the drawer out to show us the body.  
“Each of your buddies… out a bullet in his corpse,” Gibbs add.  
“Your point?” Tomas ask without any fear.  
“The point is if your buddies each fired a round into the first sergeant after he was dead, who shot them?” I ask him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We can tell from the rifling patterns that the slugs pulled from your three dead LVMs were from the Browning found at the scene. Nice tat,” Abby says in the lab.  
“Huh?” Tomas asks her in confusion.  
“Your Drachenkreuz. The symbol of the ancient order of the…”  
“Abby,” Gibbs and I cut her off.  
“Sorry, Gibbs. Um… the point is that whoever shot your guys used First Sergeant Downing’s gun.”  
“He wanted to make it look like out first sergeant smoked your muchachos,” Gibbs informs Tomas.  
“Of course, your crew probably would have only turned their back to the shooter if it was someone they really trusted.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Miguel Sosa. Word on the street is he is hiding out in El Salvador. Except the FBI has no record of him leaving the country. Salvadorean authorities have no record of him coming in. so the only trail we have is the SMS text messages he’s been sending you. The problem is he hasn’t been sending. El Salvador country code has been falsified,” McGee reports tot eh team and gang members back in the squad room.  
“Someone faked them to make them look like they came from Miguel Sosa,” I explain to the gang members.  
“This message originated from an email account registered to Cesar Bernal,” McGee explains while pulling up the SMS that Abby has found in too long to be an SMS.  
“He killed your boss. Played you for a fool. Us, too. I’ll never get a conviction in court with what I have on him,” Gibbs informs Tomas before they exchange a look before Tomas leaves with the gang members and Gibbs and I head to integration.  
“Hey, boss,” Tony greets Gibbs as we walk into the integration room.  
“Right. I see. You were all trying to throw me off balance. Soften me up for the big guns, eh?” Cesar asks Tony.  
“Actually, I didn’t know you were still here. Come on, I’ll drive you home,” Gibbs orders him while getting him up.  
“Wear your safety belt,” Tony whisper to him as we leave the integration room and walk to the elevator.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Door to door service. I could get used to this. What’s the matter? You pissed because whatever game you tried to play didn’t work? You’ve got a lot to learn about the street, carbon. Loyalty means everything in our world. Without it, estas muerto,” Cesar says to us in the sedan outside of the restaurant. He continues as he gets out of the car, “Thanks for the lift. Semper fi.”  
“Goodbye, Cesar,” Gibbs says before taking off, leaving Cesar with the angry gang he is running.  
“You want coffee?” I ask Gibbs while leading my head on the passenger seat because I’m still in the back.  
“Yeah,” Gibbs agrees with me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
()  
“Morning,” Gibbs mumbles into my neck with his voice even deeper because he’s only just waking up.  
“No, the suns not up it’s not morning,” I inform Gibbs while turning over to face him.  
“Wake up,” Gibbs says to me while shaking my shoulder but I’m slipping back to sleep. Before I fall asleep, I know that Gibbs is up to something. I suddenly feel his lips on my neck, but I try to ignore him in the attempts of sleeping some more. He doesn’t let me ignore him by lightly bite on my neck.  
“Jethro,” I moan making him smirks against my neck as he runs his hand over my body while sucking a mark on my neck.  
“What is it baby?” He ask me in fake innocents before kissing me on the lips, I move my arms up around his neck and kiss him back. He takes full control of the kiss while pinning my body into the bed. He whispers, “You still want to go back to sleep?”  
“Stop teasing me, Jethro,” I beg of him as he stops kissing me and moving his hands off me, so only his weight is touching me. He doesn’t listen to me, with a smirk.  
“Oh, I’m only just beginning,” Gibbs informs me before dropping his head to kiss my breast throw the shirt I am wearing. He runs his hand down to the bottom of the shirt and he pulls it up and off my torso leaving me in just my nickers. He attaches his head onto my left breast while playing with my right with his left hand. I moan while bucking my hips against his hips but he restrained them against the bed.   
“If you keep moving, I’ll stop,” Gibbs informs me.  
“Jethro, stop teasing me,” I beg of him because he is sucking on my breast but he’s not touching where I want him to.  
“I will tease you if I want too,” Gibbs informs me before sucking on my breast harder. He runs his hand down my body but he just rests his hand on my leg without touching me where I want him to touch me. He sucks on my breast and over between them and to the other breast where he sucks on it making me moan. I pull on his hair, trying to move his head up for a kiss but instead he just pulls his head out of my reach while saying, “Uh, what part of don’t move, don’t you understand? You are not to touch me or move, or you will go to work without orgasming.”  
“Jethro,” I whine as he grabs my hands and places them on the bed.  
“Move them and you don’t get off,” Gibbs informs me before running his hands over my torso, teasing me in the hopes of making me break his orders. He leans down and kiss from my breast down my body, lightly scrapping his teeth over the bottom of my breast before kissing down my stomach. He stops at my belly button which he circles with his tongue. He finally moves down to my panties, he gently bites the waste-band of them without touching where I want him the most. I force my body to stay still, and feel every one of his teasing movies.  
“Let’s get you out of this panties,” Gibbs mumbles while removing them and dropping them onto the ground. Leaving me naked while he is completely dressed still. He runs his fingers through my wetness before placing it in his mouth. He drops down and licks a strip in my pussy making me gasp with a moan of pleasure. He watches me as I struggle not to grind my pussy into his face as he eats me out. He runs his tongue around my pussy opening, making me gasp right as he pushes the tip in and used his fingers to rub my clitoris.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out as he slides his tongue in and out of my pussy. Gibbs continues to play my pussy like a finely tuned instrument as he stares into my eyes. I moan and as he hits a spot inside me.  
“Come on baby, cum for me,” Gibbs orders me making me cum all over his face and fingers. He moves up my body while informing me, “Good girl.”  
“Jethro, you have to remove those clothes,” I inform him while pulling on his shirt that covers his handsome body. He grins as he pulls the shirt over his head happily. Once the shirt is on the ground, he leans down and kisses me as I wrap my legs around his waist.  
“Glade you didn’t go back to sleep?” Gibbs teases me as he breaks the kiss and runs his hand down my torso until he can untie the knot in his pants. He unties them and kicks them off while I suck on his neck, leaving a mark, half in the hopes that Tony would work it out and half so that the director knows he is mine.  
Once his pants are off he runs his fingers through my wetness and use it to lube his cock up before slowly lining it up with my pussy but he doesn’t push it in.  
“Jethro,” I whine when he just pushes it against me, bumping into my clitoris and running his cock though my wetness.  
“What baby? Just say it and you will get it,” Gibbs whispers to me.  
“Stop teasing me,” I beg of him without saying what he wants as I beg of him.  
“What, I’m not doing anything.”  
“That’s the problem,” I tell him.  
“Not my problem,” Gibbs informs me while squeezing my breast between his hands.  
“Jethro, please,” I beg of him.  
“Please what?”  
“Please, put you cock in me,” I final say what he wants to hear.  
“See, that’s not so hard,” Gibbs whispers to me.  
“Yes it is,” I tease him making him line his cock up and slide into me with a moan of pleasure from me as he groans.  
“God, you’re so tight,” Gibbs gasps as he grab my hip, holding it against his own. After a moment he begins moving his hip against me, straighten slow before building speed making me moan with every one of his thrusts. I lean up and suck his neck and upper chest. I thrust back up to him making us both moan in pleasure because it makes him slide deeper inside of me.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out as I scratch his back.   
“Baby, you have to cum, I can’t last,” Gibbs informs me while missing a beat in his thrusting pace making me moan when he rubs my clitoris with his fingers. He shifts his stocks inside of me, making me moan when he hits that spot inside of me.  
“Jethro,” I gasp when he hits it again and again making me quickly climb that hill he forces me up some many times. He quickly makes me scream when he makes me cum, the waves for pleasure seems to go on forever.  
“Alice,” Gibbs groans as he release his cum inside of me. He drops he weight onto the bed nest to me as we both gasp for breath. After a moment he asks me, “Alice, baby, are you okay?”  
“How could any of your wives leave you when you are that good at giving someone an orgasm?” I ask him something that’s been on my mind since the first time we did that.  
“They don’t like coming…”  
“Well, that’s stupid, it feels good. And it is proven hat orgasms make you healthier.”  
“They don’t like coming third after work and coffee,” Gibbs finish with a chuckle at me.  
“Nothing wrong with coffee,” I inform him as I lay beside him and cuddle up into his sweaty chest.  
“I agree.”  
“I need a shower,” I finally decide as I roll out of the bed and head towards the bathroom.  
“Can I come?” he asks me with a sexy smirk.  
“You just did.”  
“Baby, I want to see you wet.”  
“I’m going to start calling you DiNozzo,” I exclaim because he is being pervy like Tony.  
“DiNozzo is not going to see you naked or wet,” Gibbs growls in jealousy at the thing before getting back to what he wants, “I want to see you naked, wet, in my shower.”  
“So first I could sleep in, now I can’t shower n my own?”  
“Yes,” Gibbs answers me while getting out of his bed and following me into the bathroom and wrapping his hands around my torso and tickling me.  
()  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The victim, a male in his early twenties was found in this dumpster, shot repeatedly at close range. Police have identified him as Cesar Bernal, a native of El Salvador, and say they believe he has close ties to gang activity in the Manassas are. In fact, police say he,” a report on the TV reports before Gibbs turn off the TV. Tony, McGee, Ziva and I were watching that around Tony’s desk in the squad room.  
“If you don’t have enough work to do, I’m sure I can find some,” Gibbs threats us.  
“Oh, no. I’ve got a lot of work to do, boss,” Tony exclaims while pretending to do work.  
“Oh, no. there’s lots of work,” Ziva overlaps Tony.  
“Good. I’ll be in MTAC,” Gibbs informs us before he walks up to MTAC.  
“He’s in a good mood,” Tony comments while looking where Gibbs disappeared behind the steel doors.  
“Why is that surprising?” I ask Tony as I return to my desk.  
“Because Gibbs is never in a good mood.”  
“He’s in a good mood before you arrive at work and after you leave,” I inform Tony making him pull a face.  
“It’s not my fault.”  
“Of course not. He’s just not allowed to drink on the job to deal with you like he did when he hired you.”  
“What?” Ziva asks in confusion because it’s a joke from before her time as he.  
“Nothing,” Tony informs her as he moves over to my desk and stands on the other side before begging of me, “So, can I get a hint? Please?”  
“Sure, on what?” I ask him innocently.  
“Who your boyfriend is? I need a hit.”  
“What type of hint?”  
“Something useful,” McGee jumps in while walking over to my desk and standing next to Tony.  
“Um… He’s not someone you would think I would date.”  
“That’s as helpful as your last hint; he drinks coffee,” Tony complains to me.  
“What do you want me to say?”  
“A name,” McGee tries.  
“Vickie Linda Smart.”  
“What?” Tony, McGee and Ziva ask in confusion.  
“You ask for a name and I gave you a name. From known on you shall be called Vickie Linda Smart.”  
“We wanted the name of your boyfriend,” Tony corrects me while laughing at what I did to McGee’s attempt.  
“Oh that. It’s a name you all know well but fear,” I inform them before adding, “Or that’s what I assume you fear when you hear the name, but it could be arousal because you two are gay.”  
“I’m not gay,” McGee exclaims.  
“I am not gay,” Tony exclaims overlapping McGee as Gibbs walks back into the squad room. He smacks Tony and McGee on the back of the head, making them get back to work.  
“Sorry boss,” McGee says to Gibbs.  
“I deserved that, boss,” Tony says as he also gets back to work. Gibbs sits at his desk and gives me a look for encouraging his team to not do the work that needs to be done.   
 


	22. Untouchable

“I knew something was wrong the minute I got out of the car, probie. Instinct. Pure and simple. Either you got it or you don’t,” Tony boost about his great ‘investigative’ skills.  
“Yeah, well I heard you squealed like a little squirrel when the cat jumped out at you,” McGee teases Tony.  
“I was saving this for Ziva, bit since you volunteered,” Tony says while picking up the cat carrier, “Find the little beast. Got blood on his paws. It’s evidence.”  
“I’m allergic to cats.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry. I had no idea. Try holding your breath,” Tony informs him while forcing the cage into McGee’s hands.  
“Our Lieutenant suffered a single gunshot would, Jethro, to the right temple,” Ducky reports.  
“Through and through,” Gibbs finishes for Ducky.  
“Yeah.”  
“Impacted here. Round’s still in the book, duck,” I inform him while looking inside the book.  
“Sadly, one less reader in the word.”  
“Who committed suicide. Or maybe she was just cleaning her gun too close to her head,” Jimmy reminds us.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders his agent to inform Jimmy the rules of NCIS.  
“NCIS investigates all suicides as homicides until proven otherwise, Palmer,” Tony informs her.  
“Got it,” Jimmy nodes in understanding.  
“T.O.D., Ducky?” I ask my father.  
“Nine-nine thirty this morning. What time was her interview scheduled for today?” Ducky asks us.  
“Ten hundred,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Gibbs,” Ziva calls from the back room, we all follow her voice into a back room. When we get there to see her holding a box of money, she continues, “I found it taped underneath the bureau.”  
“Hundred and fifties. Non-sequential. Maybe fifty, sixty grand,” Gibbs comments while looking over the money.  
“Looks like we found our mole, boss. Knew she was corned. No way out. NCIS closing in,” Tony comments.  
“She could have run, Tony. Suicide is only for when you know you’re going to be captured,” Ziva reminds him.  
“For you, maybe. This doesn’t exactly look like the bedroom of a hard core super-secret agent chick,” Tony comments while looking around the room, the bed and everywhere is covered in stuffed toys.  
“I have stuffed animals. Okay, I was twelve. But still, I mean…”  
“She could have been coerced,” Gibbs states.  
“To be a mole?”   
“He means to kill herself,” Tony corrects Ziva.  
“I mean both, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him.  
“How many suicides you know make their beds before they off themselves?” I ask Tony.  
“Want me to inform Lieutenant Hill’s command about her death, boss?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“Nope,” Gibbs answers him.  
“He wants to tell him himself. That way he can gauge the response,” Tony informs Ziva as Gibbs and I leave the bedroom.  
“DiNozzo.”  
“On your six, boss.”  
“Get the couch, bookcase, and carpets to Abby,” Gibbs orders Tony in the living room.  
“Oh. On it.”  
“McGee!”   
“Yeah, boss?” McGee calls back before sneezing as he chases the cat through the living room where we are standing. McGee adds, “He’s really quick, boss.”  
“All right, I’ll hold,” Tony says into the phone before turning to McGee and saying, “McGee, you go that way. I’ll go this way. We’ll corner the guy. You’ve got to be very careful with animals. They’re… tricky.”   
“Hey,” Gibbs calls after putting the carrier on the ground, when the cat looks at him he points to the carrier and the cat runs in.   
“Or you can just do that.”  
“With me. We’re going to the pentagon.”  
“Cryptology unit?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“I need you to translate.”  
“He need you to speak the geek for him, McGeekle,” Tony teases McGee ask I pat the cat who is in the carrier.  
“DiNozzo, find a home for that thing!” Gibbs orders Tony while pointing to the cat I am patting before leaving with Gibbs and McGee.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Agent Gibbs. I understand you’ve got an investigation to run, but I’d appreciate a courtesy call before you show up here to interview any more of my people,” Dorn, the victim’s captain, exclaims.  
“We’re not here to interview your people today, Captain Dorn,” I inform him politely.  
“What happened?”  
“Lieutenant Hill,” Gibbs informs him without answering what has happened.  
“Well, what? She didn’t show up for her interview at NCIS today?” Dorn ask us sarcastically.  
“Nope,” I answer him.  
“Well, if she’s running late, I can tell you there’s a good reason. She’s one of my…”  
“We know the reason,” McGee informs him.  
“She’s dead,” Gibbs states.  
“How?” Dorn asks.  
“Appears to be suicide,” McGee informs him.  
Let’s continue this conversation in my office,” Dorn says before leading us into the room. He continues, “These… cryptographers. They’re not like us. Their lives are by patterns and numbles. To tell you the truth, I don’t understand half of it. But they’re pretty tightly wound and Lieutenant Hill was no different.”  
“You’re saying she was suicidal?” I ask him.  
“I’m saying that she was withdrawn. She was socially awkward, had obsessive-compulsive traits.”  
“Well none of that was in her medical record,” McGee says.  
“No, and it wouldn’t be! These people are recruited based on their abilities, and sometimes it’s a thin line between genius and…”  
“Insanity,” Gibbs finish for him.  
“Look, a lot of these people tend to be naturally paranoid, and this mole hunt hasn’t helped. My entire section’s on edge.”  
“They should be.”  
“If there’s a lead, I am telling you right now it is not coming from my people.”  
“We found sixty thousand dollars hidden in Lieutenant Hill’s home,” McGee informs him.  
“She ended up dead instead of attending the interview she had today. What does that tell you?” I ask him.  
“Lieutenant Hall?” Dorn says over his intercom.  
“Sir?” Hall responds.  
“We are now in lockdown. I want all the work secured and the section restricted to quarters until further notice.”  
“Yes sir,” Hall responds before ending the intercom. Over the load speaker Hall calls, “Attention! Initiate emergency plan alpha. Shut down your systems and secure classified material. When complete. When complete, report to your quarters until further notice.”  
“Okay. What now?” Dorn asks us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Your mother drank your monkeys?” Ziva ask Tony in surprise as Gibbs and I walk towards the squad room.  
“It was the seventies,” Tony defends his mother as Gibbs and I walk into the squad room.  
“It explains a lot, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him.  
“And raises so many other questions,” I add.  
“Hey boss? I went through Lieutenant Hill’s background,” Tony informs Gibbs.  
“Her phone records, credit card bills, personal habits. There’s no discernible patterns,” Ziva adds.  
“Yet. She’s a cryptographer, Ziva. We could be dealing with a real pro here, boss.”  
“Well, DiNozzo, if she was a pro, she wouldn’t have killed herself,” Gibbs informs Tony.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Is that what people think about us?” McGee asks Abby while holding a water pistol to his head for Abby while standing in a recreated crime scene in the garage.  
“Ask me later, McGee. Oh, this better be work related,” Gibbs ask the two geeks.  
“Oh, it is. Any you’re just in time for the show and tell portion. McGee, if you will. So Lieutenant Hill sits down on the couch, outs the gun to her head, and bang! I said ‘bang’ McGee,” Abby orders McGee.  
“Bang,” McGee says unenthusiastically while pretending to shot himself and fall onto the couch, dead.  
“I matched the bullet found in the book to the Kahr nine-millimetre in the victim’s hand. Looks like a suicide, right?   
“Except,” I prompted her.  
“When a weapon is used at this close of range, there’s extensive blood splatter from the exit wound. But blow-back also creates a fine mist of blood which lands here. Imperceptible to the human eye, but not to the magic of modern science. You’re still dead, McGee,” Abby explains while using fluorescent light and shows us the blood she is talking about. Abby, Gibbs and I are wearing orange glasses to see the blood splatter.  
“And?” Gibbs asks her because she has that look on her face saying she has more.  
“Two steps away… voila!” Abby says before moving over to show us what else she has found. Gibbs chest is against Abby shoulder as he looks at what she found on the ground as I look at it sadly.  
“Footprints,” Gibbs and I say together.  
“Exactly. Which means…”  
“Somebody else was in the room,” I finish for her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“No evidence of forced entry. No bruises or marks to show that she was forced to pull the trigger or unconscious when she died. All we have is this… the Rorschach test from hell,” Tony complains that night in the squad room.  
“You believe Abby may be mistaken?” Ziva ask her in disbelief because she hasn’t known Abby to be wrong yet, besides sending Tony to prison.  
“Well, I believe it’s going to be tough to prove the suicide was faked when all you got is two partial footprints.”  
“She could have been drugged. The killer could have placed the pistol in her hand and pulled the trigger.”  
“The initial tox screen has come back all negative,” I remind her while looking up from my file I am reading on our victim.  
“Some narcotics are hard to trace. And as for no evidence of forced entry, we could be dealing with a trained assassin.’  
“Or she knew her killer, Ziva.”  
“Probie, it’s about time! I’m starving like Lee Marvin!” Tony exclaims as McGee returns to the squad room with dinner for everyone but Gibbs.  
“Well, then you shouldn’t have sent me for the world’s greatest barbecue because I had to wait in line for an hour,” McGee complains.  
“It will be worth it,” Tony exclaims as McGee hands the food out.  
“You’re welcome. Hey, Boss. Did you want something too, because, well, it’s just that you never order… I can… I can go back. I’ll go back,” McGee offers McGee how stands up because he had just sat down at his desk before Gibbs come in.  
“Sit down. No one has earned dinner yet!” Gibbs orders us.  
“I agree, though I doubt this qualifies as dinner. In fact, I’m not even sure that this is. A sea monkey?” Ziva asks while looking over the food, burger that McGee has purchase for us.  
“Goat. I’m pretty sure it’s kosher,” Tony corrects her.  
“Maybe. But… still disgusting,” Ziva informs him before pushing it off her desk, into the bin.  
“There is a mole in the Pentagon and our only lead lie dead on a slab in Autopsy. Ii want answers!” Gibbs snaps his order at us.  
“Boss? We ran the serial number on the murder weapon found in Hill’s apartment. We just got a match. Purchased sic mouths ago by this woman,” McGee reports while pulling up a picture of a lieutenant off the security video that works with our victim.  
“Lieutenant Keita Napleton? We just,” Ziva begins as we all leave our food on our desk and move over to the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“Interviewed her last week. She’s in the same crypto unit as Hill,” Tony finish for her.  
“Looks like we didn’t do such a good job.”  
“We’ll bring her in.”  
“DiNozzo!” Gibbs orders his agent with that one word.  
“We’ll bring her in now. We’ll eat dinner later,” Tony says as him and Ziva leaves, Gibbs reaches over and grabs Tony’s dinner, he takes a big bite out of the burger and begins chewing on it.  
“Good goat,” Gibbs says around the food he is chewing of the burger. McGee and I return to our desk and begin eating our own food.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’m Special Agent Gibbs, this is probationary agent Todd,” Gibbs introduces us to the lieutenant in integration as we walk in.  
“Keira Nap – I mean Lieutenant Keira Napleton, Sir. Middle name, Ingalls. Family name on my father’s side. Most people would find it,” Napleton rambles, she is a typical geek, neat and tidy, glasses.  
“You’re not here because of a middle name, Lieutenant,” I cut her off while Gibbs and I sit across from her.  
“Am I to assume I’m in some form of legal trouble? I only ask because no one has informed me of my article thirty one rights yet, sir, ma’am.”  
“What me to read them to you?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Actually I have them memorized.”  
“Good. That’ll save time.”  
“I was interviewed by NCIS, sir. I am not a… a traitor to my country.”  
“Hm? What about her?” I ask her while pulling out a photo out of our victim, out of the file Gibbs carried in and placed on the table in front of both of us and show it to her.  
“You think Lara was the mole?”  
“Tell us about her.”  
“Well, she was Catholic, liked to play softball. Her left leg was longer than her right.”  
“I’m more interested in her being dead, Lieutenant!” Gibbs cuts her off.  
“I don’t know, Dir. Perhaps she was depressed?”  
“Enough to blow her head off?” I ask her,  
“She… she shot herself?”   
“With this. A Kahr nine millimetres. Yours. What was that doing at her house?” Gibbs asks while placing the gun on the table in the evidence bag.  
“The real estate market being what it is and the forecasted projections over the next several…”  
“Lieutenant!” Gibbs and I cut off her rambling.  
“I have orders for Norfolk, sir. So I sold my townhouse. Lara let me stay with her until I shipped out.”  
“Convenient,” Gibbs states.  
“Most people would think so, but the commute really wasn’t much better…”  
“Meaning, she wasn’t alone when the trigger was pulled,” I inform her.  
“You think I was… I was there with her? Ma’am, sir, if I was… I would have stopped her.”  
“Where were you?” Gibbs asks her.  
“At… I was at Alphonse’s last night. My boyfriend. I went straight to work from his house.”  
“We need his number and address,” I inform her while giving her my note book and pen.  
“I would appreciate it if you kept this quite, Agent Gibbs and Todd. My parents… they still think I’m a virgin.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s almost zero two in the morning,” Dorn complains as we walk into the squad room.  
“Oh, we’re just getting started here, skipper,” Gibbs informs him as he walking into the squad room and over to his desk, and I walk over to mine.  
“Agent Gibbs, do you think Lieutenant Napleton’s the mole?”  
“She’s staying here until we check her alibi,” I inform him without answering his question.  
“Alibi? For what?”  
“IT’s too soon to say,” Gibbs says.  
“Well, we have another problem now. Our security may have been compromised.”  
“May have?” I ask him.  
“After you left today, I conducted a thorough inventory of our section. Every piece of technology was scrutinized. Do you know what this is?” Dorn ask while holding out a SD card holder that is empty.  
“Oh, it’s,” McGee begins.  
“Oh, yeah. That’s one of those… uh… memory doodah things for a computer,” Gibbs overlaps McGee.  
“Yeah, basically we use it to transfer data between terminals. At the end of the night they’re checked in. they’re kept in a vault. They never leave the section. I found this today in its proper place. The only problem is… someone took the memory cartridge out,” Dorn informs us.  
“Who has access to the vault?” I ask him.  
“Two people. Lieutenant Hill and Lieutenant Napleton.”  
“What was on it?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Could be anything. It holds over two gigs of information.  
“McGee, bag it. Get a hold of Ziva and Tony. Tell them we’re heading out.”  
“I got it. Ah, where to, boss?” McGee asks.  
“To look for the other doodah that goes inside that one,” Gibbs answers making me laugh at his technical terminology.  
“On it.”  
“Agent Gibbs, this is my fault. I’ve already offered my resignation to the admiral,” Dorn inform sus.  
“Don’t fall on your sword yet, Captain. Like I said, we’re just getting started here,” Gibbs informs us before we leave the squad room.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The flashcard could be anywhere. If you find it, though, try not to touch the contacts,” McGee informs us as he sticks a view camera in the heating duct and I am watching the computer to inform him if he finds anything.  
“Mossad training doesn’t include food service,” Ziva comments as she sorts through the old takeout food in the kitchen with Gibbs.  
“This thing hasn’t been cleaned in years,” McGee exclaims while coughing because he stirred up the dirt in a heating duct. I begin coughing at the duct reaches me because my lungs aren’t as strong as everyone else.  
“It’s a heating duct, McGee. Nobody cleans heating ducts… except for you guys,” Tony teases McGee as he looks though the books in a box. Gibbs quickly makes his way over to me because I’m still coughing without being able to stop or breath.  
“Alice, you alright?” Gibbs asks me while rubbing my back, when I could get my breath back quickly and offering me a puffer he always carries with him after the anthrax incidents. I take the puffer and take a couple of breaths of the puffer.   
“Oh, god! It smells like it been here for a month!” Ziva exclaims about the takeout food when I am able to breathe again and Gibbs makes his way back into the kitchen to check the cans in the kitchen cabinets.  
“That’s exactly why I don’t have a roommate,” McGee comments as he looks around the room, I make my way over to the chairs and check between the cushions.  
“Roommates are never a good idea,” Gibbs informs us while tapping the bottom of another can.  
“Did you ever have one, boss?”   
“Three, McGee. They’re called wives.”  
“What am I chopped liver?” I ask him making him just smirk without answering me making me have to resist the urge to flipping him off.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I am searching the open breakfast cereal as my team sleeps all over the ground. McGee is on the only chair while Ziva and Tony are curled up together against the bench I am working on. Alice, my Alice, is sleeping out in the car. I pull the doodah out of the box I am digging as Ziva snored.  
“Pack up. I found it. It looks like they’re putting decoder rings in cereal boxes again,” I joke but everyone just gives me confused looks making me demand, “What?”  
“Ah, it’s a little before our time, boss,” Tony explains.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Do you have any super glue, Abs?” Tony asks Abby while looking at the sleeping McGee in Abby’s lab the next morning.  
“What did I tell you about that, DiNozzo?” I demand of him while slapping him on the back of the head for going to prank McGee with superglue again.  
“His skin might not grow back.”  
“What do we have Abby?” Alice asks her softly with a smile.  
“The partial print didn’t match anyone in the crypto unit, so I’m running it through AFIS and other databases.”  
“McGee,” I call on my agent.  
“Uh… I dumped the contents of the flashcard. It’s encrypted so we’re going to need someone from the crypto section to have access to their codes,” McGee explains to us.  
“Captain Dorn is coming in later,” I inform them before turning to leave.  
“Well, not so fast, Gibbs. I got a hit. It’s from the office of foreign missions,” Abby reports to me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Name’s Simon Roca. He’s the protocol officer at the embassy of Venezuela,” Tony reports in the squad room as we look at the photo on the plasma screen.  
“He’s got an apartment in the Watergate. Been on station since last June,” Ziva adds.  
“Well, if Lara Hill was selling code, Roca could be the source of the money we found. Killed her because he was afraid she wouldn’t hold up under questioning.”  
“We bringing him in?” McGee asks Gibbs.  
“We can’t,” Gibbs admits.  
“Can’t? He murdered a Naval Officer, boss!”  
“He has a license to kill, McGee,” Tony explains.  
“He’s got fill diplomatic immunity,” Ziva adds.  
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“What can the state department do for NCIS at seven thirty on a Saturday, Agent Gibbs?” Levinson asks us over the video call in MTAC; Gibbs is standing before the screen while I sit in the chairs hidden in the dark.  
“I’ve got a dead Naval Officer who might be a mole. Evidence connects her to a foreign diplomat,” Gibbs informs him.  
“What country?”  
“Venezuela. His name is Simon Roca.”  
“Bad choice. Pick another.”  
“I want to question him.”  
“You are aware of our current relations with Venezuela.”  
“They are about to get worse.”  
“They’ve already accused us of meddling in their internal affairs. The Venezuelan Petroleum Minister has threatened to cut off future oil shipments and to close their refineries in the U.S.”  
“Sounds like a real headache. What time can I question him?” Gibbs asks him with a sexy smirk without caring about a word he said.  
“The man has diplomatic immunity, Agent Gibbs.”  
“The man’s a foreign intelligence officer who murdered a navy lieutenant.”  
“You have proof of this?”  
“Her death was made to look like a suicide.”  
“Meaning you can’t prove it.”  
“His prints were found on classified Pentagon hardware recovered from the dead woman’s home.”  
“The Vienna Convention exists for a reason, Agent Gibbs. If you can prove he committed murder, I mean, prove.”  
“By the time I prove it, Roca will have left the country.’  
“Then we take your proof to the Secretary, and if she signs off on it? We then ask Venezuelan Foreign Mission to waive his immunity. Not very likely.”  
“And he walks for murder?”  
“I don’t make the rules, Agent Gibbs. I do, however, expect you to follow them. Until we give you permission, you can’t question Roca,” Levinson informs Gibbs making him turn and walk away while grabbing my hand on the way past, pulling me with him. Levinson calls after Gibbs,” Where’s he going? Gibbs! Gibbs!” We walk out of MTAC without ever turning around; we walk down to the squad room where Tony is napping at his desk.  
“How does he ever get paid?” I ask Gibbs while watching Tony because I haven’t in almost three years seen him work besides going after Ari. He just gives me a look that says he doesn’t know or care. McGee, Tony and Ziva are at their own desk while Abby is sitting in Gibbs chair.  
“Hey, Boss!” McGee exclaims.  
“Nice try, probie,” Tony exclaims before Gibbs hits him on the back of his head making him sit up and exclaim, “Power nap, Boss. Doorman at the Watergate hasn’t seen Roca for the past two days. He’s probably holed up inside their embassy.”  
Take Ziva. Find out you can’t question him,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Gonna be awful hard to get answers if I can’t ask questions.”  
“DiNozzo, if it was easy, I would send Joe the Janitor.”  
“Customs hasn’t checked his passport in the last twenty four hours. He’s most likely still in country,” Ziva reports to Gibbs.  
“Not for long. The Venezuelan Embassy booked a private jet this morning out of Loudoun County Airport,” McGee report.  
“To leave when, McGee?” I ask him slowly when he just leaves us hanging.  
“Sorry. Ah, today. Simon Roca’s name is listed as a passenger.”  
“We need to tie Roca to Lieutenant Hill’s murder before he boards that plane. Go! Go! How do we prove the Lieutenant’s death wasn’t a suicide?” Gibbs asks Abby while leaning down on his own desk so he is at eye height with her. The rest of his team jump into action, Tony and Ziva leave the squad room before Gibbs loses his cool anymore.  
“In a day?” Abby ask him.  
“Abby, I think she was unconscious when it happened,” Gibbs explains to her as I place my hand on his back in an attempt of calming him down from all the stress of this case.  
“If Ducky can examine the brain tissue and send me a sample, I might be able to prove that.”  
“Yeah, do it.”  
“Please,” I add when Gibbs says borderline rudely.  
“Um… Ducky doesn’t get in until noon. Do you want me to call him or do you want the pleasure?” Abby asks Gibbs happily.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, what if we can’t get him?” I ask Gibbs in fear while handing him the coffee I just got from his favourite coffee shop.  
“We will, no matter what it takes. Hill’s murder will be caught,” Gibbs promise me as he takes a sip of a coffee.  
“Promise?”   
“Would I lie to you?” Gibbs asks me with a squeeze to my arm as his phone begins ringing making me node in understanding and belief. He answers his phone, “Yeah, Gibbs… Stay on station and set up a video in MTAC. I want to know when he moves.”  
“What’s going on?” I ask Gibbs when he hangs up his phone on Tony.  
“Roca taking sanctuary until his flight.”  
“Coward,” I mumble as Gibbs leads me up the stairs and back into MTAC where Tony and Ziva are setting up a video command post.  
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“Gibbs, Roca’s leaving,” Ziva reports over the radio.  
“Boss, the private jet he booked is refuelled and standing by. The diplomat’s car’s considered foreign soil. It’s as sovereign as the embassy,” McGee reminds us.  
“What do we do?” Tony asks over the radio.  
“Delay him,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Okay, here we go,” Tony agrees before ending the radio call for the moment.  
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Abby pov  
.  
“Hippopotamus amphibious. The river horse. I once swan with them while I was on safari in Kenya. Oh, dear. My apologies,” Victoria says while holding Bert and making fart as she picks him up.  
“Oh, no. that’s Bert, the hippo. He’s supposed to do that,” I explain to her happily, I can see why Alice likes her grandmother, she’s funny and cute.  
“Really? How delightful! Reminds me of my bag pie-playing days,” Victoria explain while squeezing Bert in a pattern before continuing to explain to me and when she finish she squeezes Bert again, “Did you know that without longshoremen tattoos and that dog collar, you are the exact spitting image of my sister Gloria?”   
“Thank you.”  
“I hated her. She once tried to sleep with my late husband while he was still alive,” Victoria explains to me as the door opens and Ducky walks in.  
“Mother! I’m sure Abigail doesn’t want to hear any more of our family troubles,” Ducky exclaims with embarrassment for his mother.  
“It’s fine, Ducky, we’re having a good time,” I defend his mother.  
“Brain tissue. I need a full rundown on that,” Ducky explains while handing me the brain tissue.  
“Donald, did you sleep with her?” Victoria suddenly ask making Ducky and me look away from each other, very unconfutable with that question.  
“Mother, please!”   
“Honestly, it’s about time I had some grandchildren. He isn’t getting any younger. You need to move fast.”  
“Mrs. Mallard, you do have a granddaughter already,” I explain to her politely because I know Alice spends as much time as she can with her grandmother.  
“Alice is your grandchild,” Ducky expands on my point making Victoria’s smile get bigger at the idea of having a granddaughter.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alive pov  
.  
“Boss, this was recorded five minutes ago. It looks like Roca managed to avoid Tony and Ziva,” McGee explains while playing a video of Roca boarding the plane as we all stand around in MTAC.  
“You think, McGee?” I ask him.  
“His plane is scheduled to depart within the hour. I guess we can’t win them all. I mean, he…”  
“The plane hasn’t left yet. Delay it,” Gibbs orders him while cutting McGee off.  
“How exactly?”  
“Call the control tower. Tell them there’s a possible security risk, make something up!” I inform him calmly.  
“Can we do that?”  
“I don’t know, McGee! Can you?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“Feed from the state department is coming in, sir,” a technician informs Gibbs before the video call begins.  
“What the hell were your people thinking, Agent Gibbs? That was a diplomatic vehicle they rammed,” Levinson bellows at Gibbs.  
“You told us that we couldn’t question Roca. He wasn’t in the vehicle. What’s the problem?” Gibbs asks him innocently.  
“You don’t understand the implications this’ll…”  
Are you worried about insurance? NCIS has excellent coverage,” I cut him off.  
“You’re straining the already tenuous situation…”  
“We both know that Roca is no diplomat. He’s a foreign spy operating on American soil,” Gibbs cuts him off this time.  
“Then prove it!”  
“Give me permission to take him into custody. If it helps, tell your people that he may have documents vital to our national security.”  
“All right. I’m going to start the paperwork from this end.”  
“How long?” I ask him.  
“If I fast track the request… maybe a week.”  
“Thank you very much,” McGee says into his phone before turning to us and softly reporting so that Levinson doesn’t hear, “Okay, I called the control tower, convinced them to rescreen all the passengers. It’s uh… a small airport. It’ll delay them an hour or two at the most.”  
“Roca is on a private jet right now. He’s leaving the country,” Gibbs informs Levinson.  
“Well, then the best I can do is lodge a formal complaint with the embassy and bar her from returning to the states,” Levinson informs us.  
“He’s not coming back, Levinson!” I state.  
“He is getting away with murder,” Gibbs snaps at him before horns and buzzers go off in MTAC because of the alarms the call is cut off for security reasons.  
“Someone’s trying to gain access to MTAC with an unauthorized code, sir!” the technician reports making Gibbs and I run up the stairs and outside the room to see Victoria looking into the eye piece while banging her cane on it.  
“Hello?” Gibbs asks her in surprise.  
“This thing must be broken. I can’t see anyone dancing in there,” Victoria explains making Gibbs smile.  
“Sir?” the technician asks.  
“We’re clear. It’s okay.”  
“Should I get state back?”  
“For what?” Gibbs asks him before turning to my grandmother and asking, “Ah, Mrs. Mallard, are you looking for your son?”  
“Young man, have we met before?” Victoria asks Gibbs as I lead them both to the elevator.  
“Leroy Jethro Gibbs, ma’am.”  
“Of the Southampton Gibbs?”  
“Why don’t we see if we find Doctor Mallard, all right?”   
“You’re very handsome, Matthew. Are you… are you married?” Victoria asks Gibbs making him smile like a naughty little boy at that question as the doors shut.   
“Mrs Mallard, what was Ducky like when he was younger?” I ask her while getting her to stop flirting with my man; only I’m allowed to flirt with him. She begins tell story after story about Ducky as a child.  
“Yes, you may find it hard to believe, but Donald was the cutest child. He had long, curly blond hair. Everybody thought he was a girl until he was twelve… when his voice change,” Victoria informs us making me laugh as we walk into autopsy.  
“Mister Palmer, will you chain my mother to the chair while I tell Agent Gibbs what I found?” Ducky asks his assistant.  
“Don’t, she’s too cute,” I exclaim while playfully placing my body between her and the chair because for all the times she forgot who I was to her family but she is still a family member I hold tightly.  
“I’m still waiting for that drink, Leonard!” Victoria informs Jimmy while happily leaving with him.  
“I’m certain the shot to Lieutenant Hill’s head was peri-mortem based on the lack of tissue reaction in her brain. When she was shot, she was unconscious,” Ducky reports to us when we meet him over at the x-ray light so his mother didn’t hear what we are talking about.  
“How’d she get that way?” Gibbs asks him.  
“This is the Lieutenant’s head and neck. The left superior carotid artery is narrowed. Restricted blood flow,” Ducky explains while pointing to the points on the x-rays.  
“Choke-hold,” Gibbs and I say together.  
“Slight pressure for ten seconds will render a victim unconscious and leaves no external bruising. I gave Abby some brain tissue samples to check her CO two levels.”  
“Any way to tie Roca to it?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Well, he didn’t leave any prints on her skin. There’s a chance that some of the samples we took from her body could have his DNA. But then we don’t have his DNA for comparison. And with diplomatic immunity?”   
“His plane leaves in two hours. Please find us something,” I beg of him before leaving with Gibbs to return to the elevator to find out what McGee and Abby has found in the lab. In the elevator I ask Gibbs, “How could kill this poor girl?”  
“We’ll find it out,” Gibbs answers me.  
“I feel bad for her because her life was stolen from her for no reason but to have an escape goat.”  
“We find who it was and get them. No one gets away with murder,” Gibbs promises me as he pulls me into a hug before letting me go and walking into the lab.  
“Yeah. Not exactly the way I wanted to end my naval career. Asleep at the damn switch,” Dorn say to McGee as we enter the lab.  
“What was on that do-dad thing?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“Can’t tell yet, boss,” McGee admits.  
“I need to get one of my people down here to decode it. Are you still holding Lieutenant Napleton?” Dorn asks us.  
“Yeah,” Gibbs and I answer him.  
“Well, if you’ve cleared her, I could sure use her help. What? Do you think she’s involved?”   
“We’re investigating treason, Skipper. Right now I suspect everyone,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Well, if Hill wasn’t the mole, why’d she blow her brains out?”  
“She didn’t. She had help,” I inform him.  
“We found a fingerprint on that lash chip thing. Probably the person who did it,” Gibbs adds.  
“Napleton?” Dorn asks us before Gibbs leads me into the back lab without answering him.  
“Before you ask? No, I haven’t found any physical evidence linking Simon Roca to the lieutenant’s murder yet,” Abby informs us.  
“That can wait, Abs. I need you to do something else for me. It’ll only take a few minutes,” Gibbs informs her.  
“I could go faster if I had another one of these,” Abby informs us while shaking her empty caf-pow.  
“Too much caffeine is not going for you, Abby,” I inform her while shaking my head at her coffee overdose in a cup.  
“I need you to check this cereal box for GSR,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Why?” Abby ask him in confusion.  
“Because I don’t think Lieutenant Hill put the chip in there.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Anything?” Tony asks Ziva who is standing behind his desk in the squad room with him and he doesn’t have his shirt button up.  
“Hey! Button your shirt,” Gibbs orders him as we walk into the squad room together.  
“Hey boss, she came into my space and then she…”  
“I don’t care. Roca’s at the damn airport,” Gibbs cuts Tony off while snapping in annoyance.  
“Yeah, that’s my fault, boss. I take full responsibility. I shouldn’t have let Ziva drive.”  
“It doesn’t fit,” I mumble while thinking out loud.  
“I know. I talked to my tailor about that. He says the double pointed bespoke tailoring is,” Tony rambles because he thinks I’m talking about his clothing. I give him a look with everyone else making him catch on and inform us, “But you mean Simon Roca.”  
“He’s got diplomatic immunity, Tony,” I remind him.  
“He knows we can’t stop him from leaving this country,” Gibbs adds.  
“So why the shell game with his car? In fact, how did he even know we were on to him?” Ziva asks us as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, Gibbs. On my way,” Gibbs says into his phone before hitting Tony on the back of his head on his way past.  
“What was that for?” Tony demands like a child.  
“Blackmailing your partner.”  
“Boss, the flashcard data is too corrupted to read,” McGee reports as we walk over to the stairs up to MTAC.  
“I’m going to take a copy back to the pentagon and have my people,” Dorn begins.  
“It’s too late. Our ‘person of interest’ just got clearance for take-off. You want to see the guy who killed your lieutenant get away? Come on,” Gibbs cuts him off while leading up him the stairs.  
“Gibbs, come here!” Abby orders Gibbs while climbing up on the railing before whispering into Gibbs ear softly. He smirks before standing back up and turning to us and continuing up the stairs like nothing happened.  
“DiNozzo! David! McGee! You waiting for an invitation?” Gibbs calls to them making them run up the stairs and catching up to us before we walk into MTAC. We walk into MTAC and watch the plane take off without anything stopping it.  
“Just like that? He gets a free pass?” Dorn demands of us.  
“When a foreign diplomat is accused of espionage, all we can do is ask him to leave the country,” McGee explains.  
“Roca’s doing it on his own,” Gibbs adds.  
“Yeah, but if he could walk at any time, why did he murder my Lieutenant?” Dorn asks us like we have all the answers.  
“Without her testimony? Hard to prove a case against him,” Ziva explains.  
“So… so that’s it? There’s nothing we can do?”  
“No, I didn’t say that, Skip. We can still arrest her murderer. Outside this team, only two people know how Lieutenant hill died. Napleton and the person who killed her. How’d you know she shot herself?” I ask him innocently.  
“Uh… Uh… Napleton told me.”  
“No, she’s been in isolation since she found out,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“And you were the one who told us about the missing flashcard,” McGee reminds him.  
“The only think tying Roca to the case? Convenient, yes?” Ziva asks.  
“Holing up inside the embassy, huh? Booking private planes? You wanted us to focus on Roca,” Tony continues.  
“But Lieutenant Hill stole that flashcard!” Dorn snaps at us tightly.  
“There were gunshot residue on the outside of the cereal box we found it in. the flashcard was put there by the killer ager he shot her. She was framed,” Gibbs explains.  
“No. Napleton. Napleton could have…”  
“Her alibi checked out, Dorn,” I explain while cutting him off.  
“I’m impressed. The diplomat takes the blame. We get our mole. And your cover remains intact, captain. I’ll have to remember that one,” Ziva comments.  
“You could just rent No Way Out,” Tony informs her.  
“I’ll take it from here. You three go home. Get some rest. Good job,” Gibbs orders his team making his team leave quickly before he changed his mind. When the team leaves he continues, “That resignation you offered the Admiral earlier, I’ve got a feeling he’s going to accept it.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, how could someone kill someone they work with and then blame it on someone else without caring?” I ask him as I watch him work on his boat because this case is annoying me, Dorn is a heartless person.  
“Because he didn’t see them as people,” Gibbs explains to me.  
“But how can you get so far away from these people that you don’t see them as people?”  
“I don’t know. Caring more about money than life.”  
“I feel sorry for this girl, she crusted her boss and he abused the trust. She didn’t deserve that.”  
“No one deserves that. But he can’t hurt anyone else know,” Gibbs reminds me. I stop asking question and thinking about the case because it doesn’t do us any good thinking about a close case because you would drive yourself crazy thinking aby the whys and what ifs. I pick up my book and begin reading where I left off last time. The only sounds in the basement are the old TV in the corner, Gibbs sanding the wood of his boat, and the sound of me turning the pages of my books.  
I enjoy this time because we don’t have to talk to feel the love between us or to feel close and cared for, we can just sit together and it helps us both and makes us happy. I happily read my book but every couple of pages I look up over the top of the book to see Gibbs working the wood with such practice precision.


	23. Bloodbath

“Your sacrifice is noted and appreciated. Let’s talk outfit,” Shepard says to Abby because her and Ziva is helping Abby get ready for her caught date, in the director’s office.  
“I say you just go with the heels,” Tony exclaims before growling like a rouge animal. We all glare at him and I hit in on the arm making him add innocently, “Is that inappropriate? Sorry. Nice gym shoes there, Abs!”  
“Can we help you, Agent DiNozzo? Todd?”   
“Yes, we’re here to collect Officer Da-vid. Gibbs got the bat signal. Sorry Abby, you can’t get into a pillow fight with the four-by-two,” I inform them. We walk out of the Director’s office and down to the squad room.  
“I showed up just in time. Another minute and you guys would’ve been braiding each other’s hair,” Tony exclaims as we get our gear to leave.  
“And who knows where that can lead to, Tony. Where are we going?” Ziva baits Tony.  
“Little Creek,” Gibbs answers her.  
“Little Creek Base?”  
“Actually, an off-base Navy lodging facility. Used mostly by TDY personnel and visiting family. Apparently there was some kind of bloodbath,” McGee informs us.  
“Mondays. What’s the body count?” Tony inquires.  
“Who said anything about a body, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of Tony.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’m just saying that wouldn’t have happened at the Marriott,” Lillian, one of the people who found the bloody room, informs us.  
“Excuse me for not checking the axe-murderer policy when I made the reservation,” Albert, her husband, exclaims to his ‘loving’ wife.  
“Did you request this specific room when you called the lodge?” McGee asks them.  
“No, we requested the one with the eviscerated squirrels, but this is all they had,” Lillian explains.  
“What the hell kind of question is that?!” Albert demands of us.  
“Our last one,” Gibbs informs them before we walk away.  
“Did I mention we have over a hundred channels in crisp, clear able?” Frank, the owner of this hotel, attempts to keep his clients.  
“Talk to me, DiNozzo.”  
“Occupants checked out two days ago. Room was cleaned yesterday then locked tight,” Tony reports.  
“No sign of forced entry?” I ask him.  
“No, but a precious guest could have kept a key. We’re going over lists,” Ziva informs of us.  
“Field test says the blood was human,” Tony adds.  
“We don’t know what parts those are. Doctor Mallard is still working on the bathroom.”  
“I’d take an umbrella if you go in there,” Jimmy informs us as we walk into the hotel room.  
“It doesn’t make sense, does it, boss? If it’s a prank, it should be animal blood. If it’s a satanic ritual, where are the pentagrams?” Tony asks us as we look around the bloodbath.  
“It could have been an interrogation that got out of control,” Ziva offers.  
“Or a drug deal gone bad,” McGee adds.  
“Look at this. How bad does a drug deal have to go for you to leave the drugs behind?” I ask McGee while picking up the drugs out of a draw I have just open.  
“Find out what happened here,” Gibbs orders us.  
“I know something of what happened. All this scattered, organic detritus, this human fascia, fibrous connective tissue that anchors skin to muscles, if you closely you see neither skin nor muscle,” Ducky explains to us while looking over the meet that is everywhere in the room.  
“Yeah, I’ll take your word for it,” Tony exclaims in disgust.  
“All of this tissue was skilfully extracted, possibly during extensive post-mortem procedure.”  
“Someone was dissected here, Ducky?” I ask him in surprise.  
“More likely three someone’s. And whoever the guilty party is, he didn’t get his technique from the internet. You’re looking for a trained medical practitioner.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Well, no doctors or surgeons stayed at the lodge in the last two months. I’m checking surrounding ho,” McGee informs us but he stops when Tony throws paper at McGee again, he continues, “hotels. You missed again, Tony.” We are all sitting at our desk in the squad room trying to find something on the case, and Gibbs has wandered off somewhere.  
“Did I, McGeek? Remember, goals are deceptive. The un-aimed arrow never misses. What kind of loser wrote that?” Tony demands while reading McGee’s life lessons calendrer.  
“I think it’s good advice,” Ziva comments.  
“Really? Well, then I have the perfect one for you. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail,” Tony read another while scrunching up the first one and throwing it at McGee.  
“Didn’t Vince Lombardi say that?” McGee asks Tony.  
“I’ll hold onto that one. But the rest of these are worthless. Nice calendar, McGeek.”  
“Hey!” McGee exclaims as Tony scrunches up another page.  
“Relax; this stuff will melt your mind. It’s not good for you. It makes you weak.”  
“To me it was a gift!”  
“From who? Your wet nurse?”  
“No. from me,” Gibbs corrects Tony while standing right behind Tony.  
“It’s a nice calendar, boss,” Tony attempts to get out of trouble but Gibbs just hits him on the back of the head.  
“Anybody find me my doctor yet?” Gibbs demands while making his way over to his desk.  
“Not yet. But we do know how he got into the room. A maid had her master key stolen two days ago,” McGee reports.  
“She see anything?”  
“Unfortunately not,” I answer him.  
“I ran prints from the crime scene. Fifteen total. All from registered guests. Only two were in the area last night,” Ziva reports.  
“Bring them in,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Unfortunately, they both have airtight alibis.”  
“Looks like the un-aimed arrow missed after all. Now that amateur hour is over, I draw your attention to the plasma screen in the middle of the room. Psychopathic blood splatter, usually randomly scattered. Take a look at the drops on the wall. It’s a little Jackson Pollack. But do you notice anything?” Tony asks us while displaying the crime sense photos on the plasma between his and McGee’s desk.  
“They’re emanating from a central point,” McGee releases.  
“Step off, Mc-Flower Power. You’ve had your chance to speak. They’re emanating from a central point. Then there’s the TV. It looks like it was knocked off the bureau in a struggle of some sort, right? Except that Abby found CRT shards in a math mat.”  
“So?” Ziva ask in confusion.  
“So… that means that the television was laid on the floor, covered it with the bath mat to muffle the sound when it was broken,” I inform her making Tony give me a putout look.  
“Thank you Alice. The crime scene was staged, boss. Victims were killed someplace else,” Tony takes over while giving me a look for stealing his thunder.  
“You were taking too long.”  
“Where?” Gibbs demands of us, meanly Tony.  
“What, I gotta do all the work?” Tony asks Gibbs who just glares at him making him add after a moment, “I’m going to get right on that.”  
“DO that, DiNozzo. You’re doing most of it anyway.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hello, Jethro, Alice, right on schedule,” Ducky says to us as we walk into autopsy.  
“That predictable, Duck?” Gibbs asks him.  
“That thorough.”  
“Are we still talking three bodies here?” I ask him.  
“Well that’s why we call it preliminary finding. Actually, we have the remains of at least four individuals and perhaps considerably more.”  
“At first we thought there might be a serial killer. Uh,” Jimmy says excitedly before we all give him a look making him add, “Not that that is a good thing.”  
“Unfortunately, Mister Palmer’s private hopes were dashed when I noticed in our latest meat puzzle, traces of vascular tissue. It’s exactly what you would see if you looked into a medical disposal bin after surgery. That is, if you care to look. Which apparently our perpetrator did.”  
“Duck, are you saying these remains are medical waste?” Gibbs demands of his old friend.  
“It explains the precision of the incisions. All of these pieces of tissue were removed by a surgeon, disposed of, rescued, and then put on display for reason I will leave you to ponder.”  
“We’re being set up again,” I snap as my eyes travel over to where Kate’s body laid when we were set up from Ari.  
“So it seems. But set up for what?” Ducky ask before Gibbs leads me out of autopsy and into the elevator.  
“Are you alright?” Gibbs asks me softly as the elevator travels up.  
“I don’t know. I really don’t know… Jethro, we being set up again and the last time,” I can’t finish my thought so I just stop, making Gibbs pull me into a tight hug.  
“We’ll find who did it and no one is going to hurt my team this time,” Gibbs promises me.  
“How do you own who is the target or who is the person attacking them?”   
“We’re work it out. Why don’t you go check on Abby? I’m sure she would like the company down in the lab,” Gibbs offers to me making me node from my spot snuggled up into his arm. He hits the button for the lab without letting me go.  
“Are you sure Ari’s dead? Like truly dead? Not like when he infiltrated autopsy?” I beg of him, he can’t come back but I still don’t fully believe that he is gone.  
“He’s not coming back, you’re safe,” Gibbs promises me as the door opens making him remove one of his arms but leaves the second one around me so that I am tucked up in his side. He leads me into the lab where Abby is working, back in her normal clothing out of what she wore to the court day. He gets her attention by saying, “Abs, you need a second pair of hands?”  
“Why?” Abby ask him.  
“Alice needs something to do besides waiting for a lead,” Gibbs explains while release me from my spot making Abby grin.  
“Yeah, I have something you can do,” Abby promise me making Gibbs leave us alone.  
“What do you need me to do?” I ask her.  
“Tell me what’s going on? You don’t normally need help keeping busy.”  
“We’re being set up, Abs. Last time we were set up… I can’t go through that again.”  
“Oh. Right,” Abby mumbles before adding, “So, how is it going with you and Gibbs?”   
“Good. You wouldn’t think, but he can’t cook. Sometimes, only stake but its good.”  
“Really? I thought he didn’t eat at all.”  
“Me too. I thought he was hatched from an egg and therefor lived on coffee and engine oil.”  
“Me too,” Abby agrees with me making me laugh with her. She is a good friend and I wouldn’t allow anyone take that friendship from me.  
“So, you got a boyfriend yet?” I ask her in an attempt to get it off my relationship because I know what the next question will be, ‘so how’s your sex life?’ or ‘what is Gibbs like in the sack?’  
“Nope. But I don’t care. I’m happy with my job.”  
“Anyway you’re dating caf-pow,” I tease her making her grin at me.  
“Yep. Best boyfriend out there.”  
“Nah, I’d cheat on it with coffee without guilt,” I joke as her machine beeps calling her attention back making me add, “You’re mistress what’s your attention back.”  
“Sigmund Freud, eat your heart out. McGee, no lurking without a permit,” Abby calls to McGee who is standing outside her door.  
“Sorry, just checking to see if you finished the analysis on that powder yet. Field test said it was cocaine, but,” McGee rambles.  
“I told you I was going to email you the results when I was done.”  
“Yes. Don’t you have court today?” McGee asks her in disappointment because she’s in normal Abby wear.  
“I’m finished! All I had to do was give a deposition.”  
“Oh. So you don’t have to go back or anything?”  
“McGee! You came all the way down here to see me in my court suit!”  
“No.”  
“You totally did!” I state.  
“No, I did not.”  
“Your mouth lies, but your red ears are telling the truth,” Abby exclaims before sniffling.  
“What? What’s wrong?” McGee asks her in fear.  
“Abby,” I ask her while I place my hand on her arm in fear, Abby isn’t someone who is serous and she is serous right know.  
“DO you smell that?” Abby asks us.  
“No,” McGee and I answer her.  
“It’s almonds. We have to get out of here!” Abby orders us.  
“What’s going on, Abby?” I ask her in fear.  
“Cyanide gas!” Abby informs us, making McGee grab her arm and physically drag her out of the lab while making sure I run in front of them, out of the lab into the hall way. Abby quickly stands up and hits the alarms letting everyone know there is a threat to their health and that lab is off limits until future notice.  
“Here we go again,” I complain making Abby and McGee give me a look.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Hydrogen cyanide gas. Another three minutes in here, game over,” ERT member informs us while leaning out Abby’s lab that night.  
“How did this happen?” Shepard demands of us.  
“Abby said the coke was bad. Contained potassium cyanide, which turned gaseous when she added the… uh… the acidified cobalt tho… cyn… cio,” Tony tries to report but he can’t read the chemical.  
“Cobalt thiocyanate,” the ERT member corrects Tony.  
“Cobalt thiocyanate, yeah, from her drug test kit.”  
“SO this was an accident,” Shepard summarise wanting to blame Abby.  
“Abby doesn’t have accidents,” I correct her while defending the girl how is like a daughter to me.  
“Well, Abby also doesn’t have enemies. I mean it’s not like we’re talking about Agent DiNozzo.”  
“Hey! Ma’am,” Tony exclaims.  
“Agent Todd was there and she has an unlikeable personality. She could have been the target.”  
“No. Alice doesn’t normal sit in the lab when Abby is testing, and she doesn’t go anywhere near white powders since Tony almost got her killed with one. I took her there as a spur of a moment when we found out the crime scene was a set-up, director,” I defend my girlfriend.  
“Right now Abby’s our best lead. While she, Alice and McGee were playing in the showers, Ziva and I took a walk through the world of Sciuto. Out mistress of the dark is keeping secrets from us,” Tony informs us while we step into the elevator and the doors shut to take us down to autopsy.  
“This is so embarrassing. But in my defence, what self-resecting drug dealer cut his cocaine with potassium cyanide?” Abby question is muffled as it comes through the autopsy door.  
“What drug dealer is self-resecting?” Alice voice is the next muffled one we hear.  
“Obviously one that doesn’t care about repeat business,” McGee answers Abby next and his voice is just as muffled as everyone else.  
“Luckily, your exposure to the gas was brief. I don’t anticipate any long-term ramifications,” Ducky informs the three sitting on the same autopsy bed together with oxygen mask on, they are all wearing NCIS issue overalls.  
“Better not be. You three don’t have permission to be sick,” I order them before pointing to Alice and adding, “You have already used up your sick days up with Tony.”  
“We’re fine, Gibbs. The only damage down was to my ego. It was a newbie accident,” Abby exclaims making us give her a look making her asks, “What?”  
“We’re not so sure it was an accident, Abs,” Tony informs her.  
“Not sure meaning what?” McGee demands.  
“We think whoever set up the crime scene might be after Abby,” Ziva explains.  
“Me? Who would want to kill me? I mean, Tony I understand,” Abby exclaims making Alice laugh.  
“Hey!” Tony exclaims again.  
“Does the name Mikel Mauher ring a bell?” I demand of her.  
“It should. He placed over two hundred phone calls to you in the last four months. One of them right before the accident,” Ziva reports to Abby.  
“You went through my phone records?” Abby ask in surprise.  
“And your credit card bills. Did you really but this guy Mauher a straightjacket for his birthday?” Tony asks her.  
“Okay, slow down, okay?”   
“Leave her alone,” Alice snap at Tony and Ziva when Abby looks so sad, she pull her into a hug after removing her oxygen mask.  
“It sounds like you two were pretty serious,” McGee complains.  
“Until she filed a restraining order against him. I’d say the straight jacket was a red flag there, Abs,” Tony teases her.  
“How come we never heard about this gentleman?” Ducky ask her.  
“Okay, I dated him last year. And things just got a little out of hand,” Abby defends her dating life.  
“Did I mention the restraining order?” Tony asks.  
“DiNozzo, shut up for one in your life,” Alice snap at him, she doesn’t need him reminding her about her bad past.  
“Okay, it was a lot out of hand,” Abby admits sadly.  
“Why didn’t you come to me, Abby?” I ask her while leaning down on the autopsy bed so I am looking into her eyes, one hand on each side of her lower body, meaning one on Alice’s leg because it is against Abby’s leg.  
“Because, Gibbs, I wanted him restrained. I didn’t want him beaten to a pulp with a baseball bat. And I’m embarrassed. It wasn’t a great taste in boyfriends.”  
“Yeah, I saw the web shrine he dedicated to you,” Tony explains.  
“W-W-W dot my hot dark dot com,” Ziva adds.  
“Okay, it’s creepy. But that’s not dangerous. He just can’t accept that it’s over between us. He’s not a violent type,” Abby defends her ex-boyfriend.  
“The guy cleans up crime scenes for a living, Abs,” Tony informs her.  
“I know. That’s what I liked about him. But I’m telling you, Gibbs, he’s not your man. You’re going to pay him a visit anyway. Can you pick up my red studded dog collar when you’re there?” Abby ask me while pointing to her bare neck where her necklace collars normally sits. Alice pulls Abby into another hug as I stand up and give her a look that asks if she is okay and she nodes while fussing over Abby.  
“You three stay here, we’ll be back,” I order them.  
“Can you bring coffee?” Alice ask me with excitement at the thought of coffee making Abby laugh, and get the feeling it is an inside joke between them two.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“’Free decomposition odour removal included in all double homicides,’” Ziva reads off a sign outside Mikel’s office that night before we all hear the load music that sounds like Abby’s lab.  
“I can see why she fell for the guy. They even have the same taste in music,” Tony comments before looking into the window to see the Mikel dead in the office. We all rush inside at the same time a camera takes a photo of the ‘crime scene’ before Mikel jumps up unhappily. He has a drop of fake blood in the middle of his forehead and spiky hair.   
“Hey! You ruined my shot!” Mikel exclaims before looking at the photos on his computer and adding, “I take that back. Not bad. I’m actually re-doing my before and after shots for my new brochures, ‘you name the crime scene, we wipe the grime.’ So what do you got, huh? A sub accident?”  
“Yeah, the restraining order probably made that kind of difficult, huh?” Tony comments as we all holster our guns.  
“Yeah, I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“The only reason you’re still able to walk is because I never heard about you until today,” I inform him as I get into his personally space making him cringe away from me like the coward and wimp he is. No one threatens or hurts or scares MY girls and gets away with it.  
“That restraining order. Look, this is not necessary, okay? All right, I shouldn’t have called her earlier. I just wanted to apologize.”  
“You got something to apologize for, do you?” Tony asks him.  
“Yeah, I was a little crazy before. Look, I was in therapy. Okay, I found out that I was projecting my own obsession onto Abby. And therefore, she was not willing to reciprocate it. And I just wanted to call and apologize for any pain and suffering I put her through. Is Abby in some kind of trouble?”   
“You tell me,” I demand of him while showing him the photo of the crime scene.  
“Oh my god!”   
“Look familiar?” Ziva demands of him, even she is protective of Abby, but I don’t think anyone would beat Alice; she might even be more protective of her then me.  
“No! But for two grand I can make it look like brand new.”  
“Hey!” I snap at him while having to restrain myself from punching him.  
“Okay, look. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Okay, I’m cured now. I’m good. I’m on anti-depressants. I have a new girlfriend.”  
“And now all you need is an alibi for the last two days and you’re golden,” Tony teases him.  
“Well, then I’m golden, you know? It’s been drive-by central since the full moon, man. All the crazies are out now.”  
“And that makes you golden how?”  
“Because I’ve been with D.C. Metro for two whole days. That’s why.”  
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Alice pov  
.  
“The lunar effect is a myth. There is no statistical correlation between the faces of the moon and human behaviour. That’s why it would never work with us,” Abby explains to the team when they came back and informed us of her stalkers alibi, McGee, Abby and I am still in the NCIS overalls.  
“Doesn’t matter to some people, they just need an excuse for their actions as something they can’t help and therefore not their fault,” I explain to Abby.  
“Because the lunar affect si a myth?” Ziva ask Abby.  
“No, because I’m a scientist and he plays with voodoo dolls,” Abby corrects her.  
“But you play with voodoo dolls, Abby,” McGee reminds her.  
“I meant it metaphorically, McGee. I don’t think they actually do anything. I just play with them, you know, to relax.”  
“Well, it looks like you can put away your Mike Mauher doll, Abby,” Tony informs her.  
“Metro confirmed Mauher’s alibi,” Gibbs informs us.  
He cleaned eight crime scenes over the past four days. Been surrounded by homicide detectives the entire time.”  
“Did any of the crime scenes match what we found at the Navy Lodge?” McGee asks him.  
“Nope. Not even close,” Gibbs answers us.  
“Then I’m off the hook,” Abby says hopefully.  
“No necessarily. He could have had an accomplice,” Ziva says making Abby sad again and I pull her into a hug, hiding her from the world.  
“Oh, leave it to the assassin to rain another person’s happiness,” I snap at her, she didn’t need to say that, Abby didn’t need the fear.  
“Or maybe it was just a lab accident. I mean really, who would want to kill Abby?” Tony offers, which is worse then someone trying to kill Abby because she might kill him.  
“You know, it’s true. It’s not like someone was after Tony,” McGee exclaims.  
“No. That’s a suspects list I wouldn’t want to run down again,” Ziva states.  
“Ha-ha! I think the joke’s over. We got it,” Tony snaps at them.  
“And our suspect list, Ziva?” I ask her while releasing Abby.  
“Ah, we don’t have one,” Ziva answers me but Gibbs gives her a look making her add, “But I can contact the local medical waste facilities and see if anyone reported a break-in.”  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs turns to his next agent.  
“I’m run a background check on the Lodge employee. Maybe someone’s got a vendetta against the cleaning staff,” Tony informs Gibbs what he can and will do.  
“McGee?”  
“Well, I can um… I can go check on… boss, I’m not really sure what I should do,” McGee admits.  
“Go home. Take Abby with you.”  
“Gibbs, I am fine! I only have one stalker and he has an alibi,” Abby exclaims.  
“I don’t want you to be alone tonight, Abs. you’re going with McGee.”  
“Great. Like I haven’t been traumatized enough today.”  
“Don’t get pregnant,” I call after Abby and McGee as they leave the squad room making Abby give me a look before turning around and leaving.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“No ATM transaction. Hasn’t touched his credit cards. Was a typewriter. And she messed my motherboard so badly, the BLOS got screwed up and I had to do a hard reset,” McGee complains from where he is knelling behind his desk in the squad room the next morning after eh almost got Abby killed by leaving her alone in his apartment, the one thing I told him not to do.  
“How traumatizing for you, McGee,” I comment scathingly at him, he almost got one of my girls killed and he cares more about his typewriter.  
“Go easy on him, boss. Even a hair out of order traumatizes McGee. Put this on the plasma. Where’s your chair?” Tony asks McGee.  
“He doesn’t deserve to sit,” I cut Tony of tightly.  
“With that ass? Don’t find Mauher, boss. Guy’s totally disappeared. But I found this in his apartment,” Tony reports while pulling up a shrine to Abby form Mauher’s house.  
“He’s been tracking her for a while,” Ziva comments.  
“So much for the restraining order,” McGee adds his own comment.  
“I spoke to his supposed girlfriend. They went on one date. All he talked about was Abby. I’ll find out more this weekend. We’re having dinner,” Tony informs us.  
“No, you don’t eat until you find the guy trying to kill Abby,” I yell at my team.  
“Boss, actually, I have an idea about that. I’ve been analysing the incoming packets on Abby’s system. There appears to be a shellcode,” McGee explains but when I just glare at him he adds, “Um… I think that Mauher’s been worming into Abby’s computer to monitor her communications.”  
“Do you think you can trace the worm?” Ziva asks him.  
“If he tried to access again, yeah.”  
“Coordinate with Abby,” I order him as I hand his chair back.  
“Boss, you’re going to have to try to get her out of the elevator first,” McGee informs me making me raise my eyebrow before walking to the back elevator and open it too see Abby and Alice sitting in one corner. Abby is wearing her normal clothing again today while Alice hasn’t changed out of the NICS overalls.  
“Hey, Gibbs,” Abby says to me as I walk in and sit on the opposite side of her to Alice, sandwiching her between us. Abby continues, “Did you know that only five of the two and a half million deaths every year occur in elevators?”  
“No,” I answer her.  
“Ziva gave me this,” Abby explains while holding up a teaser in one hand while in the other there is pepper spays and brass knuckle, she continues to explain to me, “And Cynthia gave me the pepper spray. The knuckles are Director Shepard’s.”  
“No one is going to hurt you, Abby.”  
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”  
“Did it?”  
“Yeah. Can you say it again?”  
“Nobody is going to hurt you, Abs,” I promise her while pulling her into a hug against my side, I can feel Alice’s hand around her body too, her hand pressed against my side from how tightly I am holding Abby.  
“Can I stay at NCIS until you catch him?”  
“Mm-hmm. I’ll move your whole lab into the elevator if it’ll make you feel better,” I promise her.  
“He’ll have to have balls of still to get to you, because he has to go through the whole team, including Jimmy and Ziva the bitch, and a marine” Alice promise Abby making her smile at her as the elevator door opens, showing Jimmy who looks unconfutable which I make worse by smiling at him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Singapore has infiltrated Abu Saif,” the Tech in NCIS informs Shepard as I walk into MTAC.  
“Good. Forward this to Sealift Command, ASAP,” Shepard orders him as I sit down next to her.  
“Right away, ma’am.”  
“I picked a bad week to cut out caffeine,” Shepard informs me as she takes a sip of coffee.  
“Abu Saif?” I ask her.  
“Singapore’s mole believes that they’ve infiltrated a pre-positioned ship at Diego Garcia. I’ll fill you in later. How’s Abby?”  
“She’s scared.”  
“I thought that Mauher fellow had an airtight alibi.”  
“Alibi, yes. Airtight…”  
“Is that… Jamaican blend?” Shepard buts me off while demanding about my coffee while I take a sip off without answering her.  
“Alibi, yes. Airtight, no. last thing a homicide cop worries about is his clean up guy.”  
“Yeah, well you’re clean up guy just made an interesting play. Abby’s been subpoenaed again.”  
“I thought she was done with the court.”  
“She was until the defence got an anonymous email saying that the consultant for the prosecution had gone into protective custody.”  
“Mauher must have found out…”  
“You don’t use cream and sugar, do you?” Shepard asks me before she takes a sip of my coffee.  
“Mauher must have found about the case from Abby’s computer.”  
“And now he’s trying to lure her out.”  
“Does the defence know they’re being used?”  
“They don’t care. My guess is that they’re going to use Abby’s restraining order to claim that her judgment is faulty.”  
“Her judgement?”   
“Yeah. The defence is going to argue that she makes bad choices. I don’t know this defence lawyer. I’ve never dealt with her, but obviously she likes to win.”  
“She does.”  
“You know her?”  
“Yeah, I thought I did. If she wants to talk to Abby. She can do it here.”  
“Yeah, agreed. I’ll pass it on. Jethro, could you leave…”  
“I already did, Jen,” I inform her while leaving my coffee behind for her as I leave MTAC.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I should have known. Hello, Jethro,” Stevenson, the lawyer who is going after Abby, greets me while standing on the other side of my desk as I look at her over my reading glasses. She is an older redhead wearing a black shirt under a blue jacket, she is beautiful but she has nothing on my Alice.  
“Hello, Ginger. Or should I say overzealous defence attorney who came all the way down here to harass my forensic scientist?” I greet her.  
“Do they know each other?” Spooner, the person who Stevenson is defending, asks Tony and Ziva.  
“Nothing gets by you, does it?” I ask him as I remove my glasses and leave them on my desk.  
“Harassment is illegal. Whereas I have a subpoena,” Stevenson explains to me like I don’t already know that and holding out her subpoena.  
“How about that. So do I,” I inform her while holding out my own subpoena.  
“You want the email that tipped us to the restraining order? Why?” she demands of my after reading my subpoena.  
“We’re hoping there’s routing information in the header that can help us trace it,” McGee explains to her.  
“Hoping after the whistle-blowers now, are we?”  
“Ni, just the stalkers,” I correct her.  
“Wait a minute. Slow down a second. Who’s being stalked?” Spooner asks because his lawyer hasn’t informed him everything.  
“Her name is Abby,” Tony informs her tightly.  
“And your lawyer is going to try and use her bad taste in men to impregnate her credibility,” Ziva informs him.  
“Impugn, Ziva!”  
“Yes.”  
“What does any of this have to do with the embezzling charges?” Spooner asks us in confusion.  
“Ooh! Embezzling. Nice! How much?” Tony asks him.  
“Oh, they say ten million, but I’m innocent. I was framed.”  
“Yes. In your case I actually believe that.”  
“Don’t say another word. Where is my witness?” Stevenson orders her client before turning to me and demands of me.  
“Where’s my e-mail?” I ask her making her hand me my email and we exchange our subpoenas before I get up and lead her over to the elevator. I hit the button, opening the door, showing Stevenson Abby working away in the elevator with a desk and Burt. Alice is sitting on the desk between Abby and the door, standing on protection for her friend.  
“Hi,” Abby greets her.  
“What can we do for you in this fine elevator?” Alice questions Stevenson as I leave Stevenson with Abby and Alice because I know Alice isn’t going to leave her friend again until we know she is completely safe.  
“The e-mail will help narrow down the DNS server, but still have a way to go on the trace,” McGee explains to me as I return to the squad room.  
“I thought computers were supposed to make things go faster, McGee,” I snap at him.  
“They do. It’s just that the X-originating IP address leads to a public IP address. I’ll let you know when I have something.”  
“Ziva, go home.”  
“I’m staying if you’re staying,” Ziva informs me.  
“I’m staying.”  
“I’m staying,” McGee informs me.  
“I’m staying, too,” Tony adds happily.  
“I’m sure Abby feels safer already,” Ziva comments.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“I see you vacated the elevator for the evening,” Ducky comments to Abby as I set up two beds on the floor of her la.  
“It wasn’t quite as cosy in there after an hour with Queen Boudicca. Did you know that the five people who die in elevators every year, they only spend an average of sixty seconds in there a day?” Aby ask him making me smile at her, she is so young and childish and yet someone wants to ruin her life.  
“Any you’ve been already been in one for six hours.”  
“Exactly. Increasing my risk by a thousand fold. I’m lucky to be alive, Ducky.”  
“Well, it’s not luck when you have Leroy Jethro Gibbs looking after you. However, one cannot be too careful so I brought you a present. It’s a safety whistle. Emits a hundred and twenty decibel blast. One good blow of this and your attacker’s eardrums are shattered,” Ducky informs her while handing her the whistle.  
“Thank you, Ducky,” Abby says to him as he leaves.  
“Come on Abby, you need sleep,” I beg of her as I get her to lay into her bed.  
“Alice, why are you staying with me? You normal work with Gibbs.”  
“I have already lost my sister and best friend. I’m not letting life take you next, so I’m not looking away until this asshole pisses off.”  
“Thank you, Alice. That does help,” Aby informs me as she snuggles up into her bed.  
“Besides, I don’t trust NCIS security anymore.”  
“Why not?”  
“They let Ari in, the let the bitch in. they let Cassidy in. and they let Fornell in. anyone who lets them all in, their not very good at their job,” I joke again, taking her mind off Mikal in the only way I know how.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“Boss, getting a verification ping on my tracer program. Trying to back trace,” McGee reports while smashing away at his computer keyboard.  
“Do you think you can type any harder, McGee?” Tony teases him.  
“This guy’s good. He’s bypassed all our authentication routine. Ziva, are you getting this?”  
“Yes. It looks like Mauher accessed Abby’s accounts thirty minutes ago,” Ziva agrees with me.  
“McGee,” I call to him.  
“Yeah? Used her terminal to send an e-mail to,” McGee reports.  
“The Pass and I.D. Office on the Navy Yard?” Ziva adds.  
“He was giving himself a drive-on,” I state making McGee picking up his phone to call security.  
“Security!” McGee says into the phone.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Jimmy, you don’t have to keep calling my. I’m fine,” Abby answers her ringing phone making me sit up from my spot reading the book I just stole from Abby’s office. She suddenly says, “Oh, great. My biggest fan… The wrong foot?! The only ring foot is my foot up your ass,” Abby says as she begins searching for his location as I grab my phone.  
“Gibbs,” Gibbs tightly answers his phone.  
“Jethro, he’s on the phone with Abby know. She’s tracing the location now,” I inform him while placing my hand on her back while watching her.  
“You really are insane,” Abby says to Mikel.  
“I’m on my way down now,” Gibbs informs me.  
“No, you need to be ready when she gets the location to catch this S.O.B,” I inform him.  
“And if I don’t? What? You’re going to tear up that nice collage you were making for me?” Abby demands of him.  
“Jethro, please, you need to catch him, Abby can’t take this too much longer,” I beg of Gibbs.  
“Oh, and let me guess. You’re the only person that can protect me?”   
“You know that time somebody broke into my house and stole my mail?”  
“I’m coming down,” Gibbs informs us before hanging up.  
“Yeah, and that crazy freak that kept slashing my tires… Mikel that was you! You slashed my tires! You stole my mail…! That’s a good idea,” Abby comments before freezing and turning around to see Mikel peering throw the window that Ari shot out and waving at her.   
“Down,” I order her as I pull out my gun and aim it at Mikal.  
“Abby down!” Ziva orders Abby at the same time as me as she also points her gun at Mikal as he runs away.  
“He was right there!” Abby says to the Gibbs and Tony as they all walk into the lab.  
“He’s here, McGee. On the move!” Tony informs McGee over his phone.  
“Are you okay?” Gibbs whispers to Abby as he crouches down next to her and pulls her into a gun as she hides behind the desk and behind me at the same time so that Mikal can’t see her if he returns.  
“No!” Abby answers Gibbs stupid question.  
“Clear!” Ziva calls out while searching for Mikal as I holster my gun and turn to Abby.  
Clear!” Tony calls out from where he also comes up empty.  
“Ziva, lock down the yard. No in or outs. We’ll find him, Abby,” Gibbs promises her.  
“Well then I can’t stay here, Gibbs,” Abby reminds him.  
“Definitely not staying at McGee’s place,” Tony comments.  
“Not Tony’s place, you don’t need to get an STD on top of a stalker, and probably another stalker, Tony’s stalker,” I joke making Abby smile at me through her fear.  
“Hey!”  
“No place is safe. If he can get to me on the Navy Yard, he can get me anywhere.”  
“Not anywhere. Not anywhere,” Gibbs promises her as he pulls her into a hug, which I join in on, holding my best and only female friend.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“Nothing like a nice quite dungeon-like basement to calm the nerves,” Abby rambles out through her slurring words as I walk down the starts into my basement to see my drunken girls. I need to stop letting Alice and Abby get drunk together.  
“You need to sleep, Abby,” I inform Abs who is walking around the basement picking up random this off my work bench.  
“I know! I tried. Every time I close my eyes, I see Mikel.”  
“With the grain,” I correct her while she sands my boat against the grain; I place my hands over hers and lead them against the grain.  
“I thought I was. I don’t understand why people drink when they’re depressed. Because alcohol is a depressant. Now I’m so depressed… and I’m nauseous. And I’m really drunk.”  
“It’s not about you, Abs. it’s about him, and his need to be shot,” Alice corrects Abby from her spot leaning against the rib of my boat, but she moves over to lean against me.  
“Then why do I feel so guilty?”   
“I don’t know. Why do you?” I ask her.  
“Everyone feels guilt when they place the blame on themselves for not doing the right thing and stopping something happening when they see the signs looking back. It’s natural and it takes time to get over it,” Alice slurs out to Abby.  
“Because… I think this might all be my fault,” Abby slurs out while answering my question.  
“Maybe it is,” I state making Alice hit me, not very hard and she half misses but it gets the point across, don’t say that to her friend or she will hit you.  
“How could you say that to me, Gibbs? I didn’t do anything wrong. Just because some defective lunatic can’t get it through his thick skull that I think he is a defective lunatic! That is not my fault, Gibbs! That’s not my fault at all! This is not my fault! It’s not my fault! Hm. I see why you like to work on boat, Gibbs. Very, very cathartic!” Abby rambles as she picks up a chisel and a hammer. She places them against the rib of my boat and suddenly hits the hammer against the chisel breaking a chunk out of my boat and she suddenly exclaims, “Oops. Suddenly having a stalker on the loose isn’t so scary.”  
“He’s not on the loose, Abby. That’s what I came down here to tell you. DiNozzo called. The Coast Guard picked up Mikel Mauher trying to cross the Anacostia.”  
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Alice pov  
.  
“This is harassment, okay? I’m going to file a restraining order against your whole department,” Mikel yells at Gibbs and Tony in integration room as I watch in the observation room with Abby and the director. Abby is dressed for her court case today and I am wearing jeans with a red t-shirt.  
“Knock yourself out. They did wonders for me,” Abby comments.  
“It’s over, Abby,” Shepard says to her, like her a little, when Abby needed her, she came through for a change.  
“Not until he finds another loophole to crawl out of. He will. You don’t know him,” Abby exclaims in fear making em pull her into a hug.  
“No, but I know Gibbs.”  
“Excuse me, Director. The federal Marshall is here for Abby,” McGee informs us while he opens the door.  
“Just when he was getting good,” Abby complains.  
“Judges don’t like being kept waiting,” Shepard reminds Abby.  
“Let me know who it turns out.”  
“Don’t worry. Gibbs won’t let him crawl out of anything.”  
“Abs, you want company?” I ask her.  
“Why?” Abby ask me as the director looks at me.  
“Mainly because if I stay here, I’m going to shot this fuckwit. And this team has enough bad luck without me doing that,” I explain making Abby node and I leave with him.  
“Sure, nothing like having a Todd to protect me from the bad guy,” Abby says as she leads me out of the observation room towards the elevator.  
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“You guys have it all wrong! I’m not the one trying to hurt Abby,” Mikel exclaims.  
“No, you’re just the misunderstood lover who flies in at the last second to be her saviour. That how the game’s played?” Tony demands of him from his spot behind Mikal as I sit in front of him.  
“This isn’t a game, okay? I’m trying to protect Abby here.”  
“You have an interesting way of showing it,” I snap at him.  
“I’ve got no choice. This was the only way I could get her to listen to me. You may not have noticed, but Abby and I have been going through a really rough patch lately.”  
“Hey! There is no Abby and you.”  
“Rough patches don’t usually include cyanide,” Tony informs him.  
“That wasn’t me! I didn’t know Abby was in trouble until after you came to my office. Look, I’m not the one trying to hurt Abby. But I know who is. Not his name, but his picture. Right there. After you guys came to see me, I started to go through all my old photo,” Mikal exclaims while pointing to the photos of Abby.  
“Exhibits A through G of you violating your restraining order?” I explain to him angry.  
“It’s not illegal if I stay more than a hundred yards away.”  
“It is if you harass, follow, or threaten,” Tony reads from the restraining order.  
“Semantics, okay? Anyway, I’m going through all my old photos, and the same guy kept popping up over and over again. That’s got to be your guy. There. Right there. Him. Scary right there,” Mikel exclaims while pointing to a photo of Abby eating outside with Alice.  
“That scary guy? The really scary guy right there?” Tony asks while zooming in on one of the guys in the background.  
“No, no. the other guy. Zoom in on the other guy. Yeah, keep going. Keep going. Keep rolling. You see what I’m saying? I wasn’t the only one following her. The only reason I was able to even worm into Abby’s computer and hack onto her drive in the first place because somebody else had already cracked the authentication protocols before me,” Mikel exclaims as Tony looks at multiple photos of Abby and the same guy is always in the background, always.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Thanks for the lift. I could really use it after the week I’ve had,” Abby says to the driver of the van as we climb in, I am in the middle while Abby sits against the door.  
“Don’t forget your seatbelt,” the driver reminds us making us both clip up.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“He’s right, boss. Mauher’s worm didn’t penetrate Abby’s system until after the authentication calls were cracked,” McGee informs me as I stand in observation room with Tony.  
“Who cracked them?” I demand of him.  
“It’s going to take some time.”  
“We don’t have time! That was the federal Marshall who was supposed to pick up Abby,” Shepard informs us as she steps into the observation room as I hang up on McGee.  
“Supposed to?” Tony asks in fear.  
“Someone slashed the tires on his transport. He hasn’t left yet,” Shepard informs us making my blood runs cold, he has Abby and Alice. He has my girls and I don’t even know who he is.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“So I guess the lesson is to always trust your instincts, you know? Like with you… you scare me. So we could never date. But don’t feel bad. I mean, you’re a federal agent. You should scare people. That’s your job. You,” Abby rambles about her ex-boyfriend before turning to the Marshall before her phone rings. The driver reaches across me to stop Abby answering the phone making me bite his arm to stop him touching Abby. I bite down until I taste blood in my mouth and he slams his other hand into my stomach making me release and he gets the phone out of Abby’s hand.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“No answer on their cell phone,” Ziva informs me over the phone as I drive off looking for my girls with Tony.  
“Running a trace,” McGee adds.  
“State Police have been notified,” Shepard reports to us tightly, she is worried about her employees and feels the guilt of sending them off with this man.  
“Still no answer, Gibbs,” Ziva repeats again.  
“Keep trying!” I order them.  
“How far could he have gotten?” Tony asks us.  
“Far enough. He knows his window is small.”  
“McGee, I’m not going to ask again!”  
“Location’s coming up. Sending GPS coordinates to your PDA,” McGee informs us.  
“Okay, I got it. This can’t be right. It says we’re right on top of her!” Tony exclaims in confusion.  
“That’s because we are,” I state as I bring the car to a screeching stop and get out of the car to see the girls phones on the ground. I pick them up as a semi-truck moves. I call, “DiNozzo!”  
Muffle screaming comes from the parked van I just pointed out to Tony. Door suddenly opens and a man falls out.  
“I’ll be with you in a minute, Gibbs. And don’t look up my skirt!” Abby exclaims before Taser-in the driver again making me laugh, at her and in relief that my girls are okay.  
“Okay,” I laugh as Tony and I holster our guns. Alice is holding the door open, she has blood dripping down her chin and right temple and looks to be in pain but she is laughing at Abby. Abby is wearing her court outfit and has the brass knuckles and the Taser; the pepper spray is on the ground behind Abby.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“So how did it go?” Tony asks Abby as she leaves the courthouse. Both of the girls are cleaned up but neither has seen Ducky to make sure they are healthy.  
“Horrible. The judge ruled all of my physical evidence inadmissible,” Abby complains.  
“Then threw out the case,” I add.  
“Hit you hard, huh?” Tony asks her.  
“Actually, no. she didn’t bring up my bad taste in men. She attacked the science,” Abby says happily.  
“It always was about the science. I only questioned you on the restraining order to throw the prosecution off my real game l\plan,” Stevenson informs us smugly as she walks up to us.  
“Human-scent detection is a viable forensic tool!”   
“Which has to be fully vetted and peer-approved.”  
“Lucky for me,” Spooner says smugly.  
“Sent evidence is the only physical evidence tying to defendant to the money he took,” Alice states.  
“We’re saying you’re a very smelly man,” Tony explains to Spooner.  
“Hey, I was proven innocent, remember?” Spooner says smugly.  
“Actually, you just weren’t found guilt. There’s a difference,” Abby corrects him.  
“I’ll keep that in mind while I’m getting a tan on the beaches of Bora Bora.”  
“Don’t take it so hard. I know it was going to go down like this right from the very beginning,” Stevenson says happily.  
“Too bad your client didn’t,” I state.  
“Yeah, you should have trusted your lawyer there, Giggle-man,” Tony agrees with me.  
“Instead of spending all of that money hiring a hit-man to take out the star witness, A.K.A me,” Abby snaps at him.  
“What are they talking about?” Stevenson demands of her client.  
“I have no idea,” Spooner denies.  
“You paid him to kill. You didn’t pay him to keep his bloody mouth shut. But I suppose it wasn’t bloody when you last saw him. That was me, protecting Abby,” Alice informs him tightly.  
“That dude even gave you credit for staging the bloodbath at the Navy Lodge,” Tony explains.  
“You guys think you’re so smart!” Spooner snaps at us.  
“Terry, don’t say a word,” Stevenson orders her client.  
“Gibbs, can I hit them?” Alice asks me while looking at Spooner and Stevenson.  
“No. we’ll beat them in court,” I answer her making Stevenson glare at me.  
“Back in the car. Let’s go,” Tony orders Spooner leading him over to the car as Abby takes my arm and Alice takes the other.  
“I want coffee,” Alice suddenly exclaims making Abby laugh at her.  
“I want a caf-pow,” Abby agrees though her laughter with Alice.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I was right, wasn’t I? Huh? That’s right. Abby would be dead by now if it wasn’t for me,” Mikel exclaims as I walk into the integration room on my own, Alice is staying with Abby so she doesn’t hit this boy.  
“IS that what you think? I think Terry Spooner never would have gotten as close as he did without you as the distraction, that the real danger here was you,” I correct him.  
“No, no. people accuse me of playing mind homes. No.”  
“Metro Cops found your car. They found the gun. Found the suicide note you wrote in Abby’s handwriting,” I snap as I slam the ‘suicide note’ on the table between us.  
“That was just a last resort. Look, I love her. It’s… I love her, you know? You don’t get it, do you? Huh? She wants everybody to believe that… that she doesn’t love me. Hell, I think she even believes it sometimes. I’ll tell you what. If you don’t care about me, then how come you can’t take your eyes off me right now? Huh? You can lie to the rest of the world, but you can’t lie to your heart. Can you, Abby?” Mikel yells at the two-way mirror making me flick the switch, showing him the observation room is empty, not even a tech. He continues to yell, “Oh, no, no, no. Abby! Abby! Look, I know you’re in there. Abby!” Mikel yells at the empty room as I leave him alone.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Ow,” I complain as Ducky cleans the cut on my temple.  
“Sit still, dear,” Ducky begs of my as he rises the cleaning wipe again.  
“You complain about getting that little cut clean when I pepper sprayed you and the driver,” Abby laughs at me as she sips her caf-pow that Gibbs brought us both.  
“I wasn’t thinking about the pain then, I was protecting you. I don’t have to protect you and this hurts,” I whine at her as Ducky wipes my temple clean.  
“Who did you get this cut?” Ducky asks me.  
“Driver-assassin slammed my head into the steering wheel when I bite him.”  
“Ah. All done,” Ducky says to me as he places a Band-Aid over my cut.  
“Thank you,” Abby and I say because beside a couple of cuts and bruises we are in perfect health.  
“My pleasure, dears,” Ducky says as I jump off my seat on the autopsy bed and pick up my coffee.  
“Ducky, the whole team is coming over to Gibbs for dinner. You and Victoria able to come?” I ask my father.  
“Yes, of course.”  
“Cool. Make sure Palmer comes,” I inform him making him node at me. Abby and I leave out to the elevator.  
“You think Gibbs would let us get drunk?” Abby asks me in the elevator.  
“Not since you broke his wife,” I inform her sadly.  
“I didn’t mean to,” Abby defends herself making me laugh.  
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“Hey, Alice” Tony suddenly says as we are all sitting around in Gibbs living room, talking and having fun after the week we have had.  
“Yes, Tony,” I ask him because I have been ignoring him making him repeat my name. I am patting Ugly Tony the second who is sitting on my lap and Abby is beside me patting me dog.  
“Where’s your boyfriend? I mean you invited everyone from the director to Jimmy but your boyfriends not here.”  
“I told him to be here, just like I did to everyone else. I didn’t make anyone of you to be here and I wouldn’t make him deal with you.”  
“Why is everyone picking on my today?”  
“Because your name is Anthony DiNozzo.”  
“So?”  
“So, if someone names a child Anthony DiNozzo it means your parents planed for you to be the butt of the jokes.”  
“Ha-ha,” Tony fake laughs as everyone else really laughs for what feels like the first time in years, since Kate’s death or even before that.


	24. Jeopardy *

“He’s a newbie,” Gibbs comments as we walk over to the elevator to see Ziva crouched next to our suspect checking his pulse.  
“He’s dead,” Ziva suddenly informs us in fear.  
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“I’ve been traveling to crime scenes for a great many years, but I can say with complete confidence, this is the shortest commute I have ever had,” Ducky comments as he looks at the body as Ziva sits seething at her desk.  
“And one of the first time I didn’t get us lost,” Jimmy comments as he.  
“True.”  
“All your, Duck,” Tony comments as he exits the elevator.  
“Sure appreciate all the help, Tony,” McGee comments as he is in the outfit we normally wear at crime scenes of a black NCIS windbreaker.  
“That’s a nice outfit, Probie.”  
“Okay, the handbook says that we are required to wear this outfit at all active crime scenes. You know that.”  
“Yeah, but not in our own building. That’s like wearing a nametag in your own apartment,” I state.  
“Tony? Come here. How is she holding up?” Ducky asks while looking over to Ziva.  
“Oh, I uh… I don’t know. I haven’t talked to her yet,” Tony admits.  
“May I ask why?”  
“Because I told him not to, Ducky,” Gibbs informs him as he walks over to us carrying a coffee cup and wearing his jacket but not his windbreaker.  
“Excuse me,” Jimmy says to Gibbs as he moves past Gibbs.  
“Right now she’s a suspect, not an investigator.”  
“I want to know who the hell broke this mirror or dropped a wine glass, giving us all this bad luck. First Kate dies, and then Tony accused of murder and McGee shots a Metro detective. Then Abby’s stalker planned her suicide and she almost gets killed by a hired assassin, and now Ziva kills a suspect. We need to work out our luck and make it better,” I complain.  
“Boss, you don’t think Ziva’s really capable of this, do you? Well, I mean she’s capable of it, but… you don’t really think that she would just,” McGee stutters out.  
“Kill someone?” Gibbs finishes for him.  
“Not without a good reason.”  
“Look, we all know that Ziva has crazy ninja skills but, I mean, she’s got some self-control, right? Not a lot, some? Never mind,” Tony tries to defend his partner but we just give him a look making recant.  
“Forgive me for overstepping, Jethro, but you and I both know that this is far beyond Officer David’s character,” Ducky defends Ziva.  
“It’s not me or you I’m worried about right now, Duck. We have a cause of death?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Well, at this point I’d only be speculating. We won’t know anything specific until I get him back… well, downstairs, I suppose.”  
“No bruising?” I ask him.  
“Yeah, well the only injury I’ve been able to find is this on the top of his head here. Ow! Sorry,” Ducky apologies when he bumps his head into Gibbs as they both look at the mark on the top of the head.  
“I’ll zig, you zag,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Here, allow me,” Ducky says before moving the victim’s head so Gibbs and I can see the mark, Gibbs is crouched down next to the victim and I am looking over his shoulder.  
“It looks recent,” I state while placing my hand on Gibbs shoulder as a balance point as I lean down to have a closer look.  
“Yes, well based on its location, it appears that he struck his head on one of these rails when he fell. Oh, come on, Jethro. I mean there’s no signs of any physical altercation,” Ducky exclaims when he sees Gibbs facial expression.  
“Duck, with her training, there wouldn’t be,” Gibbs comments before calling to Ziva who is lurking near the crime scene, Gibbs calls, “Hey!”  
“You ready to hear my side of the story?” Ziva ask us as we walk over to her in the corridor.  
“We’re not going to get a chance to hear his. Why should we hear yours?” I ask her.  
“I didn’t touch him. Hardly at all. When the elevator doors opened, he refused to get in. If this would have been a year ago, I would have snapped his little neck. But it’s not and I didn’t. I asked him several times to step into the elevator. He wouldn’t cooperate. And that’s when I struck him.”  
“How?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“With my fist.”  
“Where?”  
“In the jugular.”  
“Can you guys believe I’m about to go to my first crime scene?” Abby exclaims as she bounces up to us but when she sees how tense we are she adds, “It’s not a good time.”  
“It was just a little love tap. Choked him up for a couple of seconds, that’s all. Look, I know this looks bad. I also know with Brian Dempsey dead, it’s nearly impossible to bring down his South African distributors, much less prosecute his brother,” Ziva defends herself as McGee leaves.  
“That’s not our biggest problem here, Ziva,” Gibbs informs her.  
“It appears there’s only one way to fix this. I’ve seen it in your American movies. This is where I resign,” Ziva comments as she hands him her badge.  
“Next time you hand me your badge, you had better be prepared to lose it,” Gibbs informs her as he places the badge back into her hand.  
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“Yeah. Most people don’t know this, but financial disputes are the second leading cause of divorce,” Jimmy informs Duck in autopsy.  
“Really? What’s number one?” Ducky ask as we walk into autopsy.  
“Marriage,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s infidelity. See, the study I read said that… never mind,” Jimmy begins but releases no one cares and just stops.  
“I understand your sense of urgency, Jethro, but my examination is still underway,” Ducky informs us.  
“Just tell me what you know, Ducky,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Please,” I add.  
“Well, so far I found no life-threatening abnormalities,” Ducky explains.  
“What about his throat?”   
Well, we did, in our internal examination, find a slight irritation of the anterior jugular, perhaps caused by a physical blow.”  
“Mm-hmm. Was the blow fatal?” Gibbs asks him.  
“It didn’t appear to be. Look, I won’t know the cause of this man’s death until I’ve completed my work. MRI’s, Abby tox screen, and they’re all forthcoming. I know what you want to hear, Jethro, but Officer David is not off the hook here,” Ducky informs us before we leave autopsy.  
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“It’s a simple conversation you know? What do you have, Ducky? Well, Jethro, this reminds me of the time back at Scotland Yard when I… The point, Ducky? Well, based on my preliminary findings, Ziva did not kill this man,” Ziva intimidates Gibbs and Ducky as she backs up before she noticed the fearful looking on the boys making her exclaim, “What? What?” then she backs up into Gibbs chest. She spins around and demands, “So? Did you talk to Ducky?”  
“Yeah,” Gibbs answers her tightly.  
“And?”  
“And now I have to go and talk to the director.”  
“Oh. Maybe she really did kill that guy,” Tony exclaims as he walk past her and towards the stairs.  
“Hey Gibbs. What did Ducky say?! Gibbs! Hey, are you going to tell me anything, or not?” Ziva calls after Gibbs in fear.  
“That’s nothing to tell, Ziva,” Gibbs says before walking up to the director in silence. I walk over to my desk and I sit down silently.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“Stan, it’s Cynthia again. I’m really starting to get worried. Please call me as soon as you get this,” Cynthia, the director’s assistant, says into her phone as I walk into the outer office.  
“Is she in?” I ask her while pointing to the director’s office.  
“Still not back from lunch, and he’s been waiting for a half an hour.”  
“He’ll survive.”  
“It’s not like her, Agent Gibbs. She’s never been late for a meeting.”  
“You try her driver?”  
“Stan’s not answering si cell or pager. I’ve left him four messages. I really don’t know what else to do. I’ve been calling her cell,” Cynthia informs me but stops when I pull my phone to ring the director.  
“Agent Gibbs?” Shepard answers her phone and in the background I can hear that she is in a moving car.  
“Director? We’ve got a major problem here,” I greet her in confusion; she only calls me Agent Gibbs when I am in trouble.  
“Sorry to hear that Jethro. I have quite a serious problem myself.”  
“I’m, pretty sure you want to hear mine first.”  
“I’m not entirely sure that’s true.”  
“You really should be listening to her problem, Jethro. You’re holding my heroin and my little brother. If I don’t get both back in two hours, she dies. I’ll call back with the details,” A man, James the man Ziva killed, informs me before hanging up on me.  
“She called in at eleven forty-five when she arrived at the Whitmore hotel. According to the Senator’s assistant, lunch was over at twelve fifty… ten minutes ahead of schedule. She never checked in again,” Cynthia informs me what she found out while I was on the phone.  
“I need to see her itinerary,” I inform her.  
“I can’t do that, Agent Gibbs,” Cynthia exclaims as she follows me into the director’s office, “I’m not trying to be difficult, but the director’s been very clear. Her schedule is confidential. Even to you.”  
“Are you done? Director Shepard has been kidnapped. I need to know where she was when it happened,” I inform her making her jump into action and pull up what I need on the director’s computer.  
“Okay. Here’s everything. Nine a.m. at the G.A.O. Ten thirty with the A.T.C.C….”  
“And after lunch, a meeting with the B.O.B.”  
“Uh, that’s congressman Bob Sommers. He’s a friend.”  
“It doesn’t say where she’s meeting him.”  
“I’m not sure. She has the car wait at the hotel. Gets coffee nearby. You think Bod’s involved?”   
“No. but it’ll give me a search radius. Give me a copy of this, will you?”  
“What else can I do?”  
“Keep quiet.”  
“She’s gonna be okay, right?”  
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Alice pov  
.  
“If you have a question, ask it,” Ziva orders Tony who is staring at her.  
“I’m afraid you’ll pull the Vulcan death grip on me,” Tony defends himself.  
“I’m considering it.”  
“Where did you learn to do that, anyway? Years of training on a secluded desert island? Blind Master Po always one step ahead of you. ‘When you take the pebble from my hand, then it will be time…’ Oh ho, do that again. Show me. Oh!”   
“DiNozzo!” Gibbs calls out to his agent.  
“Yeah, boss. I was just…”  
“Shut up. Get over here. James Dempsey has taken Director Shepard hostage. He wants his drugs and his brother back or she dies. We have two hours. Last contact was at the Whitmore hotel. Driver’s not responding, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps out the information that he has found out.  
“On it,” Tony jumps into action.  
“Dempsey used the director’s cell phone,” Gibbs informs McGee.  
“I’ll start a trace,” McGee jumps into action himself.  
“What about me? This is the director’s schedule,” Ziva says while looking at the schedule.  
“Start making calls,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Desk work? Put me in the field.”  
“No, not happening.”  
“Not happening. I need you at your desk making calls. Go! Hey! Clock’s ticking, people!” Gibbs snaps at us all.  
“Jenny can take care of herself, Gibbs! She was a good agent.”  
“Still is,” Gibbs corrects her before walking back up to MTAC.  
“Give me half,” I order Ziva making her give me a look.  
“What?” Ziva asks me in confusion.  
“Give me half the schedule, we’ll get through it faster as a team,” I inform her making her hand me half and getting to work.  
“Thanks Alice.”  
“Don’t mention it or get used to it, when this team is safe, I stop helping you.”  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“I’ve been investigating James Dempsey for nine months, Gibbs. Seems like a frat boy on the surface, but the guy’s brutal. We’ve linked him to half a dozen unsolved homicides. But still, kidnapping the director of NCIS? Takes guts I didn’t know he had,” Cassie says to me in MTAC.  
“He’s gonna kill her, Cassie. Nothing to be impressed by,” I remind her.  
“I’m not impressed. I’m worried.”  
“Any intel from those squids you busted?”   
“They’re just mules moving product from the South Africans, didn’t even know who they were working for.”  
“Get down here.”  
“Be there in a couple hours.”  
“Hold on! Base commander has got a chopper waiting.”  
“The only thing James Dempsey loves more than money is his baby brother. As long as you’ve got Brian in custody, James should be easy to manipulate.”  
“Brian Dempsey is dead. You still think he’ll be easy to manipulate, Cassie?”   
“I’m on my way.”  
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“SO much for plan ‘A,’” Abby comments as I walk into the lab to see her talking and working with McGee.  
“Better have a plan ‘B,’” I say while announcing my presence.  
“Gibbs! Are you okay? I was really worried about you because of the director and all. I know that you guys are really close. Plan ‘B.’ I am running samples on Brian Dempsey’s clothing and personal effects to Sherlock where he’s been hanging out.”  
“And?”  
“And it’s going to take some time. Which we don’t have, so I’ll hurry up now,” Abby admits while getting back to work.  
“Uh, I’m working a different angle. Collecting Brian Dempsey’s credit cards and phone records. By creating a simple algorithm using his personal data, I constructed a computer model of his buying patterns, juxtaposed with his calling patterns,” McGee informs me.  
“I don’t care. Get it done,” I order him tightly.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Yes, I know it’s confidential information. But… but please don’t put me on hold!” Ziva snaps into hr phone when they put her on hold again.  
“Thank you for your help,” I say into my phone before hanging up and adding, “For nothing.”  
“Are you all right?” McGee asks Ziva.  
“I’m doing desk work,” Ziva complains.  
“Could be worse.”  
“What could be worse than desk work?” I ask him as I ring the next number on my half of the list.  
“Yes, hello. Hello, yes. Yes, all I want is… no, no. Don’t!” Ziva says into her phone before being put on hold again.  
“I know what you’re going through,” McGee informs Ziva.  
“Really?”  
“Mm-hmm.”  
“Are you making pointless phone calls and following up dead leads?”  
“That’s not what I mean. When I shot that cop, I felt like everyone doubted me. But after a while…”  
“Are you trying to make me feel better?”  
“Is it not working?”  
“It’s not necessary, McGee,” Ziva informs him with a chuckles. She continues, “Our only concern should be the director.”  
“You’re right.”  
“You put me on hold again, and I’ll jump through this phone and I will strangle you,” Ziva threats the person on the other end of her phone only to be put on hold anyway, “Hey, McGee! Nobody ever doubted you.”  
“Just like those calls you’re making aren’t pointless.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The director’s driver was taken by surprise then shot in the back of the head. Dempsey then kidnapped the Director and is demanding the return of his drugs, his brother or she dies,” Ziva reports once the director’s car and her driver dead in it.  
“Let’s hope we find him before that happens, Officer David. Here’s everything I’ve got on the Dempseys, Gibbs. Nine months of surveillance, wire taps, buy-busts. Uh… where do I sit?” Cassie reports before looking around.  
“Any of this going to help me find the director?” Gibbs demands of her tightly.  
“Probably not. Wish I could you tell you I had someone inside his organization.”  
“You never flipped an informant?” I ask her in surprise.  
“I was hoping to flip his brother. Obviously that’s not going to happen,” Cassie informs me as Ziva’s phone begins ringing.  
“Officer David. Got it, Tony,” Ziva says before turning to Gibbs and informing him, “Tony’s uploading the Whitmore Hotel security footage right now. He’s got Dempsey leaving the garage.”  
“Dempsey’s had less than a day to target the director. He’ll have been sloppy, left a trail,” Cassie comments as we all watch the video on the plasma above my desk.  
“James Dempsey’s in the passenger seat. The director must be in the back. Who’s driving?”  
“Alex Rudd. Point man for the cartels running drugs through South Africa. The guy’s a serious psychopath, Gibbs. I… didn’t know he was in the country. But I know fifty places he usually likes to hang out. I’ll start knocking down doors.”  
“No, I need you here. Get somebody else to do it,” Gibbs orders him.  
“I’ll start doing s,” Ziva begins offering herself up.  
“No, you’re not going anywhere. You sit down. Run a BOLO on that car,” Gibbs orders Ziva.  
“We’ll get her back, Gibbs,” Cassie says to Gibbs but he just walks away.  
“Give him time, this has been a hell of a year, starting with the plague and it hasn’t stopped yet. And it’s not getting better yet,” I inform Cassie before turning and running after Gibbs. I run up behind him and grab his arm, “Jethro… Are you alright?”  
“I’ll be alright when we get her back,” Gibbs informs me angry.  
“And we will, but yelling at the people who is trying to help you, isn’t helping us find and save her,” I inform him. I mightn’t like the women and she makes me jealous and insecure about my relationship with Gibbs, but I do want to find and save her because she is okay at her job and she will always be a part of Gibbs life and happiness. Gibbs ignores my comment making me pull him into the closet next to us so I can talk to him without anyone hearing us. I continue, “Jethro, we would find her. You just have to trust us, and stop yelling at everyone. Please.”  
“What if we’re too late?” Gibbs suddenly asks me.  
“We wouldn’t be, I trust this team to save her.”  
“How do you know?”  
“Because we have a great boss, who doesn’t let his emotions affect his investigative skills and doesn’t stop until the bad guys are in cuffs or dead,” I inform him while running my hand through his hair softly and pulling his head down so his face is hidden in neck as his arms wrap around my waist, holding my body against him.  
“I don’t want to lose her. I can’t bury anyone else,” Gibbs says and it sounds like he is on the edge of crying.  
“You won’. It is not her time, I am the one who is going to kill the director by annoying her to death, not some drug dealer,” I promise him which seems to calm him down slightly.  
“You can do that,” Gibbs gives me permission to tease and annoy the director and his ex-girlfriend to death makings me laugh at him. He releases me and straights up to his full height now he has his control over his emotions for the moment. We leave the closet and head straight down to autopsy where Ziva is talking to Ducky.  
“Because… I need for you to tell Gibbs that,” Ziva exclaims as we walk in.  
“Tell me what, Ziva?” Gibbs demands of her as he grips me hip, in anger, where his hand is resting.  
“That the BOLO came back on the car the Director was kidnapped in. it was abandoned three miles from the hotel. It’s in route to NCIS. It should be here…”  
“Go back to your desk.”  
“I am of no use chained to a computer, Gibbs. I should be out looking for her. I…”  
“It wasn’t a suggestion, Officer David.”  
“I…”  
“I don’t care,” Gibbs cuts her off making her leave.  
“Don’t you think you’re being a bit hard on her?” Ducky asks Gibbs as I look after Ziva, I feel bad for her.  
“Not the time to hold hands, Ducky,” Gibbs says tightly, so much for calming him down.  
“Even though you feel she’s blameless?”  
“Do you have anything to back that up?” I ask him hopefully.  
“I found blood on Mister Dempsey’s brain tissue. He may have died of an intracranial haemorrhage.”  
“May have?” Gibbs demands.  
“Yes, well I sent the tissue for a full neural report. If that turns out to be the case, the haemorrhaging could be the result of a pre-existing condition.”  
“Or a well-placed strike to the jugular.”  
“Yeah. At this point, Jethro, the truth is anybody’s guess.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ziva, thought you might need one,” I say to Ziva as I place a coffee cup on her desk where she is attempting to find busy work.  
“Thanks,” Ziva says as I sit on the corner of her desk.  
“You know you look like shit.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Don’t worry, Tony was innocent, McGee was innocent. Abby is safe, it’s time for your innocent to come out,” I promise her as I pull out a lollipop.  
“You’re the only one who thinks so.”  
“Nope, I’m just the only one who doesn’t care which way the coin falls. For your understanding, in this scenario your innocents or guiltiness is the coin.”  
“Okay. Noted,” Ziva nodes along with me. Before asking a question, “Why are you being nice to me? You hate me.”  
“Hate’s a strong word, it’s just if you were drowning, I would offer you a drink of water.”  
“Why are you being nice to me?”  
“Because you might be a bitch, but you’re my bitch. Because the director might replace you with someone worse like Cassidy.”  
“Noted, you hate Cassidy more than you hate me.”  
“Don’t sound do surprised. If I hated you as much as you think I do, I would have stabbed you, not thrown dog food at you. You can’t die by dog food, unless Tony eats it. Trust me, that was a prank that backfired on the whole building, and I got band from pranking Tony for a month.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Tick tock, McGee,” Tony says in the squad room as McGee works away at his computer.  
“James Dempsey should be calling any second,” Cassie reminds him.  
“Tactical’s pre-positioned in the search grid,” Ziva informs him.  
“Okay, trace program’s almost ready. Just need another computer for back up. Ooh, Ziva. You’re not using this, are you?” McGee asks as he sets up the program on her computer.  
“I’m being wasted here. You’ll need me when James Dempsey finds out his brother’s dead,” Ziva informs him as he moves from behind her desk.  
“We don’t need the brother. Once we have location, we take him out,” Gibbs corrects her.  
“All the more reason why I should be,” Ziva begins but she is cut off by the phone ringing.  
“Okay, we’re connected. Trace starts when you pick up, boss,” McGee informs Gibbs making us all pick up our phones because it is Gibbs land line that is ringing and McGee has set it up so every phone is on the one line so we can hear what is being said.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs answers.  
“Listen carefully. One car, one agent in the back,” James orders Gibbs.  
“Put Director Shepard on.”  
“You’re wasting time, Agent Gibbs. Time you don’t have.”  
“Put her on or the deal’s off.”  
“He wants to know if you’re still alive. Play nice and you’ll stay that way.”  
“I’m fine, Jethro. Wish I had my coat,” Shepard says making me grit my teeth because he’s mind and she calls him Jethro.  
“Enough! One car. One agent in the back. Drugs in the trunk. Brian drives. See you in forty-five minutes,” James orders us.  
“Where are we driving?” Gibbs asks.  
“Leave that to my brother. He knows where. Don’t be late,” James orders us before hanging up on us.  
“Anyone else, getting a Deja vu moment. Dead guy, live guy demand something from the dead guy’s, NCIS hostage with live guy with a gun, threatening death or serious injury?” I ask them as I put my phone down making McGee, Cassie and Ziva look confused as Tony and Gibbs node at me understanding my references.  
“Boss, Dempsey made the call over a V.O.I.P system. That’s voice-over internet protocol. It’s a wireless signal converted to Ana-log,” McGee informs us.  
“How long to trace it, McGee?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Three hours, maybe two is we’re lucky.”  
He said forty-five minutes, Probie,” Tony remind him tightly.  
“Find another way,” Gibbs orders him.  
“How, Gibbs? The only person who knows where they are is lying dead in autopsy. Did Brian Dempsey say anything to you before you killed him? I mean, before he collapsed and died while in your custody?” Cassie demands of Ziva.  
“I told you once; I did not kill that man. So stop making accusations that you can’t,” Ziva hisses at Cassie.  
“Hey! She said that she wanted her coat,” I cut Ziva off.  
“Is she trying to tell us something?” Cassie asks us.  
“Maybe she’s cold. Someplace cold,” McGee offers.  
“Perhaps she left something in her coat?” Ziva adds her own opinion.  
“Maybe she is trying to dig up an old memory that would help find her. Gibbs?” I beg of him when he looks like he lost in thought.  
“She left it on a plane. She’s at an airport!” Gibbs informs us.  
“How do you know she’s at an air,” Tony begins question in Gibbs but Gibbs give him a look that makes him add, “Of course. She’s at an airport.”  
“Pulling up every airport forty five minute drive from here,” McGee comments as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his phone.  
“There’s got to be at least a dozen,” Cassie comments.  
“We’ll never have time to sweep them all,” Tony comments.  
“Maybe we won’t have to. DiNozzo, McGee, Alice with me,” Gibbs orders us as he hangs up his phone.  
“On your six, boss.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I got the result back from Brian Dempsey’s shoe goo. It’s a smorgasbord of Juice Fruit, chewing tobacco, dog poo,” Abby rambles in her lab.  
“What’s the point, Abby?” Gibbs demands of her as he cuts her off making me place my hand on his back and rub his back in an attempt to calm him down, even a little.  
“There are also trace elements of Diolane and Hexylene glycol. It’s fire suppression foam. So I’m thinking... a manufacturing plant or firehouse.”  
“Abby, they’re at an airport, we just need your help finding out which one,” I inform her while continuing to rub Gibbs back, trying to stop him from yelling at my friends.  
“Or an airport. Because they use it on the runway for emergency landing.”  
“You remember a few weeks ago there was a commuter plane with faulty landing gear?” McGee suddenly exclaims.  
“Yeah, we watched it for hours on ZNN waiting to see if it was going to crash and burn,” Tony adds with McGee.  
“He was diverted to a small airfield…”  
“Which one, McGee?” Gibbs snaps at him making McGee jump over to Abby computer and looking it up on google.  
“It’s Potomac Air… Potomac Airport.”  
“We’ve got the airport layout, Gibbs. I recommend we seal it off, go through building by building with tactical assault,” Cassie exclaims.  
“It’s an airfield. Do you expect to sneak up on him?” Ziva demands of her.  
“We don’t exactly have a choice here. Maybe if his brother wasn’t…”  
“Wasn’t dead? Yes, I think we’ve established that. Thank you.”  
“David’s right. We go in small. Cassie, McGee, you two find out which building they’re holding the director in,” Gibbs begins ordering his team.  
“How?” McGee asks him in confusion.  
“I don’t care, McGee. Trace the call. Find out what planes are scheduled to take off. Just find it!”  
“On it.”  
“Hey! Hey! Come on,” Gibbs orders Ziva, Tony and me to leave the lab with him.  
“Um… one problem, boss. He’s expecting his brother to drive,” Tony reminds him.  
“Well, then we give him what he wants. Give him his brother.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This is the second stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Want to know what the first was?” Tony asks as he sets up Brian behind the car wheel at the tarmac.  
“Telling everyone that you fucked Kate and she had fake breasts?” I offer making him laugh.  
“No. Less talking,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Ah, right. We should just tape the dead guy’s hands to the steering wheel. On it, boss. Here we go. It’s show time. Bernie,” Tony comments once he has taped Brian’s hands to the steering wheel and placed sunglasses and a hat on him.  
“Three and eleven,” Ziva comments.  
“Two and ten. And that explains a lot. Okay, all right. I need you to hold his head up here, all right?”   
Okay.”  
“McGee…? We’re at the airport. Got my location yet…? Cassie! What about you…” work faster…!” Gibb says through his phone.  
“They never had this much trouble with Bernie,” Tony comments.  
“Who the hell is Bernie?” Ziva demands of him in confusion.  
“Weekend at Bernie’s! A cinematic masterpiece. It’s a you know, blend of the comedic and the macabre… thumbs down from the boss man,” Tony comments making Gibbs hit him on the back of the head again.  
“Stop giving your people brain damage,” I exclaim in fake care, he’s not going to stop until he is dead.  
“We’re out of time,” Gibbs informs his team back in the lab.  
“Are you sure this isn’t the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, DiNozzo?” I ask him.  
“We’re ready to go,” Tony says without answering me. He climbs into the footstool of the car to drive from as Gibbs climbs into the boot. Ziva sits in the back seat as she lifts Brian’s head making him look like he is driving.  
“Please be careful,” I beg of everyone.  
“We will,” Ziva and Tony promises.  
“Jethro, be careful. Please come back to me safely,” I beg of him softly as I lean over the boot where he is hiding.  
“I will be,” Gibbs promise me just as softly. I lean down and place a kiss on his lip for luck before I lower the boot so it looks closed without latching him in.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Ziva pov  
.  
“Are you trying to make me sick or something, Tony?” I demand of him as he badly drives the car.  
“You know what? I can’t see out the windshield. I’m driving with my hands. And I still think I’m driving better than you,” Tony teases me.  
“To the left! The other left!”  
“It’s kind of hard to concentrate when your head is three inches from a dead guy’s…”  
“LOOK OUT!”  
“Which way?! Which way!?”  
“You’re driving straight into an airplane hangar.”  
“Could you be a little more specific, please? Which way?”  
“Make a left! Now go a straight. Tony, straight!”  
“You see him?”  
“Not yet.”  
“Just remember, Gibbs doesn’t want you taking a shot until the director is clear.”  
“You! Out of the car! Hands on your head!” James orders me and I follow his orders without hesitation. He continues to order me, “Cuff yourself. Hands behind your back. I said cuff yourself! No lie down. Very cleaver. Brian, get the drugs and take them on the plane! They’re right behind you. Get the damn drugs, Brian! Brian! You killed him. You killed my baby brother!” James exclaims as the boot opens and a gunshot rings out making James fall down to the ground, dead before he hits the ground.  
“It’s actually a pretty interesting story,” I say to the director as we all make our way towards the confused looking director.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“I'm fine, Jethro. Really. It's a probie mistake. I should've known better. Never should have let my guard down. How many times have we said that? Stanley was a hell of an agent. He didn't deserve this. And I know what you're going to say. I'm the Director now. It comes with the territory. But I hope to God I never get used to it, Shepard rambles with a sigh as we walk into autopsy, she continues, “Are you ever going to say anything?”  
“Have a drink,” Gibbs offers her, a solution to her guilt, getting drunk, as he sips on his coffee.  
“I have the results of Brian Dempsey’s neuropath report. The hemorrhaging was caused by a congenital defect in the subarachnoid artery,” Ducky informs us.  
“He died of a brain aneurism?” Shepard asks in surprise.  
“Present since birth. They young man was a walking time bomb.”  
“Every time bomb has a trigger, Duck,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Well, anything could have precipitated his death. A cough, a sneeze…”  
“A blow to the throat?” Gibbs and I cut him off.  
“Sounds like natural causes to me,” Shepard says when Ducky can’t and won’t rule it out.  
“Exactly the way I ruled it,” Ducky informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abby can I ask you an unconfutable question?” I ask Abby as I sit in her lab watching her do paper work.  
“Must be really unconfutable if you have to ask to ask,” Abby says with a grin.  
“Abby, I need your help.”  
“Shoot, I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”  
“How do… what do… howdoyougiveablowjob?” I ask her quickly as my face goes as red as my hair.  
“What? Slow down please,” Abby say to me making my face get even hotter and redder.  
“How do you give a blow job?”  
“Wait, are you telling you’ve never given Gibbs a blowjob? Like an all.”  
“I’ve never given anyone one.”  
“Wow… I thought you know how. And that you must be a pro, you can out sex talk Tony.”  
“Abby, I might now about some things go in theory but theory is nothing without a practical and I’ve never had practical. Besides, I didn’t know much about sex at all, and what I do know Jethro informed me of. My family is catholic they don’t believe in sex before marriages and even when they have sex it is to repopulate not for pleasure and therefore they don’t participate in that action,” I explain to her through my embarrassment.  
“Oh… oh, he must love that.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Men love being someone’s first, makes them feel important and like a big man.”  
“He is.”  
“Really, do tell.”  
“Abby, please help me. I want to do something for him and him alone but I don’t know who to do it,” I beg of her making her grin at me before launching into an explanation and all the information I will need and want to complete my plan.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
*  
“What a day,” I whine as I walk down into the basement where he is fixing the hold Abby put in his precious boat.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs mumbles without looking away from the boat rib.  
“Are you feeling better known that the director is back behind her desk, looking over your shoulder?” I ask him.  
“Yeah, I am. I’m sorry, I was a right bastard today,” Gibbs mumbles while finally looking at me.  
“I’m not the girl you have to apologise too. She’s the one who was chained to her desk because you can’t trust her.”  
“I think we have this the wrong way around. I started out trusting her and now you do and I don’t,” Gibbs says making me smile at him as he pulls me into a hug.  
“Yeah, I guess Abby used a curse to change our personalities. Before we know it, you’re going to want coffee with milk and sugar, with a cream bun as a side and I’ll want a black coffee without food for days on end.”  
“Nah, she’s not that good.”  
“I guess,” I mumble as I snuggle up into his chest. I continue, “Please don’t let your emotions get the best of you again, you scaring our team member, our friends, and it doesn’t help us solve the cases. It hinders the attempts we use to solve it.”  
“I’ll try but I wouldn’t make any promises,” Gibbs says to me as he holds my body against his warm, strong body. He runs his hand through my hair in silence for a while, just enjoying each-others company.  
“I suppose that’s the best I’m going to get,” I tease him before leaning up and placing a kiss on his lips. I suck on his bottom lip before he quickly takes control of the kiss while pressing me into his boat rib, and slides a leg between mine. He runs his hands up under the shirt I am wearing and rests them on my ribs without touching my breast. I reach up and pull on his hair in an attempt of getting control of the kiss but he stops me when he breaks the kiss and drops his head into my neck where he begins sucking on my pressure point, making me moan out load.  
“Jethro,” I gasp when he suddenly scraps his teeth against my skin.  
“What?” He asks me innocently as he removes my shirt, showing him that I’m not wearing a bra, resulting in him groaning in pleasure himself as he returns his head to my neck.  
“You’re a tease,” I state before I pull his head up, pressing a kiss into his lips before I lower my hand and gently brush it over the bulge in his pants. I whisper in his ear, “My turn.”  
I run my hand down him leg and up the other without touching his bulge. I dip my fingers inside his sweet pants before I run my hand up his body under his shirt, up to his nipples, and I flick them making him groan at me.  
“Alice, Alice,” Gibbs hiss as he grabs my hips.  
“What?” I repeat his innocents as I place a kiss on his neck and suck on his pressure point, enjoying the power I can claim over this big, bad, marine. I run my hands down to the bottom of his shirt and lift it up to it’s at his shoulder and he takes over, removing the shirt for me. I run my mouth down his chest until I reach one of his nipples and I lick it making him moan and release my hips in favour of holding onto the rib of the boat, tightly. I kiss down his body until I read his pants and I am kneeling on the ground between his spread legs. I kiss and bite around the top of them, gently but enough to leave temporary marks on my man.   
I slowly undo his button and pull his pants down with his boxers without ever removing my mouth from his tight, shapely stomach. I continue to suck on his stomach as I wrap my hand around his erection and rubbing up from the root to the tip slowly; I collect the pre-cum and use it as lube to rub the sensitive skin without hurting him. I look up at him to see he is watching my every move with pulse blown so wide you almost can’t see the blue that I love. I stare in his eyes as I drop my head and lick his tip only making him groan in pleasure. With every sound he releases, I grow more confident within my actions. I pull the tip into my mouth and suck on it like a lollipop. I run my tongue over the tip, around the opening and back to the bottom, making him groan. I suck on the tip like it is the best lollipop I have ever had, and I run my hand up and down his beautiful cock, his sounds and the taste of him are making me wetter and wetter. I remove my mouth from his cock, exposing the sensitive sick to the cold air of the basement.  
“You like that, Jethro?” I ask him as I run my hands over his cock, slowly, so that he can’t cum yet.  
“You need to move faster,” Gibbs informs me between his heavy breaths.  
“Naha, I don’t have to do anything. You’ve been teasing me for two years, my turn,” I inform him as I suddenly lick from his root all the way to the tip of his cock that I then engulf in my warm, willing mouth with a happy hum making him gasp.   
“Alice,” Gibbs groans as he watches me suck on his beautiful cock, and my right hand rubs his cock up and down. My left hand travels down my own body and slips inside my pants, where it lands on my clitoris making me moan out in please. I suck him as I run my tongue down his cock, following the vain on the bottom of his cock, until he hits the back of my throat, leaving half his cock out in the cold but I can’t fit any more in my mouth. I run my hand over the bit I can’t fit in my mouth, and I match my running on my clitoris with the pace I set on his cock.   
“Alice, baby. Please. Please,” Gibbs says as I tease him as I watch him through my lashes. I take pity on him and speed up my slow teasing pace, I drop back to just his tip and suck on it as I run my tongue all around it. I rub my hand up and down his cock, giving him the friction he needs. I suck as the salty taste of his pre-cum his my tongue and I moan as I get closure to my release as well, and the vibrations travel down his cock making him groan in pleasure above me.  
“Alice, baby, I’m about to cum,” Gibbs warns me as he attempts to push me off his cock but I just hold his hips so he can’t push me away.   
“Alice,” Gibbs gasps before releasing his semen into my mouth as I cum over my own fingers. I swallow his cum before licking him clean.  
“Wow,” Gibbs mumbles as I stand up.”  
“You right there?” I ask him in concern, is he okay? Did he like it?  
“Were did you learn that?” Gibbs asks me as he pulls me into a hug and grabs my left hand and sucking it clean.  
“I asked a couple of people at work and did a little bit of research on the internet,” I inform him shyly.   
“Really?”  
“Was it not good enough? Did you not like it?” I ask as my fears get the best of me.  
“Really, that’s one of the best blowjobs I had in my life. And I’ve had a couple over the years,” Gibbs corrects me as he holds my half clothed body against his naked one.   
“So, I did do it right? I couldn’t remember all the pointers I was given.”  
“You did better thing right. You were great.”  
*


	25. Hiatus (1)

“This is so Usual Suspect!” Tony exclaims as we sit in the car at night watch the boat Gibbs is on board doing a passport check.  
“Tony, your dying works will be ‘I’ve seen this film,’” Ziva teases him.  
“It almost was,” I correct her making Tony give me a look as I take a sip of my coffee, I need one if I’m dealing with Tony in a confined space for a long period of time.  
“Gibbs even looks a little like Gabriel Byrne,” Tony continues to talk about the movie while smirking at my comment.  
“Okay. Who is Gabriel Byrne?” Ziva asks while falling into Tony’s trap.  
“An actor who boards a mysterious ship like this one searching for Keyser Sose.”  
“Another actor?”  
“No. Keyser Sose is a character in the film who may or may not exist.”  
“I’m confused,”  
“I thought you were Bitch. We can’t change your name now,” I inform her making Tony laugh at me.   
“So am I. and I saw the DVD twice,” McGee agrees with Ziva from beside me on the back seat.  
“The sound of music confuses you, probie!” Tony informs him.  
“I love that movie!” Ziva exclaims before opening her mouth to sing but Tony covers it with his hand.  
“One note and I will lock you in a room and make you listen to ‘it’s a small world’ for twenty-four hours straight! Do we understand each other?”  
“Mm-hmm.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He looks from the broken coffee cup on the floor. He looks to the photo on the wall. Looks,” Tony rambles about some movies but I’m not paying attention to him. He is cut off as the ship explodes.  
“Jethro,” I yell, not knowing is he is still on the ship or he got off. My heart stopped and I don’t know if it would ever start again, I need Gibbs and he… he might be on a burning ship, leaving me behind, and going to meet Kate again and I can’t live with that. I wouldn’t survive his death.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do we got?” A doctor, Tolliver, asks as Gibbs is rolled through the hospital corridor and I follow him without knowing what is going on, I’m in shock and I want Gibbs to be okay, or I’ll kill him. Tony ordered me to go with Gibbs when he released I wouldn’t be any help with him until Gibbs is back on his feet and drinking coffee or stable. Gibbs looks like hell; his face is cut, bruised, burnt and swollen but he is conscious but not responding to anything, just looking around. I want to hold him and make it better but I am staying as much out of the way as I can.  
“Blast victim. Superficial burns and abrasions. Pressure is steady,” the Paramedic informs him making me feel slightly better but not much.  
“Got a name?”   
“Gibbs. He’s a NCIS agent,” I inform him with my voice breaking slightly.  
“All right, my count on three. One, two, three!” Tolliver calls before they pull Gibbs from the paramedic bed onto a hospital bed. He shines a torch in Gibbs eyes while talking to him, “Agent Gibbs!” Toliver continues when we are in a trauma bay and I am standing against the flimsy fabric wall so they can work and I can see my man, I need to see his chest raising and falling to calm myself, “G-C-S is less than eight. Let’s intubate. Twenty milligrams of etomidate. A hundred of succinylcholine.”  
“Right away,” A nurse calls while getting what he needs to save Gibbs.  
“Skip the x-ray. Go straight to Cat scan.”  
“Call c-t,” a nurse says while moving off to do it.  
“Come on, baby,” Toliver mumbles as he sticks an intubation tube down Gibbs throat.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“Ziva, what happened?” Ducky ask the girl who is waiting on the dock, waiting for the M.E. to help find who tried to kill Gibbs.  
“A bomb. One dean, one injured. You’ll need body suits, tweezers, and those um… suction things,” Ziva informs him with forgetting the right word for what she thinks he needs.  
“Turkey Basters.”  
“And many, many, many specimen jars.”  
“Do you hear that, mister Palmer?”  
“Yes, Doctor,” Jimmy agrees with turning around to get what why will need.  
“Here, allow me,” Ducky says while helping Ziva onto the boat.  
“Toda,” Ziva says in Hebrew.  
“How badly is Jethro injured?”  
“Paramedics took him to emergency.”  
“Which hospital? Portsmouth? They have a leave one trauma centre at Portsmouth.”  
“I didn’t ask,” Ziva admits sadly.  
“You didn’t ask?!” Ducky explodes him anger.  
“No, once the paramedics were on site, I had other priorities. The possibility of more bombs, a crew to detain, a crime scene to secure…”  
“Well, McGee, Alice and Tony will know,” Ducky says making Ziva look hurt and he releases how heartless that is and he adds, “Oh, Ziva, I’m not implying that you don’t care. Listen, I know you care!”  
“I don’t need reassurances, doctor!”  
“Very well. But I just want you to know that I know…”  
“Ducky, drip it!”   
“Do you mean drop it or zip it?”   
“An, American idioms drive me up the hall.”  
“Well, actually, never mind,” Ducky goes to correct her but changes his mind as they walk down a passageway to see Tony getting an update on the crew.  
“One of the crew is missing. The radio man, Pinpin Pula,” Cruz, the man, reporting to Tony informs him.  
“Put out a BOLO,” Tony orders him.  
“Tony, any word on Jethro?” Ducky begs of him.  
“Not yet. Portsmouth Trauma said to call back in an hour. Alice isn’t answering her phone at the moment,” Tony reports making Ducky release a breath he doesn’t know he is holding.  
“Portsmouth. Good, good.”  
“I’ll get out that BOLO,” Cruz says before walking away.  
“Do we have a suspect?” Ziva demands of Tony.  
“Pinpin Pula. What kind of name is Pinpin?” Tony answers her before getting off topic, trying to keep his mind off Gibbs and his state of living.  
“Filipino. In Tagalog it means ‘ride paddy dike,’” Ducky informs him.  
“Don’t say a word,” Ziva orders Ducky.  
“I thought that was quite an accurate translation.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Condition of Special Agent Jethro Gibbs,” Shepard demands of the nurse in the waiting room. Shepard is dressed up wearing a red dress that pushes up her breast and a shawl over her shoulders that is also red with a red purse.  
“Trauma one. No condition listed yet. You can’t go in there, Director. It’s restricted… to medical personnel,” the nurse, Washington, exclaims when Shepard goes to go back to Gibbs without permission.  
“This isn’t about turf, you know.”  
“Oh, I know that. It’s about rules. And one really big one is, non-medical person cannot enter Trauma one… unless they’re carried in.”  
“Get me a gurney.”  
“That’s good. Get me a gurney! Ha-ha! I like that,” Washington laughs at Shepard.  
“I left a dinner at the White House to come here.”  
“I’m impressed. Really, I am. That still doesn’t change the rules.”  
“I was hoping I would have to resort to this,” Shepard says as she digs in her bag.  
“Shooting your way in?”  
“Don’t be silly. I don’t have my weapon.”  
“Calling the President?” Washington asks Shepard when she places the phone to her ear.  
“Now that would be overkill,” Shepard says.  
“Hello?” the person, Rice, on the other end of the phone answers Shepard.  
“Condi? Jenny.”  
“Any word yet?”  
“No. I don’t have his condition yet.”  
“Well, why not?”  
“The head nurse won’t let me in to trauma.”  
“Let me speak with her,” Rice orders Shepard making her hand the phone over to Washington.  
“Ethel Washington, ma’am,” Washington says into the phone.  
“Condoleezza Rice.”  
“Yes, ma’am. I understand.”  
“Thank you, Condi,” Shepard says into the phone as Washington hits the butt to open the door with a buzz.  
“McGee said that Gibbs was in a bomb blast! He tried to sound really calm, but I could hear the fear in his voice. And he should be afraid! For Gibbs to be brought to a hospital in an ambulance, it cannot be good! I had to come see for myself. And my hearse got a flat - as usual - so I got in a cab to go the airport, and then I realized that by the time I got to the terminal, and I bought a ticket, and I went through security, and then I flew to Norfolk, and I got a cab here, it would be better just to sit in the cab that I was in. So I did that. It cost a lot of... you know, it doesn't matter what it cost because this is Gibbs we're talking about! I can't believe that he's hurt! He is never hurt. Not hurt enough to go to a hospital. He has to be dying to even go see a doctor! Oh, my god! He isn't dying, is he? I don't know what I would do! Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts,” Abby runs up to the nurse desk seconds after the door closes behind Shepard. She begins digging in her bag looking for her ID but instead letting bones fall out, scaring Washington. She continues, “Okay, I know the rule is that you have to be family to go into Emergency, at least that's what they said when Uncle Charlie got his leg caught in a nutria trap. But Gibbs and me, we're tighter than blood! I know you need I.D. I have an I.D. in here. I work at NCIS. Forensics, and uh... ballistics, chemical analysis, and DNA typing. Uh... here. That's me. I promise. I just - I had to be in court that day. But I swear, that is me!” Washington hits the button opening the for in fear for the girl in front of her, Abby stuffs all her stuff back in her bag with Washington handing her a bone that feel onto her paper work. Abby rushes to the door while informing Washington, “You’re a really, really good person.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You’re going to have to look in there sooner or later, McGee,” Ziva informs McGee in the passageway outside the room where Gibbs’ life almost ended and might still.  
“I already did,” McGee informs her.  
“Uh-huh.”  
“Ziva, I don’t think I can go in there.”  
“McGee!”  
“I know.”  
“Don’t let Tony smell fear or else he’ll just…”  
“Probie! I’ve got a special job for you,” Tony cuts Ziva off.  
“Too late!”  
“Bomb dog took point on Rice Paddy Dike’s foot locker. Tag and stow it in the truck for Abby, would you?”  
“On it, Boss,” McGee exclaims while moving off to do it without releasing what he called Tony.  
“I do love when he calls me boss.”  
“Is that why you’re being nice to him?” Ziva asks him.  
“Nice?! I’m not being nice. Lugging foot lockers is probie work. All right, I cut the probie some slack. It’s a bad day.”  
“Yes. A very bad day,” Ziva agrees with them as they walk into the room where the night went to hell.  
“What’s the point of origin?”   
“A fifty five gallon oil drum. That twisted ring is all that’s left of it. What is an oil drum doing in the laundry compartment?”  
“Ships clean and reuse them for storage. This one probably held dirty laundry.”  
“Very unsanitary. Fragments indicate a high explosive. Abby should be able to trace the taggant.”  
“Why’s his head and torso intact when the rest of him’s a slushy?” Tony ask Ducky while looking at the body, which as Tony explain there is a head and torso bunt to a crisp, and nothing else of the body.  
“Suicide bombers wearing an explosive belt look like this. Except there’s always something left of their lower extremities. You see a foot?”  
“Not even a tootsie.”  
“A tootsie?”  
“A toe. Although in my generation, tootsie also referred to one’s sweet pie,” Ducky explains confusing Ziva even more.  
“Sweetie pie?”  
“Any word from the hospital?” Tony asks Ducky hopefully.  
“Jethro’s critical, but stable. Then… he wasn’t in here when the bomb detonated, was he?” Ducky asks us.  
“Alice found him in the corner,” Tony explains as he points to the spot.  
How did he survive?”  
“The washer and dryer shielded him from the main force of the blast,” Ziva explains as it begins raining, washing away the tears of anyone outside but no one on the team is outside for it to work, “It’s raining.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“He’s suffered a concussion but there are no signs of intra-cerebral haemorrhaging,” Tolliver informs us, us being Shepard, Abby and me as we stand outside Gibbs private room the next morning. They have treated his minor injuries and placed a bandage around his head. He looks like he is on deaths door because he has the bandage around his head, tubes going into his arms supplying medicine and liquid, and a tube down his throat helping him breathe.  
“He’s going to be okay, thought, right?” Abby begs.  
“He should be fine.”  
“I don’t want to hear should be! I want to hear will be!”  
“Aby,” Shepard says to Abby tightly.  
“Should be is not positive.”  
“Enough, Abs,” Shepard orders Abby.  
“You don’t yell at her. You don’t get to yell at anyone here. And you sure as hell don’t get to choice who is worried about Jethro, you are not his god. No matter how much you wish you were, or do you prefer the term wife? We can and will worry how and when we want without you’re permission. If you want to tell people what to feel, fuck off back to NCIS were everyone has to listen to you or get fired,” I snap at the director as I pull Abby into a hug and watch Gibbs lay still in that bed, the first words I have spoken loudly or at all except for when I informed Tolliver Gibbs name since I found Gibbs behind that washer and dryer. I didn’t even ask to come with the paramedics, Tony did. But the director doesn’t get to pick who is worried about Gibbs and I will protect anyone who wants to worry about him from her, we are not robots, we do have feelings and she can’t see that because no one can care about Gibbs as much as her apparently.  
“I want to see what’s under the hood. Hold the sedation. And call me when he wakes,” Tolliver orders his nurse as we follow him into the ICU room.  
“Mm-hmm,” The nurse hums.  
“I’m always positive, Ms Sciuto. But with a concussion, until… until he wakes, no one knows what’s going on inside his brain.”  
.  
No one pov  
.  
“I’ll miss you, Daddy,” A little brown hair girl, Kelly Gibbs, begs of Gibbs who is in full marine uniform, ready to ship out.  
“We’ve said it all before,” Gibbs says to an unknown redhead, Shannon Gibbs. Gibbs looks years young then the Gibbs, Jenny, Abby and Alice is standing over in the hospital bed, because this is a dream, memory, flashback in Gibbs damaged brain.  
“I want to hear it again,” Shannon begs of Gibbs who is standing close to him, with her hands on his chest.  
“I will take care. I will come back safe.”  
“Not those words.”  
“I love you.”  
.  
In the hospital room there is no sound besides the beeping of Gibbs heartbeat monitor and the rain falling from the sky. Shepard is watching out the window as Alice hold Gibbs hand softly, just holding onto her last hope and reason for staring here in this town, and life sometimes. The silence is broken by the sound of Shepard’s phone ringing.  
“Shepard,” Shepard answers her phone without emotions in complete business tone, not letting on that she even cared about Gibbs as she watches the rain falling, and in the reflection on the window she can see Alice softly talking to Gibbs.  
“Yikes! Agent DiNozzo here. Cynthia told me you stayed at the hospital. Is the boss awake?” Tony asks her in concern for Gibbs.  
“I am, Agent DiNozzo. You have a set-rep for me?”  
“I do, Director Shepard. Crime scene’s been processed. Evidence tagged. Remains are on their way to autopsy. Officer David and Special agent McGee are questioning the crew. We have an I.D. on the suspected bomber. The freighter’s radioman, Pinpin Pula. Filipino. Suspected to be Abu Saif. BOLO’s been issued for his apprehension. That is all I have to report, ma’am,” Tony reports as he uses a business tone as well, trying to bury his worry for his boss.  
“Agent DiNozzo.”  
“Director?”  
“I was out of line.”  
“You are the director, ma’am. You cannot be out of line.”  
“Please. I was bitchy. Let me apologize. I’m sorry.”  
“If I may state an opinion, ma’am.”  
“Fir away.”  
“Never apologize. It’s a…”  
“Sign of weakness.”  
“Sign of weakness,” Tony finishes with Shepard.  
“I was his partner, too, DiNozzo. I know all the ‘Gibbs-ism.’”  
“Actually, he borrowed that one from the Duke.”  
“John Wayne.”  
“Said it to Joanne Dru in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.”  
“Jethro’s a lot like the Duke.”  
“I keep waiting for him to say that’ll be the day.”  
“He said that in Paris to me once when I told him that… when we were working together.”  
“Shouldn’t he be away by now?”  
“You know Gibbs. He keeps his own schedule. Do you know what REM is?”  
“Sure. Rapid eye movement. It happens when you’re asleep and dreaming.”  
“That’s what it looks like he’s doing right now.”  
“Oh, well that’s got to be a good sign, right?”  
“If it isn’t a nightmare,” Shepard informs Tony before she hangs up on him.  
.  
“Gunny, they’re both dead. I’m terribly sorry, Jethro,” the Gunny C.O. inform Gibbs in his dream, memory, flashback making his heartbreak.  
“No!” Gibbs shouts out in anguish as he runs into a mine field looking thing as explosions go off all around him.  
.  
“Please, Jethro, wake up. I’ll buy you a coffee,” Alice bribes Gibbs softly as he places a kiss on his hand that she is holding as the tears fall down her face, adding more tear traces to the dirt on her face.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How many times are you going to ask me the same question?” Mahir, the captain of the ship Gibbs almost died on, demands of Ziva and McGee as they integrate him in the officer’s mess.  
“No smoking,” Ziva snaps at him as he lights a cigar and she snatches it out of his mouth and breaks it in half.  
“Bitch!” Mahir snaps in Turkish not thinking they can understand him.  
“What’d he say?” McGee asks in confusion, proving Mahir right, they can’t understand him.  
“Want to see this bitch take that cigar to your testicles?” Ziva threats him in Turkish, proving him wrong at the same time.  
“What’d you say?” McGee demands of Ziva as Mahir chuckles at Ziva’s threat without fear.  
“That I understood him,” Ziva explains her lie.  
“At least my crew go ashore. They have been at sea for two months,” Mahir begs.  
“Excuse me. You don’t appear to be the kind of captain who actually cares about the welfare of his crew,” Ziva laughs at him.  
“That’s it! I want to speak to Turkish consulate!”  
“I can arrange that,” Cruz informs him making Ziva and McGee glare at him angry.  
“Yes!”  
“If… if NCIS agrees.”  
“We do not,” Tony exclaims as he sweeps into the room. He then asks, “Learn anything, Ziva?”  
“Captain Mahir knows more than he’s telling,” Ziva reports.  
“I know nothing,” Mahir repeats.  
“That’s very Sergeant Schultz,” Tony teases him.  
“Tony, how’s the boss?” McGee begs of him for information.  
“I know nothing!” Tony says as he intimidates Schultz and thinks back to the time Alice did that pissing Kate off.  
“That’s not funny, Tony.”  
“McGee, it’s the boss. He’ll be fine. Alice will make sure of it. With me,” Tony answers orders them before he turns and walks away without making sure they come with them.  
“He’ll be living off coffee next,” Ziva begs McGee.  
“Tony doesn’t like coffee,” McGee reminds her as they follow Tony.  
“Why do you suspect the captain?” Tony demands of Ziva.  
“He smokes expensive Havanas and wears a ten karat diamond,” Ziva explains straight forward.  
“Could be zircon.”  
“Never doubt an Israeli about diamonds. Out Turk Captain likes money, the kind Aby Saif pays to transport weapons, explosive and terrorists.”  
“I’ll flip you to see which of us takes the captain in, and who visits Gibbs.”  
“I’ll take him in. you don’t speak Turkish,” Ziva exclaims before walking off.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Your observation, Mister Palmer,” Ducky asks Jimmy to talk through who to identify the victim and how the bomb did so much damage down in autopsy.  
“Well, fingerprints are out of the question,” Jimmy begins.  
“I was rather hoping for something other than the obvious.”  
“Well, we’ll have to use DNA to… I guess that’s rather obvious, too.”  
“Uh-huh.”  
“Uh… he was standing on the bomb.”  
“Better. Why standing?”  
“Well, it seems to be the only way to explain his entire lower body being vaporized.”  
“Why not sitting?”  
“Uh… whatever he was sitting on would have shielded his butt.”  
“Unless his buttocks was sitting on the bomb.”  
“Who would sit on an explosive?”  
“Someone who didn’t know they were sitting on the explosive.”  
“Of course.”  
“I did it myself once. No twice. The first time I was young. The second time, foolish.”  
“Why were you sitting on an explosive, doctor?”  
“I just told you I was young and foolish. Haven’t you been listening?”  
“I was… I just…”  
“Specimen jar!” Ducky demands as he picks shrapnel out of the torso body. He continues, “Come on. If I’m not mistaken, Abby will find these to be fragments of the fifty-five gallon oil drum. I must ask Jethro…”  
“Should I take these to Abby now, Doctor?” Jimmy asks when Ducky trails off because Gibbs can’t answer him.  
“Soon as I’ve taken a tissue sample for DNA confirmation.”  
“Is that really necessary, sir?”   
“No! No, it is not necessary! We could match his teeth! Is that what you’d prefer?” Ducky snaps at him making Jimmy grab the jar of DNA that Ducky has procured, making Ducky add, “A wise choice, Mister Palmer.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Coffee,” Tony suddenly comments making me look away from where I am watching and talking to Gibbs, he might not respond but that’s nothing new.  
“Coffee?” Shepard asks in confusion.  
“Sure way to wake Gibbs.”  
“Good idea. But, he’s intubated. We’ll have to us the IV,” Shepard jokes.  
“I wouldn’t hold my breath. I offered a coffee and he didn’t listen. Besides he needs the sleep,” I force myself to say making Tony smile sadly at me.  
“Uh, tell Miss Sciuto that I didn’t abandon Gibbs. Chief Neurologist would have been here today anyway,” Tolliver informs us as he begins he checks on Gibbs vitals with another doctor.  
“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Shepard comments.  
“I hope so. I like women with fire.”  
“Ah. So the dog collar and the tats had nothing to do with it?” Tony teases him making Tolliver walk away.  
“DiNozzo, does he look in pain?” Shepard asks Tony as we all look at Tony.  
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen Gibbs sow pain, director.”  
“Doctor, is he in pain? Doctor?”  
“Was this man a marine?” Gelfand, the other doctor who is the Chief Neurologist, asks us as he looks at Gibbs.  
“Yes, sir,” I answer him softly.  
“Yes,” Shepard answers him confidently.  
“Wounded in Desert Storm?” Gelfand adds.  
“He has a purple heart.”  
“Yes, sir,” I answer him again softly, ignoring Shepard talking over me each time.  
“That’s it! I treated him in Kuwait!” Gelfand exclaims.  
“Makes sense, he only lets a couple people treat him,” I say to the doctor sadly, he would run away if the someone who hadn’t already treated him tried to treat him. Maybe we should get one of his ex-wives in here to annoy him into running away, but I suppose having Shepard in here isn’t working so that wouldn’t either.  
“Gibbs never told me he was wounded in Desert Storm,” Tony comments to the director.  
“Me either. I saw his purple heart,” Shepard admits.  
“He was in a coma when we e-vaced him to Frankfurt. Now you talk about Déjà vu,” Gelfand continues.  
“Doctor, is he in pain? Please,” I beg of the doctor as I hold Gibbs hand between both of mind.  
“But is he in pain?” Shepard demands of him.  
“Certainly not extreme pain. He may hurting, but the only way to know is for us to tell us,” Gelfand informs us.  
“That’s not going to happen,” I state making the doctor give me a look, so I explain, “I have seen him be shoot in the shoulder, fall and hit the concrete floor with his whole weight on that shoulder and he refused to even get it look at by doctors or to take an aspirin. He had the bullet removed and sewed up by an M.E.”  
“Oh, he’s one of those types.”  
“Why not give him painkillers just in case?” Tony asks him as he walks over to me and places his hands on my shoulders in support.  
“I want him to wake up. An opiate would only deepen his coma.”  
“I’ve just never seen Jethro look like this,” Shepard says like she’s seen everything Gibbs can and will ever feel.  
“I have. That’s why I remembered him. That’s the expression he had in ninety-one. It’s more anguish than pain.”  
.  
The memory starts with Gibbs using crutches, carrying flowers in a cemetery, which he places on the grave that reads Shannon and Kelly Gibbs with the dates of their birth and death. They died on the same day, sadly.  
“I want to gallop, Daddy!” Kelly says to Gibbs as the memory changes so they ride a horse down a sandy beach somewhere. Gibbs is riding a black horse with a strip down its face, Kelly is riding next to him on a brown horse with a white strip down it face, and Shannon is ridding behind them on a white horse.  
“No, Kelly,” Shannon answers her beautiful daughter.  
“Ah, let her go, Shannon,” Gibbs says to his wife making his daughter run off on her horse as Shannon rides her horse closer to Gibbs.  
“Jethro…”  
The memory of the horse fade until it’s gone and Gibbs is sitting on the beach looking at his gun, not noticing the little redhead watching him  
.  
“You know, if you keep just laying there doing nothing, I might have to call you Tony. Because he is doing more work than you are and he doesn’t work,” I inform Gibbs softly as I hold the hand.  
“I can’t and won’t love sleeping beauty,” I inform him jokingly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“I’ve got a better chance of hooking up with Jessica Alba than these guys do of infiltrating Sea-Lift. Every sailor has to go through a series of stringent security checks to be issued a special ID,” Tony says in MTAC as he runs the case.  
“A hundred and ten civilian crews, DiNozzo. Abu Saif only needs to slip a man in one,” Stevens, the person who is on the screen, informs Tony over the video call.  
“If Galib knew who that was or the name of the ship, why’d he run? Why didn’t he just left us arrest him as planned? Give us the Intel and then continue undercover to Gitmo.”  
“Either he didn’t know, but was close to finding out. Or he was on to something big that an NCIS arrest would jeopardize.”  
“Well, what’s bigger than blowing up one of our ships?”  
“Blowing up a port. Ever hear of Port Chicago?”  
“No, but I saw the TV movie. Michael Jai White is this guy who had,” Tony rambles but stops when he gets the point and a pointed look making him add, “I see your point.”  
“Good.”  
“Is there any intel on the crew, especially this Pinpin Pula guy? We need his photo for a BOLO.”  
“We took surveillance photos of the crew when they were docked in Istanbul.”  
“Great.”  
“If Galib had Intel on Abu’s plans, did he have time to tell Gibbs?”  
“Maybe. They were together when the bomb went off.”  
“Galib was a good agent; let’s hope Gibbs comes out of this coma in time.”  
“He will.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs is having a cat-scan as Shepard flirts with his doctor down in the cafeteria. Alice is waiting back in Gibbs’ hospital room, waiting for good news and for her boyfriend to wake up so she can yell at him, and maybe kiss him, just maybe.  
.  
“This NIS Agent driving was hit with a head shot. Your wife and daughter died in the crash,” Agent Franks explains to Gibbs as he looks at the car his family died in, they are talking in the NIS car impound in another flashback, memory, dream.  
“Mum’s got one!” Kelly says in a flash back to fishing with his family within the flashback.  
“Not as big as ours!” Gibbs explains as he helps Kelly reels in a fish on a big fishing line.  
“It’s bugger, daddy!”  
“Wow!” Shannon exclaims happily.  
“Pedro Hernandez, the drug dealer your wife saw kill a marine,” Frank explains as the flashback of fishing finishes, and shows Gibbs the photo of the man who killed his family.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abby?” McGee calls out in the lab that night when he can’t find her.  
“I’m in here,” Abby calls out making him follow her voice to see her hiding in the corner of her room, holding Burt tightly.  
“What are you doing?”  
“I’m worrying,” Abby admits as the doors into her lab opens.  
“Me, too. You guys can just set that right there on the floor. Thanks,” McGee says to the men carrying the foot locker of Pinpin as Abby forces herself out of the corner and Burt farts when she accidently squeezes him.   
“What’s the matter? Never heard a girl fart before?” Abby demands of the giggling men as she slams the hippo on the table making it fart again.  
“Guys, that was the hippo,” McGee defends her as the girl leaves the lab.  
“Are you sure, McGee?”  
“Yeah, because you sound more… feminine.”  
“Like a hippo cow?” Abby demands of him as her computer beeps as she gets back to work, as she demands of McGee, “What aren’t you telling me?”  
“What do you mean?” McGee asks as he moves around behind the back of the computer so he can look at her without them having to turn their bodies to face each other.  
“You have that three little pigs look.”  
“What?”   
“The three little pigs. They were afraid to open the door because of the big fat wolf was outside.”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  
“Whoa. This is definitely going on my wall,” Abby explains as she looks at the photo of the crime scene.  
“I should be a professional photographer,” Ziva jokes, like one of their own isn’t fighting for his life in the hospital as she walks into the lab.  
“The Director hasn’t called,” Abby informs Ziva as she turns to face Ziva.  
“About?” Ziva asks coldly and honestly clueless why the director would call.  
“About? Gibbs?”  
“Oh!”  
“She didn’t call you, did she?”  
“No.”  
“’Cause you know the way you’re acting, you might have just, I don’t know, forgotten to tell us!”  
“Ziva, do you notice anything different in here?” McGee warns Ziva without getting on Abby’s bad side.  
“No music,” Ziva comments without care as she looks around the lab to make sure that’s the only thing.  
“That’s it. No music. You know, you usually play music in here.”  
“What if those were Gibbs’ guts smooshed all over that room,” Abby demands of them as she obsesses over the crime scene photos.  
Oh, for God’s sake, Abby. They’re not,” Ziva snaps at her in annoyance that someone is more worried about their friend and team mate, instead of the case.  
“I said, what if they were?!”  
“The colour would be more coffee brown tan red,” Ziva jokes again making Abby slap her. Ziva slaps Abby back, making Abby slap Ziva again, resulting in them getting a bitch fight, slapping each other.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“His skull was shattered when the explosive blew him against the overhead, as if he were fired from a cannon,” Ducky explains to Tony down in autopsy the next day.  
“The oil drum,” Tony summarise.  
“Precisely. Now don’t ask me what our guest was doing in an oil drum, sitting on a bomb because I haven’t the foggiest.”  
“Hmm. No other explanation?”  
“Well, none that would explain these remains.”  
“I need a positive I.D. on this body, Ducky.”  
“Well, DNA tissue is in Abby’s capable hands. How’s Jethro?”  
“Still out. The Director and Alice are with him.”  
“I’d best get down to Portsmouth.”  
“Not until you finish the autopsy. And while you’re at it, why don’t you ask your guest what he was doing sitting on an oil drum on a bomb,” Tony orders Ducky before leaving.  
“You sound like Gibbs. What were you doing in that oil drum? Hmm?” Ducky asks his latest ‘guest’ who he is leaning over.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
The elevator door opens and McGee walks into the elevator nodding Tony to the ground and landing on top of him. .  
“Oh, boy! Tony, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! Sorry. Sorry. I’m sorry, Tony,” McGee repeats as he gets up and off Tony.  
“Hate the fight of blood, probie? Too bad,” Tony says before showing McGee his blood noise that got injured when the two men collided.  
“Oh, boy.”  
“Handkerchief.”  
“I don’t have one,” McGee admits making Tony grab McGee’s tie and uses it to stem the flow of blood.  
“Whatever you came to say better to pretty damn important.”  
“Abby slapped Ziva, and Ziva slapped her back.”  
“Damn! I missed it! All right,” Tony says before removing the tie, showing that his noise isn’t bleeding anymore already. The two boys leave the elevator and walk over to the squad room as Tony orders McGee, “Assemble the team including Abby.”  
“Abby?” McGee asks before continuing, “Right. What about Alice?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Which hospital? Portsmouth? You didn’t ask?! Oh, Ziva. I’m not implying that you don’t care,” Ducky’s voice rings in Ziva’s head in the ladies bathroom as she starts at herself with tears falling down her face and gripping off onto the sink.  
“The way you’re acting, you might just, I don’t know, forgotten to tell us. What if those were Gibbs’ guts smooshed all over that room?” Abby’s voice rings out next.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“I don’t have an answer. His EEG is normal. His new CAT scan is normal. How well do you two know Gibbs?” Gelfand asks Shepard and me outside Gibbs room where he is sleeping. I only left his side because I need to use the rest room and get some coffee that I am carrying with me now.  
“He was my mentor at NCIS. He taught me most of what I know,” Shepard admits.  
“Yet you’re his boss,” Gelfand says as we walk into the room.  
“Jethro’s a great field agent. He’s a great team leader. And he deals more efficiently with difficult politicians than I do.”  
“Well why isn’t he the…”  
“He shoots them,” I cut him off with the information making him node at me.  
“So you didn’t know him when he was wounded in Desert storm?”  
“No,” Shepard answers making him look at me.  
“I… uh I meet him a few weeks before he joined NCIS, and I was only a child,” I explain.  
“He seems to be repeating that trauma, a coma he doesn’t want to wake up from. In the morning I’m going to try to find the neurologist who was on his case in ninety one,” Gelfand informs us.  
“Well, why wait until the morning? Forgive me,” Shepard asks before she released that she was being a bitch again.  
“Yeah.”  
“I’m… just tired.”  
“Right, so she’s been tired the whole time I’ve had to deal with her?” I ask Gibbs but Gelfand and Shepard heard me making Shepard glare at me.  
“I can arrange a cot for you both, I’m sure,” Gelfand offer us.  
“No. I have been away from my office far too long,” Shepard says before placing her hand on Gibbs head before she leaves.  
“Yes please,” I accept his offer before he follows Shepard out. I pick up Gibbs hand as I place my coffee on the table beside his head.  
“Hey, Jethro I’m here. I miss you, I love you and I need you back. I can’t live without you anymore,” I inform him as my tears fall as I bury my head in his side, muffling my sobs.  
.  
“Cover your eyes!” Gibbs orders Kelly in a fatherly tone of voice as she sits between him and Shannon on the coach watching TV in a memory.  
“I’ve seen you and mommy kiss!” Kelly exclaims as Gibbs kisses his lovely wife.  
“Oh, this is a scary kiss,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Like kissing a frog?”  
“Cover up!” Gibbs tells her again as he covers her eyes with his hand.  
Much as I’d like to, I can’t tell you where the bastard’s hiding, Gunny,” Franks says to Gibbs at NIS when the first memory faded into this one.  
“I didn’t ask you to, Special Agent Franks,” Gibbs says to him.  
“I’m going to take a leak,” Franks says leaving Gibbs alone with the file on the man who killed his family and Gibbs looks in it.  
.  
“Jethro, if you can hear me. I need you to wake up. I love you,” I beg of him throw the sobs.  
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No one pov  
.  
McGee and Ziva are sleeping at their desk in the squad room the next morning as Abby sleeps on the floor using Burt as a pillow. Tony walks out of the elevator carrying a cup of coffee from Gibbs coffee shop, waking up Ziva and McGee.  
“Pay up, McGee,” Ziva orders McGee who grabs his money to pay her. Tony walks into the squad room and she greets him, “Hey!”  
“In a bet on my, I collect,” Tony informs them as he takes the money. He looks around before calling, “Abby!” Abby gets up off the floor making Burt fart before looking at him, “Front and centre. You too, Ziva. Let’s go! I know what happened.”  
“Look, she slapped me and I was just slapping her,” Ziva begs explaining herself.  
“Ziva slapped me and I,” Abby overlaps her with her own explanation.  
“Hey! If there’s going to be any bitch-slapping on this team, I’ll do it. Or Alice, if she ever returns. Clear? Good. Now shake hands. Shake,” Tony orders them making Ziva and Abby shake hands before he continues, “there we go. That wasn’t so tough, was it? And how about a little hug. Big buddy hug. There we go,” Tony makes them hug. Before he continues to annoy them, “Come on. Now a deep tongue kiss. The second Tony finishes saying this line, Ziva and Abby punch him in the stomach. He says breathlessly, “Oh! Now we feel better. All right, what do toy got, McGee?”  
“We’ve got Singapore’s surveillance photos on the Bakir Kamir crew,” McGee reports as he puts the photos on the plasma between his and Tony’s desk.  
“Make me hard copies, McGee. Captain Mahir will identify Pinpin Pula for the BOLO,” Ziva informs him.  
“What makes you think he won’t lie?”  
“Abby,” Tony turns to her without listening to Ziva’s answer or giving her a chance to answer.  
“Um… the taggant traces on the metal fragments were Semtex from the Czech Republic. Khadfi, before we bombed him, was handing out Semtex like taffy to any terrorist with a sweet tooth,” Abby informs him.  
“That eliminates my washing-machine malfunction theory. DNA results?”   
“They should be in by now.”  
“Um… somebody called a conference.”  
“You don’t think that’s Galib in autopsy?” McGee asks but Tony gives him a look making McGee add, “He wants to be sure.”  
“I’ve asked Tel Aviv if Captain Mahir is a blimp on their radar,” Ziva informs him.  
“Blip,” Tony corrects her.  
“DNA confirms the body in autopsy is NCIS Agent Abog Galib,” Abby informs him.  
“Okay. Any hits on the BOLO?”  
“Too many without photos. LEOs are calling in reports on every Filipino sailor in the area,” McGee reports.  
“Did you run them down?”  
“Tony, there’s two hundred and fifty thousand Filipino sailors. It’s more than any nationality in the world. The way the reports are coming in you would think that they’re…”  
“Hey! I don’t want to hear how tough it is, McGee. I want you to run them down!”   
“Stop playing Gibbs! There! You’re doing it right now! Ziva, will you help me out here?” McGee snaps at Tony who is trying to glare at him.  
“It’s true, Tony. You’re even getting a little grey around the… around the temples,” Ziva agrees with him.  
“You’re not Gibbs, Tony,” Abby adds her own agreement.  
“You’re right. Acting like Gibbs doesn’t make me the boss. Being senior agent does. So if drinking coffee, staring or whacking the back of your heads helps me lead this team, live with it!” Tony orders them.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Good morning, Agent Gibbs. The rain stopped. It’s going to be a beautiful day,” Baliad, a nurse, says to Gibbs as she works and checks on him, before turning around and gasping at the sight of Ducky standing in the doorway.  
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Doctor Mallard. I overheard you talking and I thought he might be awake,” Ducky explains to her.  
“I always talk to my patients.”  
“Me, too.”  
“Are you a neurologist, doctor?”  
“Medical examiner.”  
“Oh.”  
“Mine never wake up, but I still talk to them,” Ducky explains making her pull a face before she leaves.  
“Almost never. Ari spoke back, and so did Gerald,” I remind him.  
“Hey, Alice. How are you holding up?”  
“Dad, what if he never wakes up? I need him, I... I love him and I never told him,” I cry without releasing what I said or called Ducky.  
“Oh, I’ve known Jethro for a years and he doesn’t do anything forever. He’ll be back,” Ducky promise me as he pulls me into a hug.   
“I hope so.”  
“Well, Jethro, I’d have been here sooner only DiNozzo insisted I finish the autopsy on Agent Galib. It’s fascinating. I mean, the poor man was literally blown out of a barrel. It reminded me of when my mother and I visited her brother Carkin in the little town of Clagolaky. Yes, Carkin worked at the cooperage where they make all the casks for the various distilleries,” Ducky rambles as he sits down in the chair I have been occupying and I sit on the edge of the bed as I grab Gibbs hand back and listen to the story with half an ear.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“Are you Turkish? Perhaps your father or grandfather was Turkish? Before they come to America,” Mahir says in integration room, trying to work out who Ziva speaks Turkish but Ziva is ignoring him.  
“Can you see Ziva as a belly dancer? He brought it up,” Tony asks McGee in observation room watching the integration which hasn’t started yet.  
“Why? Because he asked if she was Turkish?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“From Russia with Love. Bond is ordered to Tuckey to steal the Lector machine from this beautiful, I mean, is there any other kind in a James Bond movie - defecting Russian double agent, Tatia Romaniva – played by Daniela Bianchi.”  
“Greek. You are Greek? Greek! That’s why you hate me,” Mahir demands of Ziva.  
“I am not Greek,” Ziva exclaims.  
“Greek Cypriot! It would explain your understanding Turkish and hating me.”  
“I doubt Cyprus has a liaison officer in the U.S. But… you are getting warm.”  
“Liaison?”  
“From the French word ‘lier’ which means to bind. In this case, bind NCIS and Mossad.”  
“God help me!” Mahir begs in Turkish.  
“Too late, Captain,” Ziva informs him in Turkish before continuing in English, “I have your dossier. Another French word.”  
“Dean Keaton! That’s it! Dean Keaton is the name of the character Gabriel Byrne plays in The Usual Suspects. I know it would come to me,” Tony informs McGee.  
“I am not a terrorist! I did not smuggle weapons into Palestine. I swear it,” Mahir exclaims.  
“Or Hamas suicide bombers into the port of Ashdod?” Ziva asks him.  
“Mossed blames me for that, too?”  
“And much more.”  
“Now look, I am not a terrorist! No Wahhabi! I fight no Jihad!”  
“You profit from it, you swine! And for that, you should die…! Fortunately for you, Captain Mahir, Politique Pratique has suspended Israeli reprisals against all but terrorists. And you say you are not terrorist.”  
“I swear by God!”  
“Convince me,” Ziva orders him as she spreads the Singapore’s surveillance photos over the table, before adding, “Pinpin Pula.”  
“Lisa Guiraut plays one of those belly dancing women. Very hot. She’d be a grandmother by now,” Tony continues to ramble about the movie.  
“Oh, wait a second. Okay. Ziva looks like her, which is,” McGee begins asking But Tony cuts him off.  
“Shh! Pay Attention, Probie. Ziva’s about to get a photo for the BOLO.”  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Winning the Scotsman Chess Trophy was the highlight of my lower sith year. I didn’t complete in Edinburgh. No, no. I was too by this we,” Ducky continues to ramble stories of too Gibbs because for once Gibbs couldn’t stop his story. I have laid my head on the bed beside Gibbs shoulder, holding his hand as I listen to my father’s stories and Ducky has a hand resting on my shoulder, giving me a little comfort even when I would talk to him.  
“It is impolite of me to eavesdrop, Doctor Mallard, but I was fascinated by your story. Nurse Baliad told me your name and your specialty. I’m Doctor,” Gelfand says when Ducky sees him and gets out of his chair to greet him.  
“Doctor Gelfand. Chief Neurologist. Yea, the director told me.”  
“Ah. Well, how is our patient?” Gelfand asks as he moves over to check Gibbs. I sit up so he can get close to him without me being in the way, but I don’t get off the bed completely.  
“Still comatose, I’m afraid.”  
“Were you aware that he was in a coma for nineteen days during Desert Storm?”  
“Alice told me, today.”  
“He never told you?”  
“Well, Jethro doesn’t talk much about the past. I consider us to be close friends, but I know very little about his life before we met.”  
.  
Several sun sets and raises pass behind Gibbs eyes as he looks for the man who murdered his family before he finds him. The man who murdered Gibbs family leaves a building and gets into a truck that drives away up a road somewhere in Central America. There is a marine snipper watching the man driving the truck before he pulls the trigger making blood splatter all over the window of the truck as it rolls to the stop on the side of the road. The marine rolls over letting out a silent scream and the turns out to be Gibbs. Once he stops scream, he releases the spent cartridge and leaves it in his snipper nest.  
.  
Gibbs bolts upright in the hospital bed, gasping for breath around the tube.  
“Jethro,” I hiss as I grab his arm in surprise, he’s away.  
“You’re in a hospital! Relax!” Gelfand explains to Gibbs making him lay back down as I move back to Ducky and grab his hand without looking away from the frantic Gibbs on the bed. I want to help but I know the only way I can help is staying out of the way of the doctors and the nurses.  
“Don’t fight it, Jethro!” Ducky adds as he pulls me into a side hug.  
Relax! Relax! You’re all right. Can you blink?” Gelfand asks Gibbs and he follows through with the order making the doctor node before he continues, “All right. Raise your thumb. Raise your thumb. Good. Good. Do you want the tube out? All right. All right. Hold still. Hold still,” Gelfand orders Gibbs as he gets ready to remove the tube so we can hear his voice and get back to normal.  
“Okay, relax,” a nurse repeats to Gibbs making him relax as the tube is removed.  
“Okay, breathe. You’re fine.”  
“That’s it.”  
“I am Doctor Gelfand. This is Nurse Baliad.”  
“Maria,” Baliad corrects him.  
“Of course you know Doctor Millard and Miss Todd.”  
“He calls me Ducky,” Ducky corrects him.  
“Alice,” I add my own correction.  
“Welcome back, Jethro. Yeah, we’ve all been a bit concerned. You shouldn’t frighten us like this.”  
“You have a question?” Gelfand says to Gibbs who looks so confused.  
“Where am I?” Gibbs gasps out.  
“You’re in Portsmouth Naval Trauma Centre. You were in an explosion.”  
“Relax. Cover your face,” the nurse orders Gibbs.  
“I remember.”  
“Good. Very good. Most people never remember the trauma,” Gelfand says happily.  
“I… I don’t know them,” Gibbs says making my heart stop along with my breathing…


	26. Hiatus (2)

“You don’t know Doctor Mallard?” Gelfand asks Gibbs as we stand around his bed where he is laying, looking so lost and alone that I have to fight myself to stop myself from hugging him. Holding him, because I know it would make it worse for him and I don’t want to hurt him. I can hurt but not, neither Gibbs.  
“Ducky,” Ducky corrects him as I stand frozen, not even breathing.  
“Ducky. Do you know Ducky?” Gelfand corrects himself but Gibbs still looks so confused.  
“I’m disappointed, Jethro. The last time someone forgot me I was a baby. My mother left me on the ferry from Orkney to John O’Groats. She was on the bus halfway to Thurso before she missed me. I’ve often wondered if I inspired the Liechtenstein t-shirt.”  
“’Oh, god! I left the baby on the bus,’” Gelfand laughs about the shirt.  
“Quite. Remember me tell you that, Jethro?”  
“I remember the T-shirt,” Gibbs informs him.  
“But not me.”  
“No.”  
“No worries. It’ll come,” Ducky dismisses his worry.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out as I hover my hand over his before I stuff them in my pocket to remove the threat of pushing him too far.  
“Absolutely. Temporary memory loss is to be expected. Don’t let it worry you. Are you breathing comfortably? Good. Let’s switch to the nasal cannula, Maria,” Gelfand orders his nurse before leading Duck and I away from the bed that holds a broken man, my broken man. Is he still mine? Or do I have to let him go and try to rebuild my life without him or Kate?  
“Okay,” Baliad says as she sets up to do that and remove the face breathing mask.  
“You’re doing fine.”  
“Okay, I’m just going to take this off.”  
“Most traumatized brain injuries produce short-term retrograde amnesia. But to erase years of memory, his medial temporal lobes or hippocampus should be damaged be damaged,” Gelfand whispers to us softly.  
“No, his CAT scans and EEG are normal,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“And he remembers the explosion. And I’ve never had a retrograde amnesia patient remember the trauma. Never.”  
“Okay, there you go,” Baliad says to Gibbs.  
“I don’t think it’s retrograde amnesia. I think it’s dissociative.”  
“An emotional repression of memory?” Ducky asks him in surprise making my heart freeze, I something that would cause that in his past.  
“With no physical damage to the brain, it must be psychological.”  
“No…”  
“But doctor, you said Gibbs hasn’t spoken of his past.”  
“Hardly ever,” Ducky answers him as he pulls me into a hug.  
“Perhaps it’s too painful. It could explain the prolonged coma in Ninety-one.”  
“But the present coma is the result of an explosion. How could it be psychological?”  
“What if the latest coma caused a relapse?” Gelfand informs us his threat before returning to Gibbs and asking, “So how are we doing?”  
“Confused,” Gibbs answers him making me feel bad for him as I leave my father’s side and walking over to the side of Gibbs bed making him watch my every move.  
“Let’s see if we can clear up some of those cobwebs. You remember the explosion?”  
“Yes.”  
“Where were you when it happened?”  
“Kuwait.”  
“I’m going to shoot Shepard,” I hiss at that. Gibbs is in the wrong country and it’s her fault.  
“You can’t shoot the director. Especially not in the office building,” Ducky informs me.  
“But it’s her fault…”  
“You can bite or slap her once…”  
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No one pov  
.  
“I have good news. Gibbs has regained consciousness,” Shepard informs Gibbs’ team in the squad room.  
“Yay! That’s great!” Abby exclaims as she jumps up and down happily.  
“However, there’s also a problem. He has some memory loss.”  
“Retrogressive amnesia is totally normal after severe trauma.”  
“Happens every time the boss smacks me on the back if the head,” Tony jokes no that there is no threat of death for Gibbs.  
“Well, you know, I had amnesia after my car crash,” McGee adds his own support.  
“Your bumper car get T-boned at LEGOLAND, Probie?”  
“No, Tony. I told you about when I totalled my Camaro when I was sixteen. That day is still a blank to me.”  
“Well, Gibbs’ blank is the last fifteen years. To him, it’s nineteen ninety-one and he’s a marine gunny sergeant wounded in Desert Storm,” Shepard reports to them.  
“He doesn’t know he’s an NCIS Special Agent?” Ziva asks her in surprise.  
“I doubt it. He didn’t recognize Ducky.”  
“Well, if he doesn’t know who Ducky is, then there’s no,” Abby says slowly but she stops when she releases he knows no one and Alice is going to break down, alone, because she doesn’t want people to see her cry.  
“He’ll never remember us,” Tony agrees with her.  
“I am sure it’s a temporary condition. In the meantime, we have an Abu Sayyaf terrorist to apprehend. I really don’t know anything more, Abby,” Shepard informs them.  
“Can I go visit him?” Abby demands of her hopefully.  
“Not just yet. His neurologist, Captain Gelfand, will let us know when he’s up to it.”  
“Can I… I run to the rest room? I’ll come right back,” Abby exclaims before she rushes off.  
“If anyone else needs a Potty break, now is the time to do it. We’ll meet at seventeen ten,” Shepard orders her ex-boyfriends team before leaving up the stairs.  
“You know that means?” Ziva gets ready to tease Tony now that it is only him and her in the squad room.  
“The Director’s taking over the investigation,” Tony answers her.  
“Probably. But I was think if Gibbs doesn’t remember the last fifteen years, he’ll be a probie.”  
“Gibbs would never let her take over.”  
“Not the old Gibbs. Probie Gibbs,” Ziva says scaring Tony to run up the stairs after the director.  
“Director Shepard?”  
“Yes, DiNozzo,” Shepard asks him as she comes to a stop to face Tony so he can say his piece.  
“I want you to understand that in Gibbs absence, as the team’s senior special agent, this investigation is mine.”  
“Is it?”  
“Yes, it is, ma’am.”  
“And if I were to dispute that assumption?”  
"Then you would be a fool. And you are no fool, director. This will be a long, tough, investigation. You’re overloaded as it is, and no one knows this team better than me… except for the boss.”  
“Which evidently isn’t me,” Shepard says unhappily, Alice has made it very clear it isn’t and won’t ever be her.  
“I was speaking, of course, of the team boss; Gibbs. You are the Agency boss.”  
“I would never do that, ma’am.”  
“Then what is it that you’re saying?”  
“You take care of the big picture, and let me handle the two-reeler.”  
“I always intended to, Tony.”  
“Then… why did you make me say all that just now?”  
“I just wanted to see if you had as much guts as Gibbs.”  
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“What’s the first thing you remember after the explosion?” Gelfand asks Gibbs in the ICU room, making sense of a happy time with Kelly and Shannon flash through Gibbs head, followed by his grief after their death.  
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Alice pov  
“Did you know when Jethro was married that he had a daughter?” Shepard asks Ducky in her office as I linger outside without her knowing.  
“No, that’s not possible. I know all three of Jethro’s ex-wives. They has no children,” Ducky exclaim as he shuts the door but I can still hear them.  
“With his first wife, Shannon, he did. They married in eight-two, and had a daughter, Kelly, who was born in eighty four.”  
“I don’t believe it.”  
“There’s more.”  
“They were murdered in ninety-one when Jethro was fighting in Desert storm. Shannon witnessed the murder of a marine in Oceanside. She identified the killer, a terrorist and NIS failed to protector her. It seems they always fail in that respect. Shannon and Kelly were both murdered in NIS protection; Jethro got the information overseas in the war. He came home in a coma and work up to his daughter and wife already buried. His daughter was only eight, and he missed most of her life as he fought for this country. It’s why Ari went after Kate, Abby and myself, he know and wanted Jethro wanted to feel the pain, instead of killing him,” I cut the director off, as I lean on her door jamb that I have opened so they can see me.  
“That’s awful,” Ducky mumbles as he looks at me.  
“And how do you know?” Shepard demands of my angry, she is supposed to be the only one who knows and can tell Gibbs story.  
“Because he told me, piece by piece as he was ready. I don’t have all the story but I do have this,” I promise her as I hold out Mike Franks’ original file, that is hand written and Gibbs handed to me.  
“That’s a missing file,” Shepard snaps at me.  
“No, it isn’t missing. Jethro took it years ago, before you became his fuck buddy and before he married his first wife, or before he got his own probie. Mike gave it to him. I have typed it up, with all the spelling mistakes and catalogue it, last year. You can check that and I’ll bet my life on it.”  
“You think you’re above me. I am the director, you will respect that.”  
“Respect is earned, earn it or fuck off I don’t care, I am not allowed to shoot you, but I might still. Kelly looked a lot like Jethro, didn’t she?” I snap at the Director before opening the file to see if there’s anything that might help Gibbs but I get caught on the photo of the girls making me ask Ducky as I pull the photo of Shannon and Kelly out of the file and hand it to Ducky carefully so I don’t damage it on Gibbs.   
“Yes, a bit. She’s a beautiful child,” Ducky agrees with me as he looks at her.  
“Very. So was Shannon. Jethro always did like redheads,” Shepard comments as she puts a copy on the plasma in her office, proving me right, the file is digital and not missing.   
“Was Hernandez ever caught?” Ducky asks making me hide my face behind the file I am ‘reading’ so I don’t let Gibbs secret out.  
“No. he fled to Mexico. NIS tried to extradite, but the Mexican authorities always claimed they couldn’t find him. It’s in our cold case files.”  
“Oh, you can close it.”  
“What do you know?”  
“Jethro would have pursued the killer of his wife and daughter to hell and back. Jethro got his revenge,” Ducky informs her as he hands the photo back and I carefully return it to the file. We both leave the director’s office without another word until we are on the runway, making Ducky asks, “How did you know so much?”  
“I told the director, he told me,” I answer him.  
“Alice I’ve been friends with Jethro for over fifteen years and he never mentioned it but you’ve only known him for a couple of years and he told you.”  
“I think he told me to stop me planning Ziva and Shepard’s murders. It was after our first case with Ziva Da-vid on our team,” I explain making Ducky node.  
“And he told you because you have a ‘special’ relationship,” Ducky adds making me smile sadly, am I ever going to get that ‘special’ relationship back.  
“You don’t mind, about that do you?”   
“As long as he doesn’t hurt you. You can date whoever you want, but fi he hurts you, I will mind.”  
“What if he never remembers me?” I ask him as the tears rise in my eyes, I don’t want to think about the bad outcomes but I have to prepare myself for it and hope for the best. I walk into the squad room as Tony orders Gibbs team making me smile at his bad attempt at keeping them in line.  
“After conducting the autopsy, Ducky is virtually certain Abog Galib was inside the oil drum when the explosive detonated,” Tony snaps in the squad room without releasing I am there.  
“Why would he be in a laundry oil drum?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Maybe he was looking for his laundry?” Abby offers in a question.  
“This is serious, Abby,” Tony snaps at her.  
“Oh! Listen to the pot call the kettle black. Got that right, didn’t I?” Ziva asks happily.  
“No.”  
“Yes!” McGee overlaps Tony.  
“Probie, why was Galib in that oil drum?”  
“He was hiding.”  
“From who? Gibbs?” Abby asks him in confusion.  
“Maybe. He ran from Gibbs, even though the plan was that he was supposed to get arrested in front of the crew,” Tony reminds them.  
“Another question. How did Pinpin Pula know Gibbs and Galib would be in the ship’s laundry?” Ziva asks them.  
“Right! Because they would have to put the bomb inside the oil drum before they got there,” Abby releases.  
“Gibbs knows,” McGee informs them.  
“Gibbs also thinks the Giants just won the Super bowl and Danced with wolves is an academy award nominee,” Tony snaps at McGee.  
“I love that movie,” Abby exclaims happily.  
“Me, too. Those Native Americans were so macho in their,” Ziva rambles.  
“Maybe they were working together. Galib and Pinpin,” I offer as I cut Ziva off, making the team just and look at me in surprise.  
“Alice,” Tony says when I walk into the room, still wearing the clothes I wore when Gibbs was exploded.  
“If they were working together, Galib leads Gibbs down and Pinpin waits with the bomb to blow him up. Meaning to kill him but they didn’t account for Gibbs being a marine. They’re a bit like Ari, hard to kill.”  
“Abby, I want a re-enactment of the explosion, okay? Using crime scene photos, measurements, Ducky’s autopsy…”  
“Ducky’s autopsy finding? I know how to do a computer re-enactment, Tony,” Abby overlaps Tony, informing him that she knows what she is doing before turning to me and asking, “How is he?”  
“Confused. Hurting. Alone. Pick an adverb any adverb and it will fit Jethro at the moment,” I explain without releasing I have stopped calling him Gibbs somewhere along the way. Abby nodes before she leaves to do her job that Tony gave him.  
“Ziva, what did you get out of the cook? What’s his name?” Tony asks as he gets back on topic.  
“Alon Atu. From the same Filipino village in Basilan as Pinpin. He’s hard-core Aby Sayyaf. He won’t talk unless I,” Ziva explains to Tony.  
“No torture.”  
“He won’t talk.”  
“Make him,” I state.  
“Try,” Tony orders her at the same time.  
“Okay. But you’re tying my feet,” Ziva says, wrongly like normal.  
“Hands.”  
“Those, too.”  
“McGee, Pinpin’s photo get added to the BOLO?”  
“Yes, Tony,” McGee exclaims in annoyance because Tony is still trying to be Gibbs when he isn’t.  
“Sea-lift command get it?”  
“They are faxing it to all hundred and ten ships. There’s no way that he’s going to infiltrate Sea-lift.”  
“He blew up Galib and put Gibbs in a coma. Rule number three. Never underestimate your opponent.”  
“No, actually rule three,” I begin to correct him as I move over to my desk.  
“No, actually rule number three,” McGee overlaps me with his own correction.  
“DiNozzo’s rule Numero Tre, Probie, Alice,” Tony snaps at us like we were supposed to know that.  
“Well, Tony you never know, you always get the rules wrong anyway,” I state calmly.  
“Gotcha. Never underestimate your opponent,” McGee agrees with Tony.  
“If it’s not crocheted on a pillow by Kate, I don’t follow the rule.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“He’s trying to catch up on fifteen years by watching TV,” Gelfand informs Shepard over the phone as he watches Gibbs watch TV in his hospital room the first night since Gibbs has awaken from his second coma.  
“Jethro hates television,” Shepard states from her spot in her office.  
“He can’t believe we’re still fighting in Iraq.”  
“He’s not alone. Does he remember being an NCIS Special Agent?”  
“No. Doctor Millard’s still a stranger to him.”  
“He would know me, then. Ducky worked with him years before I did.”  
“Well, who an amnesiac remembers depends on their prior relationship. Have you found any marines he served with in Deseret Storm?”  
“Two, so far. One’s dead. The other’s a regimental commander in Iraq.”  
“Well, Gibbs recalls visiting his wife and daughter’s graves. So his memory is up to at least June of ninety-one when he was released from Bethesda.”  
“He joined NIS that august.”  
“How about somebody he knew at NIS?”  
“Um… special agent Michael Franks headed the murder investigation. I’ll start with him. Thanks, Todd.”  
“When are you coming back to see him?”  
“Tomorrow.”  
“I’ll be here,” Gelfand says before he hangs up on her.  
Gelfand looks back into the Gibbs room which he stopped watching as he found out when he can flirt with Shepard again too see it is empty of the marine that is supposed to be in the bed. Gibbs is in the bathroom studying his bruised and burned face in the mirror. He picks up a shaving razor and cuts the side of his head shorter then what he was keeping it at NCIS, so that it is a distend Marine Corps gunny sergeant and not a special agent.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Special Agent Franks retired in ninety-six. He left no forwarding address or phone number,” Cynthia informs Shepard in her office that night after pulling the file on him.  
“Yes, he did,” Shepard correct her.  
“He did?”  
“Find out where OPM mails his retirement checks.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Hey, Jethro” Alice says as she walks into Gibbs hospital room and see him in his bed with the new haircut, making her add, “You cut your hair.”  
“Mm,” Gibbs hums without looking away from the TV he is watching.  
“Do you know who… do you know my name?”  
“Doctor Gelfand says it’s Miss Todd.”  
“I’m Alice.”  
“Alice, that means ‘Of the nobility.’”  
“I didn’t know that. Thanks, I always like learning new thinks.”  
“Welcome.”  
“I was hoping that you wouldn’t watch that. They only ever seem to put lies on. Calling marines drug runners or that NCIS doesn’t care about a civilian dying on base by taking words out of contacts,” I explain to Gibbs as I sit on the chair and flick my eyes to the TV when we drop into an unconfutable silence.  
“How do I catch up then?”   
“Good point, I suppose. But at least take it with a grain of salt, please.”  
“What are you doing here, Miss Todd?”  
“Full disclosure. If I stay at the office too long, I’m afraid that I might bite someone… again.”  
“Again?”  
“It’s not my fault.”  
“How… how can biting someone not be your fault?”  
“She was annoying me and no one stopped me, at the time.”  
“At the time?”  
“If you keep repeating what I am saying, we’re going to have a very boring conversation.”  
“Why did you bite her?”  
“She was sitting at my sister’s desk,” I defend myself innocently before taking a sip of my coffee.  
“So you bite here?”  
“Hey, it’s not like I stabbed or shoot her. All I did was bite her.”  
“All you did was bite her, and people let you get away with it.”  
“My sister used to stop me, but not anymore,” I admit sadly without informing him why she stopped.  
“Why’d she stop?”  
“Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I don’t repeat it or the person I bite next might fire me. Or get their girlfriend to fire me,” I say softly as I lean back in my chair, trying to get the Gibbs I know out of this straight man with his body.  
We slip into silence as Gibbs returns his attention to the TV as I open the book I left here when I returned to NCIS after he wakes up. I open it to an empty page and begin sketching Gibbs as he pays attention to the TV; I make sure I get all the little details like his burns and how his hair sits now that he has cut it.  
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I sit watching the television, as I watch the pretty redhead at the corner of my eye as she opens a book and begins drawing in it. I don’t know why but she seems familiar, more familiar than the man, Ducky. I wish I know who she is and why my heart hurts when she looks sad, I do wonder why she returned to visit me when no one else has yet. I don’t know why I am surprised that she noticed that I cut my hair or why she changed her question from what I know to if I at least know what the doctor already told me about her.  
.  
“Alice, baby, do you want to be my girlfriend?” I whisper to the girl hiding against my chest in a hospital somewhere, and she is in the hospital gown.  
“I’ve got you, baby. No one is going to hurt you,” I promise the girl and it seems to be later in the say.  
“Can I bite him?” the girl, Alice, asks me.  
“Don’t apologise. You know it’s kind of hot to be someone’s first time. I’m just checking to make sure, I don’t hurt you. Because it’s your first time, it is going to hurt, and I don’t want to hurt you,” I whisper to a very naked Alice under a half built boat.  
.  
I watch the TV as they ramble on about something that I don’t understand because I am living in the past, I wish I know what has happen, that I have my memory back but that’s not happening yet. I don’t mentions the flashbacks of her against my body or that I can almost taste her on my tongue.  
I relax back into my bedding as I watch the TV with the only sound being the drawing of Alice, which is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl, and accusingly the sound of her sipping her drink, coffee?  
“Do you want one?” Alice asks em as she holds out her hand, offering me a lolly she pulled out of her jacket pocket as she pulls out a pencil.  
“Why do you have lollies in your pocket?” I ask her in confusion.  
“I don’t.”  
“Ma’am, I just saw you pull it out of your pocket.”  
“Don’t call me ma’am, I’m not a thousand years ago,” Alice says as she scrunches up her cute little noise. She continues, “The jacket belongs to Kate, my sister.”  
“Why are you eating her candy?”  
“Because I can. That’s what sisters are for. Do you want it or am I going to eat it?”  
“It’s going to be melted,” I mumble as I take the M&Ms packet out of her hand.  
“Still good,” she mumbles as she opens the second bag of M&Ms and begins eating them happily. She works in her book as she eats them; I turn back to the TV and eat my own M&Ms that is only slightly melted.  
Every time I look at Miss Alice Todd, I keep having flashes of memories, her under me, blowing me, waking up with her tucked against my body, straddling me, sanding a boat? I don’t understand but I will find out. I also don’t know why but I like that she comes to visit me, I might not know her and our relationship but she makes me feel like I am cared about and not alone in this strange new life without Shannon and Kelly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“Hola, Miguel!” Camila, a local Mexican girl, greets Mike as he works on his car in the hot sun.  
“Hola, mi Bonita!” Mike greets her as he takes a box of cigars from the bags she is carrying and opens them, taking one out and lights it.  
“How did you live to be such an old man?” Camila asks him in Spanish.  
“Old man?! Come inside. I’ll show you how old I am,” Mike replays in Spanish.  
“You cannot afford me.”  
“I just got paid,” Mike says as he switches back to English.  
“Ah, then you can pay me for the groceries. You own me three hundred and twenty pesos,” Camila informs him in English as her phone beeps and he hands over the money. Making her exclaim “Ah! Your hand is greasy!”  
“Who you calling?” Mike laughs at her around the cigar.  
“Operator,” the operator says.  
“I don’t know,” Camila admits.  
“How may I help you?”  
“Collect call from Senor Miguel Franks.”  
“One moment.”  
“They called you at the cantina,” Camila informs him as she hands him the phone.  
“Who called me?” Mike demands of her before placing the phone to his ear as he removes the cigar and demanding, “Who the hell is this?”  
“Director Shepard’s assistant, Mister Franks,” Cynthia says into the phone from NCIS.  
“Director of what?”  
“NCIS, sir.”  
“Why the hell didn’t you ask me?” Mike demands of Camila.  
“They said it was muy importante. What is the problema? It’s free,” Camila defends herself before cursing in Spanish.  
“Speak,” Mike orders Cynthia.  
“One moment. I’ll connect you,” Cynthia says before sending Mike to Shepard.  
“Mister Franks?” Shepard asks Mike.  
“How many damn assistants does the doctor have?” Mike demands of her, not know he is talking to her.  
“Just one.”  
“Then who the hell are you?”  
“Doctor Shepard of NCIS,” Shepard informs him making Mike laugh through a coughing fit.  
“Charlene, is this you?”  
“No. my name is Jenny Shepard and I am director NCIS.”  
“Thank the Lord.”  
“That mean you approve?”  
“Means all my thought that early retirement was a mistake, just proved themselves wrong.”  
“I didn’t call you to discuss your opinions of a female Director.”  
“Don’t think you did.”  
“I need your help… Special Agent Franks.”  
“Ain’t been that for eleven years. Goodbye, director.”  
“Leroy Jethro Gibbs,” Shepard says making Mike look at the phone in surprise.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Can you imagine how scary that would be to loss the last fifteen years of your life?” Abby asks McGee in the lab.  
“Oh, my god,” McGee says in fear of that very thought.  
“What?”  
“I’d still be in high school.”  
“Oh, yuck! Zits. Braces. Raging hormones.”  
“Yeah. I used to walk around all day with my notebook in front of my…”  
“In front of your what, McGee?”  
“The laundry room is off. It should actually be three point nine six two meters wife. Not two six,” McGee changes the topic of what he almost said and back onto the re- enactment of the crime scene.  
“Better?” Abby asks she fixes the measurement.  
“Yeah. It’s got to be accurate.”  
“Absolutely. So was it one of those tiny spiral notebooks or one of those big three ring binder things, Timmy?”  
“And where were you fifteen years ago, Abby?”  
“So where did you find Gibbs?”  
“Afraid I’m going to find out,” McGee begins before Abby hits him making him exclaim, “What was that for?”  
“Distracting me.”  
“I was not distracting you.”  
“Gibbs.”  
“Between the dryer and the bulkhead. A little closer to the bulkhead. The autopsy report indicates that Galib was sitting on the comb.”  
“Which consisted of one hundred and thirteen grams of Semtex.”  
“Wow! You can compute the amount of Semtex used that accurately?”  
“I am a scientist, McGee. I can compute anything accurately, including the size of the notebook required to…”  
“Stop! Can you detonate the bomb, please?” McGee begs of her making her hit the button making the re- enactment making a load bang go off in the lab and the re- enactment finish in a second.  
“Sorry. I forgot to tell you I added sound,” Abby admits.  
“Yeah. Uh… can we try that again without sound?” McGee asks her.  
“Yeah, it was a little load, huh?”  
“Yeah. And let’s go frame-by-frame so we can see what happened.”  
“Of course. In the first microsecond, less than the time it takes for you to clink your eye, the bottom of the barrel and Galib’s lower body are atomized. The oil drum is disintegrating, but retains enough integrity to blow what remains of Galib into the overhead. In the following microseconds, the oil drum disintegrates. Galib is impacted into the overhead and Gibbs… is… dead!”   
“Dead,” McGee overlaps her making them both freeze.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“If Gibbs had been standing when the bomb detonated, he’d have been blasted into the bulkhead and shredded by shrapnel,” McGee reports in the squad room what they have found out.  
“Gibbs had to duck for cover before the bomb went off,” Abby adds.  
“”He knew!” Tony releases.  
“Yeah.”  
“What’s wrong with this picture?” Ziva asks them.  
“Nothing, McGee and I triple checked all the numbers to make sure that…”  
“Not your picture. Did I make another idiomatic mistake?” Ziva asks them.  
“No. you mean something’s wrong with what we know.”  
“Exactly. We know Galib ran. We know Gibbs pursued him. We know they were in the ship's laundry. We know Galib sat on a bomb inside the oil drum. And thanks to Abby and McGee, we know Gibbs knew that a bomb was about to explode. Oh, and we know Pinpin, a missing crewman on the Kamir Bakir, is an Abu Sayyaf terrorist. Probably the one who planted and detonated the bomb,” Ziva recaps the case.  
“You left out Pinpin Pula means ‘rice patty dyke.’ But other than that, damn good summation, Ziva.”  
“Thank you.”  
“So, as Ziva said, what is wrong with this picture?”  
“Gibbs knows. But he doesn’t remember,” McGee reminds them.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Jethro?” a woman says as she holds my hand firmly, walking me from my shallow sleep.  
“Shannon?” I ask when I open my eyes and see a blurry redhead, that I think is my wife.  
“No, Jethro. It’s me, Jenny. You still don’t remember me?” Shepard asks hopefully as I look between her face and the hand holding my hand making a flash of memory of a passionate embrace between us in Parisian hotel room.  
“Maybe.”  
“I’m Jenny. We were partners.”  
“After Shannon died.”  
“Yes!”   
“Did I marry again?”  
“Three times,” Shepard informs me making me laugh lightly.  
“No way!”  
“Afraid so.”  
“Oh, you’re an ex-wife?”  
“Oh, god no. I’m the director of NCIS.”  
“For a moment I thought you were somebody else.”  
“You remembered us making love, didn’t you, Jethro? Al least that’s a start.”  
“Only reason she’s not the fourth ex-wife is because you never asked her, that’s why. But she acts like it, including yelling at your female friends who are worried about you because you’re in a coma for no reason. She gets jealous and has yelled at your team mates because they found a lead when she was trying to flirt with you,” Alice explains to us making me look at her and Shepard glare at her. I didn’t even know she was at the door making Shepard twice as angry because that is the second time she has done that to her while Gibbs has been awake.  
“Todd, shouldn’t you be at the office, working?”  
“Shouldn’t you be dead or fucking over someone’s team? Plus putting murderers on you ex-fuckbuddy’s team or have you ran out of people you fucked. Because the government has a list of them all, it’s call the AIDs registration”  
“Get back to work.”  
“I am. I’m waiting for Mike to arrive. Jethro, you still don’t remember the last decade then?”  
“No,” I answer her.  
“Damn. I wanted you to be able to tell me who you could duck in a microsecond before your lower body is atomized by a bomb,” Alice complains as she walks over to me and place a sandwich and coffee on the table next to my bed for me to eat like she promised she would. I was complaining about the hospital food, so she offered food and coffee.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“It’s okay. We’ll work it out. Just means the team has to do their job,” Alice fake whispers to me.  
“Do you recognize this man?” Shepard asks me as she hands me a photo of an unknown man, Pinpin. I have fleeting flashes of him, a passport, chasing through a ship, making me bob my head in an uncertain answer.  
“It’s like… a name on the tip of my tongue and I can’t remember!” I admit sadly.  
“Calm down. It’ll come.”  
“It’s important, isn’t it?”  
“Yes. Very.”  
“It’s life or death, right?” I exclaim angrily, I can’t remember and she needs me to remember.  
“Don’t get upset, Jethro. You won’t remember.”  
“Give me a name!”  
“Pinpin Pula.”  
“That’s not his name. That can’t be his name.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“No! I’m not sure! I don’t remember! How can I be sure?!” I yell at her as I scrunch up the photo and throw it at the wall making the alarms go off and the doctors come running.  
“Jethro. Jethro, it’s okay. It’s okay, we don’t need you to remember. She shouldn’t have asked you, she’s supposed to know better. She’s the director and she’s acting like a probie with her first crush,” Alice whispers to me as she places her body so I have to watch her.  
“What’s happening?” Gelfand demands of us.  
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault,” Shepard admits.  
“Yes it is. That was stupid, but that’s nothing new,” Alice snaps at her as she runs her hand over my hair in a soothing motion like Shannon used to do for Kelly when she was sick. She whispers, “It’s okay, we don’t need you to do anything but get better and show me how you get the boat out of the basement.”  
“Maria, give him ten milligrams of morphine. Agent Gibbs, your blood pressure is spiking,” Gelfand overlaps Alice talking to me as the nurse gives me medicine through the drip that I am wearing.  
“I’m not Agent Gibbs! I don’t know Agent Gibbs! I don’t want to know Agent Gibbs! I want my family. I want Shannon. I want … Kelly. I miss them. I miss them so much. Oh, no,” I mumble as I fall back to sleep.  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
“What the hell were you thinking? Gelfand said not to push his memory,” I yell at the director as I steal Gibbs coffee, he’s not going to drink it.  
“We need to know,” Shepard defends herself.  
“We don’t need to know at the risk of Jethro mind or life. You might have fucked him up permanently, why don’t you just shot him, or ask him to marry you. It would hurt him less. Drop dead,” I snap at her.  
“Don’t talk to me like that agent.”  
“What are you going to do, fire me? Hurt me where it hurts when I am at my lowest, like you just did to Jethro?”  
“Grow up.”  
“I am. But I am also telling you, if you try something like that with Gibbs again, I am going to shoot you. Be glade you will be in the ICU because you’re going to need their help.”  
“Are you threatening me?”  
“No, warning. There’s a big difference.”   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Normally we’d move you to a regular room, but for once the hospital is full up, and ICY isn’t. Having the sound off isn’t going to help your memory,” Baliad says to me as I watch the TV again now I am awake again.  
“Nothing new. Same war. Same crime. Same politics,” I say as I watch the TV.  
“Aren’t you surprised ‘the terminator’ is the Governor of California?”  
“No. The Gipper was President.”  
“I’ll be right back with your dinner.”  
“And none of that baby food, okay?! A steak. Rare would be nice. And French fries, please?”  
“Maybe tomorrow.”  
“Tomorrow I won’t be here,” I inform her as she leaves.  
“Hello, probie,” Mike says as he stands in the doorway making my mind flash back.  
.  
“My brother and I married the same woman twine,” Mike informs Gibbs on a street as we stake someone out in the flashback.  
“Twice!” Gibbs answers him in surprise.  
“She was a hell of a woman, probie.”  
.  
“Hey, boss,” I greet him as I flick the sheet off and stand up to greet him, but I can’t help wondering why Alice isn’t here, she did say she was waiting for him.  
“Damn, you got old, marine,” Mike says to me as he smacks my shoulders with a grin.  
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”  
“If you hadn’t been in a coma,” Mike says as he reaches out to smack the back of my head, before pulling me into a hug.  
“They’re dead, Mike. Shannon and Kelly, they’re both dead.”  
“I know, Jethro,” Mike says as he helps Gibbs back into the bed and covers him with the sheet.  
“It can’t have been fifteen years. Can it? God, feels like I just got the news in Kuwait a couple of months ago,” I exclaim sadly before it becomes silent in my room except for the TV. After a long time I continue, “You investigated Shannon’s murder. That’s how I met you. Camp Pendleton. You were the special agent in charge. Yeah. I became an agent because of you. You left the sniper folder on your desk so I could,” I continue but Mike clears his throat making me finish with, “So I could join NIS.”  
.  
“I like the blue better,” Gibbs comment when Mike hands him a new NIS jacket making him receive a gentle head smack on the back of the head.  
.  
“NCIS. The navy changed the name that same year. Nineteen… ninety? Ninety,” I say but I can’t remember the rest, I just can’t remember.  
“Two,” Mike finishes for him.  
“We investigated crime scenes.”  
“I investigate crim scenes. You schlepped,” Mike corrects me.  
.  
Gibbs remembers carrying armloads of cases and equipment, following an empty-handed Mike to the crime scene.  
“In ‘Nam I packed twice what you’re carrying through monsoon mud with Charlie shooting at my ass and still went faster than you,” Mike informs me making me pick up the pace, following him.  
.  
“You taught me how to be an agent,” I continue.  
“Nah. I didn’t teach. You observed,” Mike corrects me again.  
.  
Gibbs remembers more. He remembers the 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia.  
“Semper fi,” Mike say and remembers he hands over his badge and gun just afterwards.  
.  
“Khobar Towers. You warned them about Bin Laden. They didn’t listen. And you quit,” I remember more making Mike turn away from me.  
“I didn’t quit. I retired,” Mike corrects me again as he lights up a cigarette.  
“You were pissed they wouldn’t listen, mike. Pissed that all Clinton did was lob a couple of cruise missiles at Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. You quit, Mike,” I hold true to my memories.  
“I didn’t get calluses on my ass flying from Mexico to argue, Jethro.”  
“Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry.”  
“Never say you’re sorry. It’s a sign of weakness.”  
“Why are you here, Mike?”  
“Your director called me in. what’s with the female NCIS director crap?”  
“I don’t know. I only remember Jenny as a…’  
“Jenny?”  
“Yeah. Jenny. She said she was my partner,” I admit.  
“What kind of partner?” Mike demands of me but I don’t answer him.  
“You can’t smoke in here!” Baliad yells at Mike.  
“I… forgot I was in a hospital.”  
“It’s against the law to smoke in any public building.”  
“You’re kidding! Another good reason to live in Mexico.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“You were right, Doctor Mallard,” Jimmy informs him.  
“For once?” Ducky asks him.  
“No, doctor. You…”  
“What am I right about this time?”  
“Galib and the oil drum. Abby’s computer recreation looks exactly like he’s been shot from a cannon.”  
“Oh, it’s a risky occupation even without explosives.”  
“They don’t use explosives to shoot people out of cannons?”  
“A man of your age and education? Really, Mister Palmer.”  
“I know that they don’t use high explosives. I thought maybe… black powder.”  
“Compressed air or spring-driven catapults shoot our intrepid cannon-baller into the air. David… ‘Cannon-ball’ Smith set the record. Yes, he even was fired across the Mexican United State border. He carried a passport, although today one wonders why. It’s a sad fact that sixty percent of all human cannon-balls are eventually killed.”  
“Oh, if they don’t use explosives, then why do so many of them die?”  
“They miss the net, Mister Palmer,” Ducky laughs at the reason as he looks over Galib before continuing, “They miss the… on, my!”   
“What is it, doctor?”  
“Galib wasn’t sitting in the oil drum. He was stuffed in it! Look.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The neck bone’s cut,” Tony asks Ducky about what he just informed him.  
“Cervical vertebrae was cut very deeply. You were slashed from ear to ear, weren’t you?” Ducky asks the victim.  
“A machete or a bolo knife.”  
“Yes, I believe the Filipinos call it a parang.”  
“Whatever they’re called, it answers one of our questions,” McGee explains.  
“And poses a new one. If Galib was dead,” Ziva continues.  
“Who did Gibbs follow into the laundry?” Tony cuts her off with the question.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“You haven’t touched your dinner, Special Agent Gibbs,” Baliad informs me. There is a knock at the door as she continues, “No steak tomorrow if you don’t eat your Jell-O today.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You got your knife, Mike?” I ask him at the picnic table as I stare at the he brought me.  
“Security took it at the airport,” Mike admits making me look at him in surprise but I am even more surprised when a knife suddenly comes over my shoulder and just hovers there for me to take. I look over my shoulder to see Alice is back and she has changed her clothes and her hair is still wet.  
“Was it more than three inches long?” I ask him as I take the knife off her as she sits down beside me on the table.  
“Hello,” Mike says to Alice.  
“Hey, Alice Todd,” Alice reaches over and shake his hand.  
“Mike Franks.”  
“So you’re the specialist that ‘the Madam Director’ called in?”  
“Yeah. Got a problem with that?”  
“Yes, I thought the specialist would be a redhead or ex-wife honestly. Are you an ex-wife?”  
“No.”  
“Damn. That would have been something I could use to make Jethro buy me coffee for a change,” Alice complains making Mike give her a look while I pull a face, I don’t know what she means.  
“What?” Mike and I ask her in confusion  
“He’s addicted to coffee. My job is to buy his coffee and make sure he eats, something anything. Steak to M&Ms. I’m going bloke buying coffee for someone who has replaced his own blood with coffee. If you were a wife, I have something to threaten to tell Fornell, or someone at work to make him buy me coffee.”   
“They changed that rule after nine eleven,” Mike answers my question as me gets off Alice’s weirdness.  
“Nine eleven?” I ask him in confusion.  
“September eleventh of two hundred and one.”  
“Hey, boss. It’s ninety six and you just… retired,” I remind him where I am in the last fifteen years as I cut the steak and take a bite of it. I add, “Damn this is good. I owe you. Had to be a hijacking, huh? They never changed security until it’s too late.”  
“Al Qaeda hijacked four airlines. Two hit the world trade centre. One the pentagon. Fourth was to take out the white house. Some gutsy passengers fought them. They went down in Pennsylvania. The twin towers are gone. Pentagon’s fixed. Three thousand some dead. Nearly as many wounded,” Mike explains to me after a long moment of silence making me get up and vomit into the trash can. I suddenly feel hands on my back, rubbing it and there is a tiny body against mine if I need the support.  
“Sir, are you all right?” a nurse demands of me but I’m busy throwing up.  
“He’s okay. Got some bad news,” Mike explains to her.  
“It’s alright. Everything will be okay. Shh, it’s okay,” Alice whispers to me as she rubs my hair back.  
“That nurse was right. I’m not ready for a steak. Well, tell me we did more than toss a couple of cruise missiles,” I beg of him as I sit back down and Alice hands me a napkin that I use to wipe my mouth. She swaps the napkin with a bottle of water for me to drink.  
“We did more,” Mike answers me.  
“Bin Laden?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“How the hell can you not know?”  
“Remember that beach in Baja we fished?”  
“Yeah. South of El Rosario.”  
“I built a little place there. No TV, no radio, no newspapers. I fish. I drink beer. Listen to old eight track tapes. Drive to a cantina up the coast when I want company... when the pickup's running. This is the first time I've been to El Norte in ten years. Don't ask me for a sitrep, Jethro. I don't know.”  
“You don’t want to know,” I realize as Alice sits beside me and steals the steak I can’t eat.  
“That’s right. I don’t want to know.”  
“You feel guilty because you quit. If you hadn’t quit… maybe you’re the one that stops it.”  
“You didn’t quit,” Mike reminds me making an unconfutable silence fall over us.  
“He’s still out there. Bin Laden. Every president since nine eleven is promising to kill him but they haven’t pulled throw yet. Probably because it’s such a big deal and he can find out where we are, just by watching our TV and move before we get there. They need a good sniper and a converted operation, then they can release his body photos or prove it. But no, that’s the easiest way to get into power, promise to kill Bin Laden,” Alice informs us before handing me the knife once she cut up the hold steak. (That is my true opinion but I live in Australia and therefore I am not as close to what happened as other people. I do apologise if I hurt your feelings or you think how they did it was right. And I feel so sorry for everyone on that day.)  
“Why are you handing me your knife?” I ask her in confusion making her laugh at me.  
“It’s not my knife. It’s yours,” Alice explains as she hands it back making me take it.  
“Why do you have my knife?”  
“Because you left it at your house and I picked it up. Can’t go without your knife.”  
“How did you know that?”  
“You had just got a new knife, so you left the old one at you house so that you had a spare if something happened to the new one. I don’t know where the new one is at the moment. It might have been destroyed in the explosion, so I ducked back around to your house to pick it up for you.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Don’t lose it, you don’t have any more spares that I know where to get,” Alice informs me before eating a piece of steak and offering some to Mike and me. Mike happily takes a piece but I don’t risk it again, I don’t want to throw up again.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“You insist this si Pinpin Pula,” Ziva snaps at Mahir in integration room that night, while showing him the photo of Pinpin.  
“Insist. Yes. I like this word. I insist this is Pinpin,” Mahir agrees.  
“I don’t believe you,” Ziva exclaims as she rubs her face, tiredly.  
“Why would I lie to you when you threaten to kill me?”  
“It is not a threat. I will kill you if you lie, Captain.”  
“I believe you.”  
“I’m the one who has doubt.”   
“It is Pinpin. I swear,” Mahir exclaims in fear when Ziva pulls her gun out of the holster and places on the table between them.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“That’s not loaded, is it?” McGee begs of Tony in observation room.  
“Would Gibbs allow Ziva to carry a loaded weapon in there?” Tony demands of him.  
“No.”  
“And I’m not Gibbs, right?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“SO Captain,” Ziva begins before picking up her gun and pointing it between Mahir’s eyes and demand of him, “You’re positive?”  
“I am positive. Absolutely positive! How many times do I have to tell you?!” Mahir exclaims him fear.  
“Once more. Take a good look.”  
“I don’t need to look! The man was in my ship for months! It’s Pinpin Pula.”  
“Was it Aby Sayyaf?”  
“Yes! It was Aby Sayyaf.”  
“Who ran from customs?”  
“Yes! Yes! He ran when your guy…”  
“You knew it was Pinpin not Galib at the custom’s gate.”  
“Allah help me!” Mahir exclaims in Turkish before continuing in English, “Yes, I knew. I knew. They paid me. I was quiet. They paid me to be quiet! But… Pinpin never told me there was a bomb! I never know that! Never knew,” Mahir yells at her making her pull the trigger on her gun, making him fall to the ground. After a second he exclaims, “Ah!!! oh…”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“That’s the NCIS I.D. photo of Special Agent Abog Galib that I showed Gibbs. What’s your point, DiNozzo?” Shepard demands of Tony in the squad room that night when she saw a photo of Galib and a photo of Pinpin on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“A scary one, Director. Captain Mahir admitted to Ziva that Pinpin passed himself off as Galib at the custom’s check,” Tony admits.  
“And Gibbs would have expected Galib to change his appearance going undercover. Growing his hair, maybe a mustache. Dirty himself up. So when Pinpin handed him Galib’s passport was good enough.”  
“To pass the mustard,” Ziva says wrongly.  
“Muster, not mustard,” McGee corrects her.  
“Galib’s documents are vetted to get him on any crew in the world,” Shepard gets them back on topic.  
“Including the Cape fear or Cape Horn,” Tony agrees with her.  
“We sent a second BOLO with Pinpin’s photo. Both ships confirmed he was not on board,” Ziva reports.  
“Send it again AKA Abog Galib. Get me the crew rosters from Sea-Lift Command.”  
“On it,” McGee agrees with getting to it.  
“DiNozzo, call MTAC. I want the NSO, Pentagon, FBI, CIA – hell, everyone ASAP!” Shepard orders him.  
“My gut tells me we’re missing something,” Tony complains as he turns to Gibbs team as Shepard leaves.  
“Gibbs,” Ziva informs him.  
“Yeah, Gibbs.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I am sleeping, mostly soundly until someone places their hand on my arm, making me jerk awake.  
“And you?” I ask her because I don’t know her and I look around the room to see we are the only too in the dark room. I don’t know where everyone is and Alice promised she would be here when I wake up.  
“Ziva,” She introduces herself as she touches her chest so I understand that is her name.  
“Do we work together?”  
“Yes. I’m a Mossad officer attached to your team.”  
“Mossad? When did they start doing that?”  
“It’s been a year.”  
“Don’t feel bad. I worked with that M.E…”  
“Ducky. Ten years. And you don’t remember him.”  
“Do you always finish people’s sentences?”  
“Only when I’m in a hurry. Aby Sayyaf is planning a terrorist attack on the Navy. It will be as devastating as…”  
“Nine eleven,” I finish for her as I climb out of bed and stand in front of her.  
“You remember nine eleven?”  
“My boss told me,” I inform her as I pace the small room.  
“Director Shepard.”  
“No. no, my boss. It doesn’t matter. What can I do?” I ask her when I release Shepard and Alice hasn’t told anyone that Mike is here.  
“Remember,” she orders me as she clasps my face.  
“I’ve been trying to since I woke up in this room!” I yell at her, it’s not that easy.  
“Well try harder!” She orders me making me look at her, and she adds, “Good. That’s a start.”  
“What is?!”  
“The old Gibbs’ stare. You gave it to all of us; McGee, Tony, me!”  
“What are you talking about?!” I yell at her again, she is pissing me off, I can’t remember and I do want to remember but I can’t. She grabs my hand and suddenly hit the back of her own head. Making me remember walking past her in the orange squad room and hitting her on the back of the head.  
“Ari… Ari killed Kate,” Ziva informs me, making a flash of a brunet girl talking before there is a flash of red and she drops as I look for something, and I can hear Alice screaming. She cries the next bit, “And I… I killed Ari!” that makes me remember seeing Ari fall dead, on the floor in my house and I look up the stairs to see Ziva holding the gun.  
“Your brother,” I realise what that means.  
“Yes,” Ziva cries.  
“You killed your bother… to save me,” I realise before I pull her into a hug.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“I’m sure he remembers you, Ducky,” Tony says into the phone to Ducky, because Ziva made Gibbs remember. I don’t know how, I have been trying and it hurts that I wasn’t important enough for him to remember, even a little.  
“Ziva’s driving him here now!” McGee says into his own phone.  
“I don’t know. Maybe she pulled her,” Tony is talking but McGee is talking over him.  
“He’s coming back. He will remember you. Absolutely.”  
“He insisted.”  
“Any minute now,” McGee says as the elevator binges.  
“Boss!” Tony exclaim as Gibbs brushes through the squad room on the way to MTAC.  
“McGee,” Gibbs calls Tony by the wrong name.  
“Uh… uh, boss, no I’m McGee,” McGee corrects him.  
“Gibbs! Oh,” Abby exclaims as she runs up to him and pulls him into a hug, making us all catch him before he falls on the ground again.   
“Hey, Abby,” Gibbs greets her   
“Whoa,” McGee exclaims as Tony reaches for Gibbs to steady him as I grab Gibbs shirt and arm, holding him up as he hugs the energiser bunny. He gets his footing back.  
“I do remember you, Abs. Ducky, how can I forget? Your mother left you on a bus,” Gibbs says he releases Abby and shakes Ducky’s hand before making his way up the stair again.  
“I have no idea, Jethro,” Ducky says to him.  
“Should you be out of the hospital, Gibbs?” Abby asks him.  
“That’s actually a good question. You couldn’t even eat steak,” I ask him as I make sure he is okay before I release him.  
“I don’t have time, Abs, Alice. I’ll talk to you both later. I should have known it wasn’t Galib,” Gibbs says as he looks down on the two photos.  
“I’d have made the same mistake,” Tony informs Gibbs ask everyone agrees with Tony.  
“Well yeah, DiNozzo. I know. That’s why I am so pissed!” Gibbs snaps at Tony before smacking him on the back of the head.  
“You didn’t forget me!” Tony exclaims happy as Gibbs and I walk into MTAC.  
“The Cape Fear is loaded with twenty thousand tons of munitions, Deputy Director Welch,” Shepard says in MTAC.  
“Which is why we cannot permit her to reach Gibraltar without boarding a navy search team,” Welsh inform her.  
“Agreed. But if that frigate signals a heave-to and prepare to be boarded, Pinpin Pula will blow the Cape Fear. No one will survive.”  
“If he’s on board and if he’s a suicide bomber.”  
“You’re risking nineteen civilian lives on ifs Director Welsh,” Tom Zill, another person in the conference, snaps.  
“In the med he could explode near a cruise ship. Nineteen will seem an acceptable loss.”  
“No death is acceptable when it’s unnecessary!” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Deputy Director Welsh, Special Agent Gibbs,” Shepard introduces her agent.  
“This terrorist isn’t after a cruise liner.”  
“Islamic terrorist love soft targets,” Welsh informs Gibbs.  
“No, he wants the marine assault ship the Cape Fear’s replenishing in the Gulf.”  
“You don’t know what he wants! He’s a terrorist! A cruise ship, the Suez Canal…”  
“He told me!” Gibbs yells over him, angrily and I place my hand on his back to attempt to calm him down, he needs to calm down, he is injured and I am worried about him. I don’t know if he remembers me yet but I won’t let him hurt himself. I know he remembers everyone else, but I don’t know if I was important enough for him to remember, I mean, why would I be?   
“He told you?”  
“Pinpin Pula is an arrogant son-of0a-bitch! He thought the bomb he’d planted would kill me.”  
“So he’s not a suicide bomber?”  
“For god’s sakes, order that frigate to break off!”  
“I can’t do that.”  
“Is everyone up there as stupid as you? Pinpin Pula is on the Cape Fear! He’s the radio man! He intercepts every BOLO we send him and he replies ‘No Pinpin here!” Gibbs yells at him making me rub his back.  
“We’ve got that, Special Agent Gibbs. That’s why we didn’t communicate with the Cape Dear until… now.”  
“Jeff! Thank God you’re there! Can you get your SEALs on board without being seen?” Gibbs begs of an observer on the call.  
“We can execute a HALO insertion within ten hours,” Jeff Fletcher informs Gibbs.  
“The sailor on that frigate have video cameras!”  
“We can confiscate those videos,” Welsh inform Gibbs.  
“What?” Gibbs asks in confusion before he begins yelling again, “You don’t want this being seen?!”  
“An accident at sea is better than an act of terrorism.”  
“It’s too late!” Gibbs yells at them angrily.  
“You bastard!” Gibbs and I shout before we hear a huge explosion s the ship blows up.  
“Burn in hell. Tell Ari I said hi,” I yell at them before leading Gibbs out of MTAC.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“I was wrong,” I inform Shepard in her office.  
“You weren’t wrong,” Shepard corrects me but she doesn’t know what I am talking about.  
“I was angry at Mike. I never understood how he could quit,” I correct her before adding, “Until now.”  
I leave Shepard’s office and walk down to that orange squad room and walk over to my desk. Everyone is in the squad room somewhere, Duck, Abby, Tony, McGee and Ziva but Alice is standing by the elevator, and she looks like she is trying not to cry and I don’t know what she is thinking for one. I open the draws looking my wallet.  
“Oh, I got them, boss. I got them from the medics when they took you,” Tony exclaims as he hands me my wallet, badge and gun.  
“Appreciate it,” I say before I slid my wallet into my back pocket before walking around my desk and place the badge and gun in his hand as I continue, “It’s you team now.” I turn to McGee and inform him, “Tim, you’re a god agent. Don’t let him tell you otherwise.”  
“I won’t boss,” McGee promises.  
“Gibbs!” Abby begins asking but I place my finger over her lips, stopping her from talking as I place a kiss on her cheek.  
“I owe you, Ziva,” I whisper to her as I make my way out of the squad room, one person at a time.  
“I’ll collect, Jethro,” Ziva promises me.  
“Give me a ride home, Duck,” I ask him.  
“Of course,” Ducky agrees as we begin leaving.  
“Semper fi!” I say to them before walking over to Alice.  
“You’re leaving?” Alice asks me, and I can see how strong she is trying to be.  
“Alice… I have to.”  
“Do you…”  
“What is it?” I ask her when she cuts her own question off, making her look like she is trying not to hurt me or ask something I can’t answer.  
“Do you even remember me? Or was I not important enough in your life?” Alice spits out quickly. Making me feel worse than I have since I work up, she doesn’t think I would remember her? I wish she was stronger and more confident in herself so that she doesn’t cut herself down anymore. I don’t know how to answer her because I don’t want to say the wrong think. I decide to take a page out of Alice’s book. I quickly lean down and kiss her, my hands fall to her hips as I push her between the wall and my body. I deepen the kiss so she can feel how much she means to me and that I couldn’t forget her for long. I pull away from her, ignoring the gasp behind me.  
“Does that answer your question? Even when I didn’t know you, I looked forward to you coming to visit me. Besides, no way I could forget your ‘help’ on my boat,” I inform her slightly breathlessly making her node mutely. I add, “I remember you. And don’t let anyone ever tell you any different.”  
“Where are you going?” Alice asks me softly.  
“Mexico. You better come and visit me,” I answer her.  
“What you gonna do if I don’t?” Alice flirts with me.  
“I’ll work something out,” I promise her before stepping into the elevator as it opens with Ducky.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.

Mike Franks is again working on the engine of his pickup truck when he spots Gibbs walking down the beach, seabag over his shoulder. Franks smiles and turns back to the engine.


	27. Broken or Just slow? *

Previously:  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Do you even remember me? Or was I not important enough in your life?” Alice spits out quickly. Making me feel worse than I have since I work up, she doesn’t think I would remember her? I wish she was stronger and more confident in herself so that she doesn’t cut herself down anymore. I don’t know how to answer her because I don’t want to say the wrong think. I decide to take a page out of Alice’s book. I quickly lean down and kiss her, my hands fall to her hips as I push her between the wall and my body. I deepen the kiss so she can feel how much she means to me and that I couldn’t forget her for long. I pull away from her, ignoring the gasp behind me.  
“Does that answer your question? Even when I didn’t know you, I looked forward to you coming to visit me. Besides, no way I could forget your ‘help’ on my boat,” I inform her slightly breathlessly making her node mutely. I add, “I remember you. And don’t let anyone ever tell you any different.”  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
“Oh my god. You’re dating… you and… what?” Tony stutters out.  
“Abby, I think I broke Tony,” I inform her.  
“You and… Gibbs… you…”  
“Yeah. I think you did,” Abby agrees with me as we watch the shocked man repeat the same words.  
“You’re dating Gibbs?” Ziva asks me in surprise.  
“Why doesn’t anyone every guess him? Abby even told you,” I remind them.  
“Gibbs… Dating… kissing… Gibbs… you… LJ… smell good… Gibbs,” Tony continues to stutter out making me blink at him.  
“Congratulation, I think,” McGee says to me as we watch to continue to stutter out none-scenes.  
“Thanks,” I say to him.  
“Gibbs… Jethro… Kate approved… Gibbs,” Tony continues.  
“Umm. Do you think he’s going to get over this ever?” I ask Abby as I move over to my desk.  
“I don’t know,” Abby admits as she hands me a hundred dollars.  
“What? You were betting on how long it would take us to work it out?” Tony snaps out of his shock to ask us that.  
“At first no, but after the first month and you walked in on me and Jethro cuddling in his basement, hell yeah,” I answer him.  
“I don’t remember walking in on you. And as I said before, any bets on me I collect,” Tony informs me as he tries to snatch the money but I take it and stick it down my shirt, into my bra.  
“Nope. Abby and I have been betting on you for three full years, we’re not going to stop now you’re the boss. You have two opinions, quit or get used to seeing me take Abby’s money,” I inform him calmly.  
“Alice…”  
“Fairs fair. All the times you and I bet on Kate, Abby and I was betting on you. Jethro even used to get in on that action, when it was a really good bet, like how you would react when you found out Kate was dating you’re frat brother, sex-machine,” I inform him happily making him groan, I am not letting that name die. Ever.  
“Fine, but I want in on the action.”  
“We don’t have any more bets on at the moment,” Abby informs Tony happily before adding, “Besides when and how you found out how long it took for you to work it out?”  
“When did you get together?”   
“When you tried murdering me. In the hospital. Abby took a photo because she’s creepy,” I answer him making him look surprise and understanding at the same time.  
“You’ve been dating since then. That’s over a year ago,” Tony says in surprise as he looks unconfutable that it took him so long to find out.  
“Yep, that means either you’re stupidly slow or a bad investigator,” I inform him as we begin walking to the elevator as a team, missing to very important men.  
“I’m not a bad investigator, or slow,” Tony exclaims as we step in the elevator to leave for the night.  
“Pick one, Tony. Any one.”  
“She’s right. I even told you who she was dating and you dismissed it,” Abby reminds him happily.  
“I didn’t expected you to tell em who she was dating, so I decided it couldn’t be him,” Tony defends himself.  
“A good investigator doesn’t dismiss anything, no matter the reason. So bad investigator it is,” I state.  
“Alice, what are you doing this weekend?” Abby ask me as we leave the elevator.  
“We’re having a spar weekend. Remember, Jethro got us the reservations for my birthday,” I remind her of our plans.  
“Right, I forgot in all the commotion,” Abby admits.  
“As long as we don’t miss it this time,” I inform her as we all wake over to the parking lot.  
“See you Monday,” Tony says before he leaves to whatever poor victim, I mean date, he has.  
“Yeah, goodbye,” McGee agrees as he leaves.  
“I guess,” Ziva begins.  
“Where are you going? You’re coming with us,” I cut her off.  
“It’s a spa weekend, with three girls,” Abby adds.  
“And we haven’t been able to raise Kate from the dead, yet. So you it,” I inform her.  
“Meet us at Gibbs, and we’ll leave from there. Pack for the whole weekend,” Abby orders Ziva as we walk to her car and get in, leaving a shocked Ziva behind.  
“How are you holding up?” Abby asks me as she drives the car to Gibbs house because she packed and placed her bag their before Gibbs got blown up.  
“I’m fine,” I answer her.  
“Alice, I have seen you through a stalker, Kate’s death, Shepard and Ziva’s arrival. Don’t lie to me.”  
“He didn’t remember me, but he remembered Ziva. That hurt.”  
“But…”  
“He does remember me know. And he kissed me, not Shepard, not Ziva, not his ex-wives, not Mike. So I’ll be fine.”  
“We can give the spa a miss and you can follow Gibbs.”  
“Nah, this weekend has been planned for a month. I’ll visit him later. I just hope we can make the long distance work because I don’t think it’s safe to leave Tony alone with the team because Madam Director might separate Jethro’s team before he returns.”  
“You’re sure he’s coming back.”  
“He’ll get bored and wander back into the squad room. Will just keep him here with the promise of coffee and sex,” I promise her making her laugh at me because she knows I would and have bribed Gibbs before.  
“I’ll hold you to that,” Abby says as we pull up at Gibbs house.  
“Don’t worry, it’s just going to take time,” I promise her as I get out of the car and begin walking over to Gibbs house.  
“What are you going to do? I mean at night without Gibbs to keep your company,” Abby ask me as we walk in to see the empty house, making me hesitate on walking in. it feels wrong because this is Shannon’s house, and I only felt comfortable walking in when Gibbs was here because he gave me permission to enter her house.  
“Whatever do you mean?”  
“What are you going to do without having Gibbs here to have sex with?”  
“Oh, that. Read my book, write the reports at home. Sleep on all the pillows without Jethro complaining that I am replacing him with pillows and kicking him out of his own bed, to steal his pillow,” I answer her as I walk into the bedroom to pack a bag.  
“Really, that’s the upside for a long distance relationship so you can steal his pillow?” Abby laughs at me as she sits on the end of the perfectly made bed, Gibbs’ bed and he takes pride in how his bed looks.  
“What? You got a better reason for a long distance relationship?” I ask her as I grab Gibbs old military bag and place it on the bed.   
“Because the sex is great when you meet up because there is all this sexual urges and arousal. You don’t get to see the place they are living because you spend the whole time ‘catching’ up,” Abby explains to me as I place four sets of clothing in the bag. A red, long, sleeve shirt; red, singlet; green shirt with the words ‘I love coffee. Take it and you die’ across my chest; and a white shirt that says ‘I taste good, like coffee.’ I also pack four well-worn blue jeans.  
“Really? I think my pillow reason is better. “  
“Really? You think having all the pillows is better than fucking like bunnies.”  
“We already fuck like bunnies, but I don’t get all the pillows. What? You think we don’t have sex?” I ask her as I place my pyjamas in the bad, which are Gibbs old NIS shirt and a pair of boxers that I have claimed at my sleepwear.  
“I know you have sex, the hickies you both often wear gave that away but I didn’t know you went at it like bunnies.”  
“The mean problem is going to be food, Gibbs always cooks over the weekend, and I cook on the weekdays when we don’t work late. I can’t cook well and half my food isn’t eatable,” I explain to her as I place underwear in the bag next.  
“You’re not worried about sex but you’re worried about food?” Abby asks me making me smirk at her making her add, “You are weird.”  
“I can masturbate or find a phone that he can use over there to have phone sex but, I can’t cook well,” I remind her as I zip up the bag.  
“I suppose,” Abby agrees with me as we hear a knock at the front door.   
“See, know you’re seeing my side,” I say as we walk down to the front door to leave for the weekend at the spa.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Abby, Ziva and I walk into the office together on Monday; we are all carrying our bags because we left the spa, straight to the office.  
“That was fun,” Ziva says as we step into the elevator.  
“Yeah, why did we go a year between visits?” Abby asks me.  
“Because their hard to get into. And we’ve been busy,” I remind her as we wait for the right floor to exit the elevator into the squad room.  
“I guess.”  
“Besides, I had other things to do,” I remind her making her laugh at me as we step out of the elevator into the orange, squad room.  
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Learning to cook,” Abby teases me happily as we walk into the squad room to see Tony moving all his porno magazines from his desk into his new desk, Gibbs desk, making me pull a face.  
“Umm... Why do you have so much porno at work?” I ask Tony in confusion as all of us girls freeze in surprise and slight disgust.  
“Because. Can you give me a hand?”  
“Sure,” I say making Abby give me a surprised look because I refuse to drink from the same water fountain as Tony, but I’ll pick up a porno? I walk over to his pile of porno and gently, try to light it on fire.  
“What? Alice,” Tony exclaims as he knocks my hand away from the STD’s, I mean porno, magazines. He continues, “What the hell?”  
“You asked me for a hand, I was giving you a hand. Getting rid of the burning sensation,” I explain making everyone in the squad room laugh but for Tony who only fake laughs at me.  
“Ha-ha… thanks Alice, I got it,” Tony says as he gets back to work of moving the pornos. I walk over to my desk and sit down as I watch him carry a comical amount of pornos from one desk to another.  
“Whatever you say, but don’t say I didn’t try to help.”  
“I wouldn’t,” Tony promise as the rest of the team gets to work, Ziva at her desk while Abby continues down to the lab.  
I log onto my computer and see what I have to do until Tony finds us a case. I pick a cold case and begin reviewing it in the hopes of closing one for the family and victims.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Alice,” Ducky says as I walk into autopsy to talk to him and have lunch with him today.  
“Hey. How’s you day been?” I ask him as I hand him the food I brought with me.  
“Slow. Alice do you mind if I talk to you about something uncomfortable?”  
“Sure, what is it?”  
“You called me dad, at the hospital.”  
“I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”  
“I liked it.”  
“I… I didn’t want to call you that because I don’t want to make you feel like you have to answer to something that might make you uncomfortable. But I liked it too.”  
“I did like it. You can call me that.”  
“I will. I like it too. I never had a dad before.”  
“What about Mr Todd, he was your father for years?”  
“I had to call him sir, master or Mr Todd. When we were out in public I had to call him father but never dad, not once.”  
“We’ll I’m you dad now. You know this reminds me a time when…”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I sit at home in bed, reading my book late at night in the silent house. I miss the sound of Gibbs working the boat or just doing whatever he wants to do, because he never stops moving and working. It’s been a week since I have been stay lone because he left for Mexico, and I can’t go see him this weekend because we’re on call if a case comes in.  
I can’t help myself and pick up my mobile and dial the number to get a hold of Gibbs, just to hear his voice, but I close the phone because he might be asleep and I don’t want to annoy him.  
I place my phone on the bedside table and turn onto my stomach, pulling Gibbs pillow to my face so I can hold it against my face, breathing in his unique smell.  
I lay still, feeling more alone then I have in years, I don’t have Kate and I feel like I don’t have Gibbs anymore because he’s retired and I don’t think he’ll come back to just hold me or listen to me. I don’t want to call him because if I keep calling him, if we need him, he might not answer the call and that’s my worst fear.  
I can’t stop the tears falling down my face, into the pillow as I hug it. I want to go back to before the explosion, before Kate died, to save us all from the pain. To save myself from the problem.  
I hear my phone suddenly break the silence in the house making me turn around and pick it up without looking because I think it’s a case.  
“Alice,” I answer the phone, trying not to stop my voice from cracking.  
“Hey baby,” I hear Gibbs voice making me happy.  
“Jethro.”  
“Yeah, what are you up to baby?”  
“Stealing you’re pillow,” I answer my before falling to his a sob.  
“You and your pillows,” Gibbs laughs at me before continuing, “What’s wrong baby?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Alice, wants wrong?”  
“I miss Kate. I’m just… lonely,” I admit softly, I know he knows me too well to drop it. I know that no one but for me know about this phone he has, everyone else has to go through the lady that brings them their groceries.  
“Why didn’t you call me? You’re not alone.”  
“I didn’t want to disturb you. I don’t know what you’re doing or if you’re asleep.”  
“I don’t care if I’m taking a leak or fixing a leak, I’ll always talk to you,” Gibbs informs me.  
“I… your house is very creepy when there’s no sound in it,” I inform him.  
“Turn at TV on, that helps. I do it in the basement.”  
“I’m in the bed, there’s no TV in there,” I remind him.  
“I guess you’re just going to have to call me.”  
“Jethro…”  
“What are you doing this weekend?”  
“Reading. Shepard put us on call so I can’t come visit you. I planned to but she dropped this weekend on us last minute,” I complain.  
“What did you do to her?”  
“Why do you think I did something?”  
“Because I know you. Very well.”  
“I didn’t do anything. She’s been chucking the shit since you quit and she can’t flirt with you,” I inform him calmly.  
“I had too; they killed because no one listened to me.”  
“I know. I know… what’s it like in Mexico?”  
“Hot, relaxing. You’ll like it, and as long as Mike’s not around.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“IT’s so hot, you’ll want to take all your clothes off, and that’s for my eyes only.”  
“Jealous much?” I laugh at him as I pull his pillow closer to my body.  
“I don’t share.”  
“I know; I’ve seen you with your wife, the coffee.”  
“I thought I was married to my boat,” Gibbs laughs at me.  
“You’re in a polygamy relationship marriage with both.”  
“Oh, okay, as long as I know how I’m cheating on with you.”  
“Mmm, you better believe it.”  
“Oh I do. I do. What are you up to right now?”  
“I’m laying in bed claiming you’re pillow. I’m not ever giving it back.”  
“I meant to take that thing with me, so you didn’t claim it.”  
“Too little too late,” I laugh at him.  
“I miss you laying in my bed with me baby.”  
“Me too, I need my bed heater.”  
*  
“Mmm. Then come visit me. I’ll keep you warm all weekend,” Gibbs informs me as his voice drops down an octave to the one he uses when he is teasing me.  
“Jethro,” I gasp at him because he isn’t here to start anything but he is anyway.  
“What? You don’t want me to keep you warm?”  
“Jethro, stop teasing me,” I beg of him because if he keeps talking in that tone, I might just have to do something about the fire he is starting.  
“Why? You getting warm for me? Maybe even wet?” Gibbs teases me.  
“I bet you’d like that,” I tease him back.  
“Mm-hmm. I bet you’d like it more if I was there, maybe even sucking on your pretty neck.”  
“Mm yeah, I’d like that. You are really good with your mouth.”  
“What are you wearing, baby?”  
“NIS sweatshirt and your boxers. What I always wear to bed. What are you wearing?” I admit making Gibbs groan over the phone, which makes me feel myself get even wetter.  
“I like when you wear my clothing, everyone knowns you belong to me. My girl, all mine. Mine to fuck, mine to love. Mine to lick,” Gibbs gasp out making me moan as I remember him licking me.  
“Lick me where?” I ask him.  
“I’ll start between your breasts, licking over to the left one before I pull it into my mouth,” Gibbs informs me making me groan.  
“Jethro. Please,” I beg of him without knowing what I am begging for this time.  
“Baby, lift my shirt over your breasts and squeeze the left one,” Gibbs orders me, making me follow his order; I lift my shirt up and play with that nipple.  
“Jethro, it’s cold,” I complain as I gasp into the phone.  
“I know it is, but you’ll warm up soon. I’ll warm you up with my mouth. I’ll suck on your boob hard enough to suck that pretty nipple into my warm mouth, and gently bite it,” Gibbs informs me making me moan out loud again at the thought of him doing that as I pull on my nipple, stimulating it and trying to imitate what Gibbs is explaining what he wants to do to my body.  
“Jethro, I’d like that. Would you like it?” I ask him and I could just imagine how hard he would be.  
“What do you want to know?”  
“Are you… hard?” I ask him.  
“Yeah, baby. I am, and I bet you’re wet enough for me to slide in, aren’t you?” Gibbs asks me making me run my fingers down my body to the boxers and I slide my fingers under them to my pussy.  
“God, Jethro,” I gasp out when I feel how wet I am.  
“How wet are you? Dripping through my boxers?”  
“I’m dripping. Jethro, please, help me out with my problem and I’ll help you with your large one,” I beg of him as I continue to feel how wet I am, just from his voice.  
“Baby, why don’t you slide out of those clothing so you’re naked,” Gibbs orders me, making me do as I’m told and I remove my (his) clothing so I am naked in the empty bed room in the empty house.  
“I’m naked,” I inform him before asking, “Are you?”  
“No,” Gibbs answers me.  
“Jethro, you have to remove your clothes so you beautiful body is on display,” I inform him making him groan at me.  
“Don’t worry baby, I’m taking care of it. But I want to hear you take care of yourself. I want you to run your fingers through that wet pussy, but don’t enter it. Just circle the opening slowly,” Gibbs orders me.  
“Jethro. What are you doing?” I beg of him as I moan as I follow his orders on how to pleasure myself.  
“I have my cock out, using my pre-cum as lube as I stroke myself. From the root to the tip, slowly, loosely, teasingly, like you do. My teasing girl.”  
“Wish was there now, I would place the tip in my mouth and… and suck on it like a tasty lollipop,” I whisper to him but I stop for a second when I accidently hit my clitoris making me moan in please. When I finish talking Gibbs groans over the phone.  
“Yeah, if I don’t enter your tight, hot, pussy first,” Gibbs informs me, making me moan at the thought of him entering me, it’s been almost two weeks since he’s been in me because of his coma then moving to Mexico.  
“Oh god, please. Yes please, enter me,” I beg of him without entering myself without entering myself because Gibbs told me not to.  
“Slide one finger inside yourself, slowly. Tell me how it feels.”  
“My pussy is grapping my finger. Jethro, it feels so good,” I gasp out making him groan at me. I can hear the movement of his hand on his cock in the background of the call.  
“I bet it’s hot,” Gibbs gasps out making me moan in agreement, “I bet it would feel better if it was my cock.”  
“Jethro, please. I bet I’ll feel better than that calluses hand of yours. Bet you wouldn’t be able to keep a slow pace,” I gasp out making Gibbs groan.  
“I know you would. I know. And I will nail you into your pillow fort, making you scream loud enough for the whole town to hear. I’ll slide in slowly but when I settle into that hot heat, I’ll quickly pick up my pace,” Gibbs informs me, making me pick up my pace with my finger.  
“I raise my hips so that I met you half way, driving you deeper inside me,” I gasp out as I moan at the thought.  
“Alice, baby. Are you close?”  
“Jethro please,” I beg of him as I add another finger inside myself, fingering myself as get closure to the edge.  
“Baby, why don’t you rub your cute little clitoris? Rub it quickly, in a clockwise director. Come on baby,” Gibbs orders me making me rub it like he orders me.  
“Jethro, I’m close. Please tell me your close,” I beg of him as I get closure and closure to my edge.  
“I’m close baby. Cum for me, I want to hear you,” Gibbs orders em making me gasp.  
“Jethro,” I moan loudly as I cum all over my own fingers.  
“Alice,” Gibbs gasps out as he cum on the other side of the phone.  
*  
“Wow,” I mumble as I come down from my high.  
“Yeah.”  
“I messed up the bedding,” I complain when I feel the wet spot I made on the bedding.  
“You make it wet?” Gibbs teases me through his gasps for air.  
“Yeah.”  
“You can wash them.”  
“I miss you. I’ll try and come see you next weekend,” I promise him as I move over to his half of the bed with all my pillows.  
“You better. Don’t make me come all the way over there to kidnap you.”  
“I won’t,” I mumble as I begin falling to sleep to the sound of his sexy voice.  
“Good.”  
“Goodnight Jethro,” I mumble as I begin falling asleep.  
“Goodnight, baby. Sleep tight,” Gibbs answers me as I fall to sleep. Getting the first good night sleep I have had since Gibbs got blown up.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Grab your gear. We have a missing marine dependent. McGee, gas the truck” Tony informs us while throwing the keys at McGee as he walks into the squad room where we are working on cold case this find Monday morning. We all get up and grab our gear, and the wind breakers we have to wear at the crime scene.  
“What age? Gender? Relationship?” I ask him.  
“Four months old, girl, daughter,” Tony informs me as we head to the elevator.  
“Where are we going?” McGee asks him in confusion.  
“Quantico,” Tony informs us as we step into the elevator together as a team, missing my man.  
“Lovely. We need to bring this baby home, alive,” I state, I can handle a lot of deaths, this life still is helping us get over the sensitivity of death as long as it’s not a child or someone who looks like Kate.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We get to the crime scene where the victim was taken from. Ziva and McGee go into the room where the baby was taken from as Tony and I walk over to the distressed mother.  
“Ma’am, are you alright?” I ask the mother who is obviously distressed today.  
“My baby. Someone took my baby,” She, May Smith, cries out.  
“We know. That’s why were hear,” I inform her softly.  
“Do you know who took your baby?” Tony asks her straight up.  
“No, I don’t. What type of question is that?” May demands of us.  
“We have to ask these questions ma’am. We understand their hard to answer sometime but we ask them to get us information to find you baby. Sometimes the answers you give us doesn’t seem important to you but it might help us, that’s why we ask,” I inform her softly and calmly in the hopes that if I’m calm, she will calm down and answer our questions.  
“Okay.”  
“DO you or your husband have any enemies?” Tony asks the next question on the list we always ask.  
“No. everyone loves my husband. And I don’t have any enemies.”  
“What about ex-boyfriends or girlfriends that are jealous of your marriage?” I ask her next as I sit down next to her.  
“Not that I know off.”  
“What about co-workers. Any of them being creepy?” Tony asks her.  
“No. Everyone is normal. Just like before I had the baby. I only just went back to work yesterday,” May explains through her tears.  
“It’s okay. We’re just making sure. Can you tell us where you were when your baby was taken?” I ask her softly.  
“Rose. The baby’s name is Rose.”  
“Okay. Can you tell us where you were when Rose was taken?”  
“I was sleeping. Right in the next room, I didn’t hear anything. Does that make me a bad mother?”  
“No, it makes you a tired mother. It’s perfectly normal not to hear thinks when you’re working and have a child under the age of one,” I promise her softly as I offer her my hanky to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.  
“Do you have anything that has you daughter’s DNA on it?” Tony asks her.  
“I um… I have a Band-Aid of hers,” May exclaims after a moment of thought.  
“Can you get it please,” I ask her making her node as she walks off to the bin to retrieve it. I ask him, “What do you want me to do, Tony?”   
“Um. Talk to the mother; see if you can find out something. People seem to like you more than anyone else,” Tony orders me before walking off to find out if someone has found something else.  
“Here you go. Do you think it would help?” May asks me as she hands me the Band-Aid.  
“Thank you ma’am,” I say to her as I take the Band-Aid and place it in an evidence bag for Abby. I ask her politely, “Do you have any idea who knows you house well enough to take your daughter?”   
“No… no, who would want to take someone else’s baby?”  
“I don’t know. But I promise you, we’ll find out. Just a few more questions. Can you tell me if you’ve noticed anything unusual lately? Strange phone calls, cars driving by regularly, the feeling of someone watching you?”  
“Someone always phones the house at fifteen hundred and three, every day. The call hasn’t missed one since I started dating John,” May admits sadly.  
“Have you ever found out who is calling?”  
“No Agent Todd. The police and MP say it probably just a child pranking us,” May explains making me node at her, that would make sense if it was a couple times, but for years.  
“How long have you been married?”  
“Thirteen years.”  
“Over the thirteen years, have you ever seen or recognize the number?”  
“No, it was always a hidden number.”  
“And Rose is your first baby?” I ask her softly, changing the conversation, hoping not to piss her off.  
“No… I have had five children including her,” May informs me tightly.  
“Do you mind if I ask where is your other children?”  
“Two died at birth,” May explains sadly.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I exclaim as I pull her into a hug.  
“One was a cot death. Once si in college,” May explains through her tears.  
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. Please, we’ll bring her home, I promise,” I promise her softly.  
“How does that information help you?”  
“It helps me understand your background of your family and that gives us a starting point,” I explain as I release her.  
“Okay.”  
“Can I have a sample of your DNA?” I ask her as I pull at a mouth swab.  
“Why?”   
“It’s protocol.”  
“Okay,” May agrees before opening her mouth and I swab it.  
“And I need a photo of Rose for the BOLO.”  
“Of course,” May exclaims before finding me a resent photo of Rose and handing it to me.  
“Thank you for your time,” I say to her because we leave as a team.  
“What did you learn?” Tony as me as we get into the truck together.  
“That this family may have a stalker and more bad luck then this team,” I answer him.  
“How can anyone have more bad luck then us?”   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do you got?” Tony demands of us as we work on the case in the squad room as he calls us all over to his desk to report to him.  
“The baby was born nine days early and lived in the hospital for four weeks,” McGee reports.  
“May Smith was married before she married John Smith but he says the divorce was his idea. Fought for it for seven years before she signed the papers,” Ziva adds.  
“John Smith has been deployed for the last two months on a twelve month.”  
“Alice,” Tony asks as he turns to me.  
“The May and John has had five children together, two died at birth, one was a cot death, and one is at college but none of them is listed at births, death, and marriage. According to the government, May has never had a child. Not one, not Rose,” I explain what I have found.  
“Are you sure?” Tony asks me in surprise.  
“Yep. I rang them; I went down there and looked in person. They don’t have any proof that anyone of them existed at all.”  
“Get with Abby and have her run the baby’s DNA.”  
“I already have her running it. I’m going to check on it in a moment.”  
“Got it. Ziva, have you found out who is calling May every day at the same time?”   
“Not yet, I am working on it,” Ziva informs him.  
“Well work it would. And go through their phone records. I want to know everything within the last four months.”  
“On it.”  
“McGee, you have the bank records, looking for anything that would help us,” Tony orders us.  
“Right, on it,” McGee agrees before we break to do our jobs. I leave the squad room and walk down to the coffee shop and buy a caf-pow and a coffee.  
I walk back into the building and over to the back elevator to take it down to the lab.  
“Morning Abby,” I greet her as I hand her, her caf-pow.  
“Thanks, I haven’t found anything yet,” Abby informs me as she works her way through the case evidence.  
“Abs, I need something. Anything to help us find this baby. Please.”  
“Sorry, you can’t rush science.”  
“Have you ran Rose’s DNA?”  
“Yeah, but the results aren’t in yet.”  
“I need you to run it against her mother’s as soon as possible.”  
“Why?”  
“Because there’s something’s… hinky,” I inform her making her smile at me.  
“What are you think?”  
“That this time yesterday I was talking to Jethro and now I am working a kidnapping case,” I complain making her grin at me as I leave with a parting word of, “Call when you find something.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What have you got McGee?” Tony demands of the probie who is staring at his computer in confusion.  
“This doesn’t make sense,” McGee informs us.  
“What? Someone stealing someone else’s baby. Or that baby not existing on paper anywhere?” I ask him in confusion. What doesn’t make sense?  
“The Smiths haven’t had two dollars in their saving. But as of today, they have half a million dollars in there,” McGee explains what is confusion him.  
“What?” tony and I ask him as we walk over to him and look over his shoulder that does show just that.  
“I’m trying to trace the money but it’s a cash deposit.”  
“Where was it deposited?”  
“Um… on base,” McGee informs me.  
“Take Alice, see if their security has who banked it,” Tony orders us making me walk over to my desk and get our gear.  
“Come on, McGee. Let’s go,” I order him as we leave.  
“What do you think is going on?” McGee asks me.  
“I don’t know, but I don’t think I’ll like it when I do know. I just hope nothing happens to this child.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Good morning,” the bank manager, Parker, asks us.  
“Good morning, are you the bank manager?” I ask him as I shake his hand.  
“Yes, um... Who are you two?”  
“NCIS, Agents McGee and Todd,” McGee introduces us.  
“Parker Brown. What can I do for NCIS today?” Parker asks us.  
“May Smith had a large amount of money deposited into her account today. We need to know about it,” I get straight to the point.  
“Ma’am. I can’t tell you anything about my clients.”  
“Her baby is missing, it might help us find her,” McGee informs him making Parker’s entire mood change.  
“Rose is missing?”  
“Yes, only three minutes after the deposit. Who deposited it?” I ask him.  
“I’ll pull up the security,” Parker informs us as he moves over to his computer and pulls up the recording. He pulls up the time of deposited and we watch someone walk into the bank, walk up to the taller and bank the money without ever looking at the camera.  
“Can we have a copy of this? And the money,” I ask him.  
“I can give you a copy. But without a warrant the money stay where it is,” Parker informs us before handing over a copy of the recording.  
“Of course,” McGee agrees with him.  
“Mr Brown. How well do you know the Smiths?” I ask him.  
“Not very well, only see them when they deposit or withdrawal of money,” Parker answers me.  
“Really?” I ask him in disbelieve, he is lying to me.  
“Yes ma’am.”  
“I am just asking because we said May Smith but you can tell us the name of her baby without hesitation. I can’t even name five children.”  
“It’s complicated.”  
“IF you lie to us in a federal investigation, we can arrest her for a striction of a federal investigation. So just tell us the truth,” McGee orders him.  
“We were having an affair, me and May. It’s been going on for over a year,” Parker admits in fear.  
“When was the last time you seen her?” I ask him.  
“At eight o’clock, today,” Parker informs us.  
“Really, now that’s interesting. Rose disappeared around that time.”  
“I didn’t take her, I was having sex with her mother, but I can’t stand children,” Parker exclaims.  
“You’re going to have to prove that to us,” McGee informs him.  
“Where are you living?” I demand of him.  
“With May. My wife kicked me out when she found out I am having an affair,” Parker explains.  
“Don’t leave town. We’re going to be in touch,” I inform him before we leave.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ziva, how are you going with the phone records?” I ask her as we walk into the squad room.  
“Slowly. They make a lot of calls in the last four months,” Ziva informs me.  
“We’ll help,” McGee offers as he takes some of the records as I take some as well. We all sit at our desk, silently going through the phone records, learning that these people call too many people for short amounts of time.  
“What have we got?” Tony demands of us as we look through the records.  
“A headache,” I answer him as I highlight the records again.  
“Uses full.”  
“I have seven numbers that are called on a regular base,” McGee informs Tony.  
“Me to,” Ziva agrees.  
“Yep, seven. Every day without missing one,” I agree.  
“Who are they?” Tony asks us.  
“One is May Smiths mother, and another is her father.”  
“Her brother,” Ziva adds.  
“The den mother.”  
“Then there were four. One is Parker Brown, our loving bank manager who is living with May. One is a girl name Jane Luke, who works at the hospital, so that could be something for the baby,” I inform Tony.  
“Mary Parker, she is a bar tender. And Elle Johnson, she is a wife of another Marine who is deployed with John Smith,” McGee finishes for me.  
“Okay. Find something that can help us find this baby,” Tony orders us before leaving again.  
“Oh, why didn’t we think of that?” I ask everyone sarcastically as we continue to work.  
“I don’t know,” McGee agrees with me equally as sarcastically.  
“What have you been doing, if not working on the case?” Ziva asks us because she doesn’t pick up on our sarcasm.  
“Ziva Da-vid, we’re being sarcastic,” I explain to her slowly.  
“Right.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abs, what’d you got?” I ask Abby as I walk into the lab for an update that night.  
“I ran the DNA. The baby’s DNA doesn’t match the mother’s or the father. I’m working on finding her family, I’m running the DNA through all the database right now,” Abby informs me.  
“Really, it’s not the mother’s child?”   
“Nope. I don’t know what else to tell you.”  
“What about the evidence collected from the bedroom, what did you get?” I ask her.  
“The dirt McGee collect is a universal potting mix, used throughout the USA. So that’s no help and there were no unknown fingerprints or DNA in the room,” Abby admits.  
“Anything else?”  
“Yeah, how’s Gibbs?”  
“Driving Mike insane. I hope this case if shut by this weekend because I have a flight already booked for Friday,” I answer her making her smile at me.  
“Okay, I’ll get back to work,” Abby says as I leave the lab to walk into the elevator, straight into Tony’s chest knocking his coffee all over his clothes.  
“Alice,” Tony begins.  
“Don’t stand so close to the door and I wouldn’t have knocked over your coffee,” I inform him.  
“Fine, what did you find out?”  
“The parents aren’t the parents.”  
“Gunnery Sergeant John Smith is going to be in MTAC in five minutes, you’re coming with me.”  
“The only person I cum with is Jethro,” I inform him making him pull a disgusted face.  
“I don’t want to know about Gibbs’ sex life, Alice,” Tony complains.  
“Well, stop trying to be him and I’ll stop telling you about our sex life. That simple,” I inform him making he node in understanding.  
“Fine. But help me in MTAC with the husband,” Tony rephrases his order.  
“Sure,” I say as we leave the elevator and begin walking towards the squad room to head up to MTAC.  
“How did you even get a job at NCIS? I mean you showed up for a year and then you were a NCIS probationer agent.”  
“I didn’t just keep showing up. Morrow’s hired me as Jethro’s security for a year when he saw you all run off to arrest someone, I can’t remember who. I stayed behind and did all Jethro’s paperwork that he needed to be done, and planned his day out for the next day at court. He hired me that day and the rest is history. How did you get hired besides getting Jethro drunk?”  
“I didn’t get him drunk. If he was drunk, he was already drunk,” Tony informs me as we walk up the stairs to MTAC.  
“Right, I don’t think he took up drinking until he meet you,” I inform him as we enter MTAC.  
“Whatever.”  
“Agent DiNozzo, Todd, took you long enough,” John Smith snaps at us over MTAC.  
“What? You got somewhere to be?”   
“What can I do for NCIS today?”  
“Your daughter has been kidnapped this morning,” I inform him politely.  
“And, what do you need?”   
“Do you know anyone who would want to take your daughter?” I ask him tightly, he doesn’t have to dismiss the child.  
“No. Can I go?”  
“Do you know of anyone who could explain why someone would take your daughter?” Tony demands of him.  
“No.”  
“What was it like when your daughter was born?”  
“What do you want me to say?”  
“The truth would be helpful.”  
“You want the truth, the truth is that thing is not mine, but I am glade it is gone. I hope you never find it,” John screams at us.  
“How can you say that about a baby? An innocently little child?” I demand of him.  
“Because my wife is a whore and that thing isn’t mine. Why don’t you track down all her affairs and you’ll find the baby, hopefully dead, that why the bitch will feel true pain,” John screams in pain.  
“Do you have names?” Tony asks him.  
“No, I don’t. But I hope you find him before I get back, or you’ll have to arrest me,” John informs us before ending the call.  
“That went well,” I say sarcastically.  
“Yeah, defiantly,” Tony agrees with me as we leave MTAC and walk down into the squad room silently thinking about what we found out. We walk into the squad room and Tony orders us, “Bring in May Smith, know.”  
“What do you know, Tony?” Ziva asks him.  
“Just bring her in,” Tony orders her making McGee and Ziva run off to get her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Mrs Smith, how are you tonight?” I ask her as Tony and I walk into the integration room where she is being hold.  
“Have you found my baby?” May demands of us.  
“No, just a couple of follow up questions,” Tony informs her.  
“What?”  
“How long have you been having an affair for?”  
“What does this have to do with my baby?”  
“Just answer our questions.”  
“A year.”  
“Who were you having an affair with?”  
“Parker Brown. He is the manager for my bank.”  
“How long ago did your husband find out?” I ask her.  
“I told him, in my last letter. I felt guilty.”  
“You sent your husband a dear john letter?”  
“Yes. What does this have to do with my baby?”  
“It’s not your baby,” Tony states as he looks in the file Abby gave us.  
“What the hell do you mean?”  
“The baby, she’s not yours. We ran the DNA of your baby against you, it doesn’t match,” I inform her as I place the DNA report in front of her.  
“You’re lab tech screwed up. She is my baby.”  
“Tell me about the delivery, what was it like?”  
“It was hard.”  
“How?”  
“It hurt a lot.”  
“Explain to me,” Tony agrees with me.  
“It hurt. The pain started in my lower back and spread around to my belly. It seemed to go on for days. Until I had to push, and I pushed out my daughter.”  
“Where did you deliver?” I ask her.  
“In the hospital, maternity room.”  
“What pain meds did you use?”  
“None.”  
“When was she due?” I ask her as I continue to make sure it all adds up.  
“What does that matter?”  
“When did you take her home?”  
“The same day I delivered her. What does it matter when I was due, when I took her home?” She demands of me as I look at Tony. We have her, that’s not something you forget.  
“Do you think Parker’s wife would take your daughter to get back at you for taking her husband?” Tony asks her.  
“I didn’t know he was married,” May exclaims.  
“Why did you think he was living with her?” I ask her.  
“Because his house is being painted.”  
“Wait here,” Tony orders her before we leave the room.  
“Bitch is lying,” I exclaim.  
“What am I lying about?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Not you, that bitch,” I inform her as I point at May Smith.  
“I want you to find out whom, Jane, Mary and Elle are. I want to know everything,” Tony informs us before storming away.  
“It’s going to be a long night,” I inform them as we walk back to the squad room to get to work.  
“I’ll take Jane,” McGee volunteers for the first girl.  
“I’ll take Mary,” Ziva adds.  
“I got Elle then,” I say as I walk over to my desk and sit down, getting to work.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Report,” Tony orders us early the next morning.  
“Jane is a hospital worker down in Quantico. She works in the maternity; she was the nurse to deliver Rose four months ago. She has a criminal record for drunk driving and blackmail,” McGee reports.  
“Ziva?”  
“Mary is bar maid and she is having a sexual affair with May but she was in prison for the last week. So she couldn’t have helped with this kidnapping. It’s a dead end,” Ziva informs her.  
“Alice.”  
“The background check on Elle to see that she has nothing criminal in her background. I continue onto her family and her husband. I find that she had a husband for seven year and a baby only four months ago, but no one has seen her child outside of the hospital. The baby is meant to be in critical condition in the hospital in Quantico but the hospital says she was released to her mother after only four weeks,” I explain.  
“And?”  
“I’m going to talk to her this morning. Right now,” I explain as I get my gear to leave.  
“I’m coming,” Tony says as we leave the squad room together.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Mrs Johnson,” I ask her when she opens the door to her house.  
“Yes?” Elle asks us.  
“I’m Alice, from NCIS. We were talking on the phone.”  
“Right. Come in,” Elle invites us in.  
“Thank you,” Tony says to her with his flirty grin.  
“Ma’am, don’t mind him. We just haven’t got him neutered yet, and he is going to hump your leg,” I apologise for my ‘boss.’  
“What can I do for you today?” Elle asks us.  
“Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions about your baby?”   
“What do you want to know?” Elle asks us as her baby begins crying making Tony and I exchange a confused look. She adds, “Excuse me for a moment.”  
“I thought you said her baby hasn’t been seen out of the hospital,” Tony hisses at me.  
“That’s what my contact said but I also said that the hospital said the baby was released to the mother after four months,” I remind him calmly.  
“Sorry, this is my daughter,” Elle says to us as she returns with her baby.  
“Well, hello pretty lady,” I say to her before asking her mother, “What’s her name?”  
“Rose,” Elle says as she turns the baby around to see it is our missing baby.  
“Um… ma’am you’re going to have to come in to NCIS with us,” Tony informs her.  
“Can I have your baby,” I ask her making her hand me the baby, she looks so sad like she is going to cry so I add, “We’re just doing this to make sure no one hurts this little angel.”  
“Please, it’s time for her to eat,” Elle says to me, sounding like a loving mother.  
“Why don’t you make a bottle for her, then we’ll leave.”  
“Thank you,” Elle says as she walks into the kitchen with us and we watch her make a bottle.  
“Why don’t you breast feed?”  
“My… my breasted didn’t make any milk,” Elle explains as she hands me the bottle before we leave back to the car. Elle straps the baby car seat in the back for us before I climb in the back with the baby as Elle sits in the front so she can’t hurt the baby.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Dad, are you here?” I call out as I walk into autopsy.   
“Of course, Alice. What can I do for you?” Ducky asks me as he walks over to me and the baby ‘Rose.’  
“Can you check this child over, make sure she is okay? And get a DNA swab for Abby,” I ask her as I place Rose on the autopsy be.  
“Of course,” Ducky agrees as he looks over the baby. He removes her clothing to see her entire little body is covered in bruises in various stages of healing.  
“How old do you think they are?”   
“Days, weeks, months,” Ducky answers me as he brings over the x-ray machine. He takes x-rays and places them on the wall to see her left leg is cracked but that’s the only internal injury.  
“Dad, who could do something to something so small?”  
“I don’t know. Let’s get that DNA,” Ducky says before swabbing the baby’s mouth. I dress Rose back into the clothing.  
“Come on Rose; let’s go back to the office. Can you get Abby get that done ASAP,” I beg of him making him node as I leave him. I take the elevator back to the squad room, talking to Rose about nothing.  
“Who’s that?” Shepard demands when I return to the squad room with Rose the baby.  
“This is Rose, our missing baby with two mothers,” I state as I sit down at my desk and place Rose on my lap.  
“Why didn’t you give her back to May yet then?”  
“Because her little body is covered in bruises. Months old, days too. Beside she doesn’t remember the birth right. Doesn’t know when she delivered or when.”  
“Give the baby back, that’s an order.”  
“What? I’m to give back a child that is being beat up, and we’re going to give her back to be killed. Fuck off.”  
“When you’re wrong about your theory, your fired,” Shepard informs me before walking away.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What have you got, Abby?” Tony asks her as we all walk into the lab including Rose who I am still holding protectively.  
“This is our missing baby,” Abby informs us happily.  
“But?” I ask her.  
“But she still doesn’t belong to May.”  
“Who does she belong to?” Ziva asks her.  
“Elle is her mother.”  
“Why would someone kidnap a child who then gets kidnapped and then report her missing?” I ask them making everyone look confused.  
“Alice, take Rose back to Elle and take to her,” Tony orders me.  
“Thank you Abby,” I thank her before leaving. I walk into the elevator and then to the integration room where Elle is being held.  
“Good afternoon,” I greet her as I enter the room.  
“Can I have my baby back?” Elle ask me hopefully.  
“Here you go,” I say as I place the baby in her arm. I continue when she holds her baby, “What’s going on?”  
“Shouldn’t you know that?”  
“May, another marine’s wife reported your baby missing. That’s why we took her, but I have to ask, why did she have your baby?”  
“Rose was so sick when she was born… my husband was in a war zone because she was early. Nine days. I went to visit her every day for four weeks.”  
“Yeah, but after four weeks she was released,” I inform her, what we know.  
“I didn’t know that. Does that make me a bad mother?” Elle ask me through her tears.  
“Elle, do you mind if I call you that?” I ask her and when she shakes her head no, I continue, “Tell us what you know. You’re not a bad mother. We’re trying to make this right, her that little girl.”  
“I didn’t visit for a day, she looked so sick and my car broke down and I couldn’t get there. I promised myself I’d visited the next day and make it up to her. I… I came to visit her like I promised and the nurse informed me that she was released into foster care because it was my fault she was ll. She got better when I didn’t visit her.”  
“Oh… Shh… you’re not a bad mother. What was wrong with you daughter?” I ask her as I pull her into a hug.  
“She had weak lungs. Is it my fault?”  
“No, I have weak lungs. I was on deaths door for weeks and then one day I suddenly get better. It just happened and nothing changed for me.”  
“Then why did they put my baby in foster care? My husband cried when I told him that we lost our baby. We had trouble conserving and then I got her taken from us.”  
“We’ll bring him home if we can. What was the name of the nurse that told you that?”  
“Jane, something. She works the maternity ward.”  
“You’re baby wasn’t released into foster care. She was released to another woman, who then reported her missing. Do you mind if I ask how did you get her back?”  
“A woman contacted me by the name of Mary, she said if I gave them half a million dollars, I could have my daughter back for ever.”  
“Did she give you a last name?”  
“No.”  
“Can I have your phone to track her?”  
“It was a private number.”  
“We’ll work around that.”  
“Okay.”  
“Thank you, you’re going to have to wait here until we know you are safe. What is your husband’s name?”  
“Kevin Johnson. He’s an MP.”  
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” I inform her before leaving with her phone. I walk into the squad room and hand the phone to McGee and ask him, “Can you trace the call from before the ‘kidnapping.’ According to Elle she got a call saying half a million dollars and she gets her daughter back.”  
“On it,” McGee agrees while getting to work on finding who called it.  
“What are you thinking?” Tony asks me.  
“May had the baby. Jane told Elle that her baby was taken into foster care because her lungs got better the same day she failed to visit her baby. And Mary called for the money. That’s a big conspiracy. And with how rehearsed they were, this isn’t their first kidnapped baby,” I answer him.  
“Transfer Mary here and bring Jane in,” Tony orders us making me pick up my phone as Ziva and Tony leave to bring in Jane the nurse.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hello,” I say as I walk into the integration room where we placed May.  
“What are you doing? Where is my baby?” May demands of me.  
“She’s not your baby,” Tony informs her as he follows me into the room.  
“Of course she is.”  
“Rose’s mother is here. She told us something interesting. Do you want to know what?” I ask the girl.  
“What?”  
“Your baby was supposed to be in foster care.”  
“I don’t know what the hell you’re on about? How listens to the kidnapper over the mother?”  
“Her DNA matched. You had your nurse friend inform her that Rose was put in foster care, and then four months later you had Mary ring the mother and ask for money to get her baby back.”  
“But something happened, I think Parker noticed that Rose was missing, so you had to report her missing,” Tony adds.  
“I have never heard…”  
“They are on your phone records. We have the proof. This wasn’t your first kidnapping either, but it’s the first that you got greedy with,” I cut her off.  
“In two thousand you had a baby, cot death, but two minutes before the cot death you got five thousand dollars,” Tony informs her.  
“Still born babies you got seven thousand a baby. I don’t know if they were yours or you kidnapped them and then sold them back to their mothers.”  
“Right now the other girls are in other integration rooms and the first to talk gets the deal.”  
“It didn’t hurt anyone. We looked after the babies,” May exclaims in tears.  
“Who planned it? You three aren’t smart enough; otherwise you wouldn’t have done it when you had a boyfriend living with you?” I demand of her.  
“John. He plans everything and we follow through,” May explains making us node.  
“Prove it,” Tony orders her.  
“He… he writes to us, telling us what to do,” She explains as she pulls out a stack of letters from her husband with step by step for the return of the baby and the missing person report.  
“Who is beating her? Who is beating baby Rose?” I demand of May.  
“Me and John, she just would stop crying.”  
“You’re under arrest,” Tony informs her as an officer comes in to arrest her and read her, her rights.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Mrs Smith,” I say in integration.  
“Yes,” John asks me.  
“We’ve arrested your wife,” Tony informs him.  
“What for? She’s an adulteress but that’s not illegal.”  
“Kidnap and child abuse,” I inform him.  
“Who did she kidnap? And abuse?”  
“Rose.”  
“What? How do you kidnap your own daughter?”  
“She wasn’t her daughter. Or yours. Johnson?”  
“Yes ma’am?” Kevin Johnson asks.  
“Can you arrest John Smith for kidnapping, child abuse and the planning of a ransom,” I ask him.  
“I’m innocent,” John exclaims.  
“Not according to these letters I state as I hold his stack of letters in an evidence bag.  
“I told that bitch to destroy them.”  
“Johnson. Bring Mr Smith back to the states and meet your daughter,” I inform Johnson looking surprised before nodding.  
“Yes, Ma’am.”


	28. Visiting the Hunk *

“What’s your plan this weekend, Alice?” McGee asks me late on Friday afternoon.  
“I’m going to Mexico,” I inform him as I finish writing up my report for the kidnapped baby that was sold back to its real mother.  
“What’s in Mexico that you would want to go visit it on the weekend?” Shepard demands of me as she walks into the squad room, which is never a good thing. She only ever brings bad news.  
“Jethro, you know, my boyfriend that you tried forcing to never remember by making him remember something from this year when he thought it was ninety-one.”  
“I didn’t try getting him not to remember?”  
“Sure seemed like it.”  
“I was trying to save the lives of everyone.”  
“Which died anyway because they were an acceptable lose.”  
“Well, you can’t leave because your team is on call.”  
“No, we’re not.”  
“What do you mean ‘no, we’re not’?”  
“We were on call for the last three weekends. Pick another team; we’re having this weekend off. That’s final,” I inform her calmly making the team look at me, no one argues with Shepard ever.  
“You think…”  
“Pick another team, because we’re not coming in,” I snap at her calmly.  
“You aren’t my boss.”  
“No but your being a bad boss, letting your personally emotions about Jethro define how you treat his team. That stops now, treat us correctly, or your life is going to get very difficult.”  
“You think you have a say in how I treat this team?”  
“Yes because otherwise I summit this report on your work practise and how you treat the teams under you. Then you will be investigated and maybe stepped down,” I inform her as I wave the report in her face.  
“You wouldn’t.”  
“I would, without guilt because you are being a bitch and that’s Ziva’s job.”  
“Fine, you have this weekend off,” Shepard snaps as she snatches the report and storms off.  
“That was ballsy,” Tony comments.  
“What’s she going to do fire me? For what? I haven’t done anything that is a fireable offence.”  
“I guess. Come on, let’s go home before she changes her mind,” Tony laughs at me as he shuts his (Gibbs) computer down.  
“Yeah, I have a plane to catch anyway,” I agree with him as we all shut our computers down and head out for the weekend.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, boys,” I call out to the men as I walk down the beach in Mexico. I am wearing a red flowing dress that is tight at my chest but flowy all the way down to my ankles. Gibbs looks good; he is wearing a pair of shorts, and a button up shirt. He has the start of a beard growing on his face. I didn’t even know he owned shorts, but I like it along with the smile he is wearing.  
“Alice,” Gibbs greets me as he walks over to me from the front of the house he was sitting on.  
“Miss Todd,” Mike greets me without getting up from the chair he is drinking his beer in.  
“You still look like shit,” I comment as I look at the burns all over his face, sadly.  
“Thanks,” Gibbs says to me sarcastically as he pulls me into a hug that I happily return.  
“I’m just telling it how it is.”  
“I know you are. You always do,” Gibbs laughs at me as he leans down and pleases a kiss on my lips.  
“Oi, don’t do that in front of me,” Mike yells at us making me pull away with a chuckle.  
“Oh, please it’s probably the most action you’ve seen since you left NCIS,” I say to him as Gibbs grabs my bag of me and leads me up to next to Mike where he was sitting before I arrived.  
“That’s beside the point.”  
“Alice, leave Mike alone,” Gibbs orders me as he sits back down on his chair.  
“He started it,” I defend myself.  
“I don’t care who started, I’m ending it,” Gibbs informs me as he pulls me down so I am sitting on his lap.  
“Whatever, I was done anyway,” I mumble as I settle against him.  
“Alice, baby.”  
“What? I said I was done.”  
“Better be, it’s Mike’s house and you have to be nice to him or he wouldn’t let you come and visit,” Gibbs whispers in my ears.  
“I’ll be nice,” I promise him as I lean against him more, enjoying the filling of his body against mine after so long.  
“I’ll hold you to that.”  
“I hope you’ll hold me to more than that,” I inform him making him choke on the sip of beer he just took.  
“Alice,” Gibbs complains in my ear as he hand me his beer to take a sip.  
“What? I’m innocent.”  
“How did you two get together?” Mike asks me in confusion.  
“I kissed him. Seemed like a good idea at the time,” I inform him.  
“Why did you kiss him?”   
“I liked him and one of his team members tried to kill me and himself. No that guy runs his team.”  
“Your co-worker tried to kill you?”  
“No, DiNozzo opened a letter with a white powder in it. She’s just pissed because only he and she got infected,” Gibbs defends his agent.  
“Who would send him a letter with white powder?”  
“Pick a woman, any woman and that’s your answer,” I inform him.  
“My ex-wife?”  
“Likely. He would fuck a female clone of himself and then send himself the plague.”  
“Really?”  
“Yep, and he would tell me all about the sex.”  
“Why?”  
“Free porn for me. Plus he likes boosting about his sex life, making us feel like our sex lives are unfulfilling.”  
“Why? Why would a man tell someone about their sex life?”  
“Tony doesn’t make sense. He has no problem telling us about his sex life but wouldn’t tell us what he makes. He tells us what he eats, but wouldn’t tell em how he drinks his coffee, but I know his favourite sexual positions.”  
“Okay.”  
“He still not telling you how he drinks his coffee?” Gibbs laughs at me, he knows that I buy Tony random coffee drinks because he wouldn’t tell me how he likes it and that annoys me. I like knowing how everyone likes their coffee so I can get the right drink each time.”  
“No. it’s annoying me, so I removed all the screws out of his chair.”  
“Why…? I don’t want to know, just don’t break them,” Gibbs orders me softly.  
“I don’t break people. I just annoy them until they break themselves away from me and my latest prank.”  
“What sort of pranks?” Mike asks me.  
“Removed all the screws out of the chair that you know about. Changed all the letters around on the keyboard. Draw mould spots on their lunches and then ate it in front of them. Um… put red dye in their tooth paste. Dye in coffee. Ink exploding pens. Duck taped them to their chairs as they sleep, or duct tape them to each other when their annoying me with their arguing with each other.”  
“You spend a lot of time pranking them.”  
“Not really. I ride with Jethro, too and from work. I have after they leave work and before to set up the pranks. But I can’t half set up a prank because Tony comes back to work at midnight to work sometimes, so I have to set up completely or not at all.”  
“So you don’t prank on work time?”  
“I buy coffee on work time. I prank on waiting time when Jethro is working because he’s a workaholic. So pranking is something to fill up the time as I wait.”  
“I wish you were on my team, those pranks sound funny to watch.”  
“No, you don’t want her on your team. She’s annoying, the FBI hate her more than they hate me and NCIS combined,” Gibbs informs Mike making him laugh.  
“Only Fornell and Miss Crush-on-Gibbs, the bitch is happy to let an American military family be in danger to get a promotion instead of blowing the boss, Agent Lina Reyes,” I correct him.  
“And everyone else at the FBI.”  
“What did you do to them?” Mike asks me through his laughter.  
“Nothing,” I state.  
“Everything,” Gibbs overlaps me before continuing, “Give them rude nicknames. Threaten their jobs. Anything to annoy them, she does.”  
“Now I really wish you were on my team,” Mike says making me laugh.  
“You would take that back the first time she bites someone she doesn’t like or agree with.”  
“You’re supposed to like me,” I say to Gibbs as I turn my body to look at him.  
“I do like you but I’m just warning him. You make a good distraction to throw at the FBI but no when you have to work with them,” Gibbs informs me calmly.  
“Fornell works with me, happily. Without pissing him off.”  
“That’s because you’re not as bad as Diane.”  
“Why thank you. That’s a complement coming from you,” I say as I steal his bear again.  
“You two are so different. A hard ass, marine, probie. And someone who thinks biting is the way to deal with her problems. I still don’t see how you got together,” Mike says to us.  
“Director hired me to look after him and the rest is history.”  
“Your lady director hired you to look after him.”  
“No… fuck no, she hates me and wants to fire me. The last director hired me.”  
“Really.”  
“What do you mean Jen what’s to fire you?” Gibbs demands of me.  
“Since you quit…”  
“I didn’t quit, I…”  
“SINCE YOU QUIT she has threaten to fire me, no less than ten times. And it’s only the second week. She thinks she’s a big man because you’re gone and everyone in the office knows she used to fuck the all famous, pain in the ass, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.”  
“I didn’t quit,” Gibbs repeats again making me roll my eyes, that’s all he cares about.  
“Tell Shepard that.”  
“Nah, I don’t care that much,” Gibbs says as he chuckles at me as he steals his beer back.  
“Jethro, you pick the weirdest things to obsess over. Weather you quit or retired has nothing over the fact that the whole building knows you fucked her. That’s what you should be obsessing over because there goes your secret from the whenever the hell it was. That and she told everyone that you never actually drank coffee but coloured water. And if that’s true, we’re going to have to break up.”  
“Okay, that’s it. I have to go back and prove that I drink coffee,” Gibbs jokes making Mike and I laugh with him.  
“Now I can see why you two are together. You both have a coffee addiction,” Mike informs us.  
“Ain’t nothing wrong with coffee addiction. The problem is when someone drinks coffee but then gives it up because it’s ‘unhealthy.’ I think they’re the unhealthy ones, everyone who needs blood transfusions don’t drink coffee. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence, do you?” I ask Mike.  
“No, I don’t.”  
“See,” I say making us all laugh at us as we all talk about nothing, getting to know this man from Mike’s past.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, baby,” Gibbs says as I walk into his bedroom hat night after taking a shower.  
“Hey, yourself,” I say to him as I walk over to him and hug him tightly.  
“You look good in that outfit,” Gibbs smirks at me as he looks my sleepwear over; I am wearing his old NIS sweatshirt and boxers.  
“So you always say,” I smirk at him before leaning up to kiss him again. Gibbs kisses me back as he places his hands on my hip and pulls by body against his own. He runs his tongue along the seam of my lips but I don’t open up for him, teasing him because payback is a bitch and so am I.  
*  
“Alice, baby,” Gibbs groans at me before dropping his head into my neck and sucks on my sweet spot.   
“Jethro,” I gasp out as tangle my hand in the long part of his hair and pull on it gently. I gasp when his hand slides up under my (his) shirt so he can grip my breast to play with my nipple. I drop one of my hands and dig my nails into his back as he pulls on the nipple, making me moan.  
“Lay down, baby,” Gibbs orders me as he nodes to the single bed he’s been sleeping in for the last two weeks. I smirk at him as I remove the shirt, leaving my upper body naked, I run my fingers around the hem of the boxers without removing them.  
“Jethro, you want these off?” I tease him as I run my fingers around the hem before dipping a hand under the hem so I can run it through my pussy lips as Gibbs watches me.  
“Yes, take them off and get on the bed,” Gibbs orders me tightly as he rubs his hand over the bulge in his pants. I smirk at him as I pull my hand back out from under the boxers, and offer him the moister that I collected on my fingers. Gibbs stares me in the eye as he steps forward and wraps his warm mouth around the wet fingers, cleaning them with his mouth.  
Gibbs releases my fingers and wraps his hands around my (his) boxers, and pulls them down and off my legs. I crawl onto the bed and lay in the middle of the room.  
“Why don’t you remove those clothing?” I ask him as I run my fingers over my body, teasing him. He removes his shirt, giving me a lovely view of his upper body. I run my hand down to my pussy and rub it as I watch Gibbs take his clothing off.  
“Alice, baby. Stop touching yourself,” Gibbs orders me as he climbs onto the bed with me, grabbing my hand from between my legs and pulling up so he can suck it clean again.  
“What’d you gonna do if I don’t?” I ask him as I raise my hips, sliding it against his making us both moan in pleasure at the feeling.  
“I won’t let you cum,” Gibbs whispers in my ear as he settles his hips against my, grinding down to me.  
“That’s just cruel and unfair,” I whisper back to him as I grind up again him and lock my legs around behind him rightly.  
“Come on, don’t be rude,” Gibbs whispers to me. As he reaches down and sucks on my breasts.  
“Jethro, please,” I beg of him as I grind into him harder.  
“Please, what?” Gibbs asks me teasingly as he swops breasts.  
“Please… please, put it in me,” I beg of him as I grind against his cock against my pussy.  
“Put what in you?” Gibbs teases me as he moves up to kiss along my neck, waiting for me to say it.  
“Jethro, please. Please… put your penis in me… it’s been too long,” I beg of him as he smirks against me neck as he reaches down, grabbing his weeping cock and stroke it in his hand. Every time he stokes it up and down and his hand runs through my lips at the same time, hitting my clitoris. He lines the cock up with my opening before slowly pushing it in to me; he covers my mouth as he enters me because Mike’s room is next door. I moan behind Gibbs hand as he enters me, he comes to a stop when he is settled against my pelvis.   
“God, you’re tight,” Gibbs gasps against me neck as he stays still.  
“Jethro, can you move? Please,” I beg of him from behind his hand, making him move against me. I bite his hand to stop from moaning to loudly making Gibbs groan himself. He removes the hand to place it next to me, and begins moving against me faster, harder, making him hit my spot quickly. I suck on his neck and gently bite it to stop from being too loud and to leave a mark on him.  
“Alice, Baby, you’re you feel good. I need you to cum,” Gibbs informs me as he lowers his hand and begins rubbing my clitoris, and his send hand he grabs my hand with.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out as I reach the high of climax but I don’t cum yet.  
“Baby, cum with me,” Gibbs orders me, making me cum as I feel the heat of his cum covering my inside making me moan into my fist so that I don’t scream in pleasure. Gibbs drops his body down so he is laying on top of me, with his softening cock still inside of me.  
*  
“Worth the flight. Now I can go home,” I joke making Gibbs laugh against my neck before rolling off my body, and almost of the edge of the bed making me laugh even more.  
“Yeah, no. you’re not leaving until Sunday. You’re staying with me. Budge up,” Gibbs informs me so I roll onto my side, facing him. Giving him room to lay on his side with his whole body against mine.  
“Yeah, I’d miss my human heater too much, just to leave now,” I agree with him as I snuggle into his chest.  
“Thanks, I feel the love,” Gibbs says fake hurt.  
“Yep, though you need more pillows.”  
“Oh my god, you and your pillows,” Gibbs laughs at me as he pulls me tighter against his body.  
“You have a problem with my pillows but not the boat in your basement,” I ask him in disbelieve as I hide me head in his chest.  
“Ain’t nothing wrong with my boat.”  
“Never said there was but there’s also nothing wrong with my pillows.”  
“Okay, I’ll stop harping on the pillows. For now.”  
“Goodnight, Jethro,” I mumble into his chest.  
“Goodnight, Alice. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”  
“It’s not the bedbugs I have to worry about, but the ex-marine, ex-NCIS agent in the bed,” I comment making him laugh at me.  
“I promise not to bite you.”  
“I can’t make the same promise,” I inform him as I roll over so my back is to his naked body is against my back.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Morning Mr Mike,” I greet Mike the next morning as I walk outside to see he is drinking a beer that he sips all over his chest in surprise when I speak. I am wearing my bikini which is strapless, the right side is white and the left side is red on the top while the nickers are completely red. I plan to get a tan while I’m here.  
“Morning,” Mike greets me as he relaxes in the hammock near the water.  
“Where does all those beers come from, do you like have a genie that grants you everlasting beer supply?” I ask Mike as I lay out a towel and lay down on my stomach on it.  
“Nope, a local girl lets me buy beers and pay it back on pay day.”  
“Same girl who let ‘Shepard’ phone you?”  
“Yeah.”  
“I wouldn’t trust her. Anyone who thinks talking to the ‘madam director’ is a good idea isn’t trustworthy.”  
“She just trusts everyone. That’s why she lets me pay off my beers.”  
“If you say so,” I mumble as I relax myself as Gibbs bangs around in the house. Making me ask Mike, “What the hell is he doing in there?”  
“Failing to understand what relax means for the duration of his retirement.”  
“How long do you want to bet it would take for him to return to NCIS or at least work, and give up his retirement for the next hundred and five years,” I ask Mike as I look at him.  
“Year at the most.”  
“Half a year. Closest person to the right number gets five bucks?”   
“Deal,” Mike agrees with me as he shakes his hand making me laugh.  
“It’s going to be a pleasure taking your money.”  
“No, it would be a pleasure taking your money.”  
“What makes you think it would take that long?”  
“Because there’s a lot of fixing up on this house he will do before returning to work.”  
“Tony is going to fuck something up and Jethro will have to return to fix it. And I’ll make him stay with the promise of coffee,” I promise Mike making him laugh at me. I relax silently with Mike, the only sound are the water crashing onto the beach, birds chirping and Gibbs crashing around in the house.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“There you are,” Gibbs says as he walks over to me as I lay on my back.  
“Hey you, done slamming around the house?” I ask him as I look at him walking over to me in another set of shorts.  
“I was fixing the plumbing so it drains,” Gibbs defends himself as he sits down on the edge of my towel.  
“You supposed to relax not work,” Mike reminds him from his hammock.  
“I am relaxing.”  
“Mr Mike, he is a workaholic, so that’s what you signed up for when you got him to join NIS,” I inform him.  
“You’re his boyfriend, take him home. And I have heaps of people I got to join to NIS but he’s only one who came to join me on my beach and he’s not he only workaholic,” Mike informs me.  
“He doesn’t fit in my bag and I’m not paying for registered luggage. He’s not worth it.”  
“I’m right here,” Gibbs says but he looks like he’s trying not to laugh but he is smiling.  
“So you’re saying you will fit in my luggage?”  
“I’m saying you can’t talk about me like I’m not here.”  
“So, you can’t fit in my luggage?”  
“Alice, stop talking in circles,” Gibbs laughs at me making me smile at him.  
“Well, answer the question and I wouldn’t have to.”  
“No, I wouldn’t fit.”  
“You fitted late night,” I sign at him making him laugh at me.  
“What, what did you do?” Mike asks me but I smile at him innocently.  
“Nothing, she’s being weird,” Gibbs defends me.  
“Don’t be weird. It’s weird.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You leaving today?” Gibbs asks me as I pack my clothing to catch my flight today.  
“Yeah, I have to go back to work tomorrow,” I inform him sadly.  
“Call me when you get home.”  
“Always,” I promise before pulling out my sketch pad and hand it to him. He opens it and I say, “I hope you don’t know.”  
“Did you do that?”  
“I know it’s not very good and probably doesn’t do them any justice but I thought you might like it.”  
“Thank you, Alice. Thank you,” Gibbs says as he looks at the drawing I did. I took all the photos of Shannon and Kelly I could find and draw a mirage of them and Gibbs. Making it look like he’s in Kelly’s life, even when he was away at war and she’s in his life even when she is dead.  
“I’m sorry, but I had to touch your photos of them,” I apologise, I had to go through his photos of is wife and he knows I feel bad when I touch anything of Shannon’s or Kelly.  
“Thank you,” Gibbs says to me as he pulls me into a hug, holding me tightly. He releases me and looks through the book to find I have filled the book with different drawing of him with his wife and daughter, some are real and some can’t ever be real but I made them real for him.  
“I… I hope I didn’t over step your boundaries or butchered your family. I just thought it might make you feel better and not sad anymore,” I inform him making him hold me again.  
“Thank you, baby. I… this is prefect,” Gibbs informs me as he holds the book tightly and carefully against his chest.


	29. Shalom

“Is he here yet? Is he here yet?” Abby demands of McGee who is sitting at Tony’s old desk, and the new probie is sitting at McGee’s old desk, her name is Michelle Lee, she is a Chinese young lady who is a lawyer, turned field agent. It’s only been four months since Gibbs’ quit, retired and Shepard’s already replaced and fucked with his team.  
“Abby, do you think I’d be playing this game if he was?” McGee asks her as he plays Tony’s games on the computer and Abby sits on the edge of the desk I walk over to them calmly and sit on the behind the desk.  
“Ah…”  
“I will call you as soon as he gets here, okay? I promise.”  
“What if his flight was delayed? Or worse? What if he missed his connecting flight?”  
“Well, then I guess he’ll be here tomorrow,” I inform her calmly.  
“Not good enough, Alice! A team needs a leader. He’s our glue. He’s our spine. Without him we’re like… Phylum cnidarian.”  
“Jelly fish?” McGee asks her.  
“Exactly!”   
“If the shoe fits,” I say to him calmly.  
“Are you saying I’m spineless?” McGee asks Abby.  
“Of course not, Timmy. I’m checking his flight,” Abby comments as she begins typing on McGee’s computer with dirty hands.  
“Abby, you’re getting powder all over my keyboard.”  
“Do what? This isn’t the first time this keyboard has been covered in sugar, powders, grease and unknown liquids,” I remind him calmly.  
“What’s your pint?” Abby asks McGee without caring about his freak out.  
“My point is, Abby, you are really, really overdoing the sugar thing again,” McGee comments,  
“Well, I’m eating for two?”   
“What the hell do you mean? Who the hell did that?” I demand of Abby, all calmness gone in one second.  
“Relax. I was referring to the health food freak over there. Every time I go past her desk, I have this irresistible urge to shove a cheeseburger down her throat.”  
“Do it, I would but I promised Jethro that I wouldn’t break the team for at least twelve months.”  
“I think she’s kind of hot,” McGee comments as he looks at her.  
“She’s a lawyer, Ugly Tony’s dog shit looks better.”  
“Oh, you think she’s hot?” Abby asks him jealously.  
“You want my baseball bat?”  
“Yeah, you know, for a probie,” McGee comments.  
“Yeah, but she’s an L-A-W-Y-E-R,” I spell it out like Lee wouldn’t and couldn’t understand that.  
“You three do realise I can hear you, right?” Lee asks us.  
“We do now, very special agent Lee. His flight landed on time! Where is he?” Abby asks as the elevator dings.  
“In the elevator? Or that might be Ugly Tony the second, I am teaching him to use the elevator,” I explain to Abby who is running over to the elevator to greet him but she only gets halfway out of the squad room before she is meet with Tony.  
“Oh, yay! You’re home! Welcome back! I missed you! Oh,” Abby rambles as she hugs the living daylight out of Tony.  
“Um… never mind, it’s only Ugly Tony the first,” I complain in fake sadness as I pick up Ugly Tony the second who is trying to chew on Tony’s leg.  
“I missed you, too, Abby,” Tony says as he hugs her without spilling his coffee. That’s right; Tony is still drinking coffee and trying to be Gibbs.  
“Oh, did you have fun? Did you go to that cool bar in Dusseldorf?” Abby begs of Tony.  
“You know, I tried. But, you know, that security conference kept us pretty busy,” Tony complains.  
“Mm…”  
“I’m having trouble breathing here.”  
“I’m sorry!” Abby exclaims as she releases him.  
“McGee! Look at you! Mm-hmm! All grown up. So what did I miss the last two weeks?”  
“Well, nothing I couldn’t handle, boss,” McGee reports with a grin.  
“What about Alice, you do anything you shouldn’t have?”  
“Can I do anything else?” I ask him innocently.  
“Good! And to think the director didn’t have any faith in you!” Tony says to McGee while smirking at me.  
“What do you mean the director?” McGee demands of him.  
“Gather ‘round, people. I come bearing gifts,” Tony orders us making us all walk towards him including Lee. He grabs Abby’s out first, “For the lovely lady.”  
“Ah, Tony. It’s beautiful,” Abby exclaims as she takes the ornate cross on a heavy chain from Tony’s hands.  
“Not to mention incredibly expensive. Euro is stronger than it used to be. For my senior field agent… oh.”  
“Oh, the Very Best of David Hasselhoff,” McGee says unimpressed with his gift.  
“At least it’s not a two piece swim wear, bottoms and a hat. They matched my skin tone, so thank you Tony,” I inform McGee making him give me a confused look as I smile innocently like I never wear it, I did and Gibbs was right, it wouldn’t fit him.  
“You don’t like it?”  
“I repeat. The very best of David Hasselhoff,” McGee repeats making Tony hit him and McGee demands, “What was that for.  
“You listen to Yanni. And you have an unauthorized game on your computer.”  
“Okay, it’s your game, Tony.”  
“Yeah, and you shouldn’t have beaten my high score. For my little biter, I give you.”  
“Thanks Tony,” I say happily as I takes the personalized coffee mug that says, ‘don’t annoy me because I’ll bite you and get away with it because I blow the boss.’ I add, “Why didn’t I think of buy myself this, it would have made Abby win the bet almost a year ago.”  
“For Ziva… das lederhosen! One size fits all. Where is the little Israeli?” Tony asks as he holds up the lederhosen  
“Late, sir. Second time this week,” Lee reports.  
“Agent Lee, my favourite probie-slash hall monitor. I’ll bet you’re wondering what the newest member of Team DiNozzo gets. Well, we saved the best for last here. This was not easy to getting through customs, but,” Tony rambles as he looks in the bag before grabbing the stapler off his desk and pretends to pull out of his bag.  
“A stapler?” Lee asks him in disbelief and more unimpressed then McGee.  
“I miss Jethro,” I complain as I lean away from the bitch fest that is coming.  
“IT’s a German stapler,” Tony lies.  
“But it says ‘made in china’, sir,” Lee corrects him as she shows him the bottom.  
“Oh, yeah. It’s that German, Eurasian, China. It’s a global village, Lee. Get used to it.”  
“She’s over an hour late, sir. That’s unusual, even for her.”  
“What did I tell you about worrying, probie?”  
“That’s your job.”  
“See? You’re learning!”  
“Bit she’s not answering her – I’m sorry, sir. She’s not answering her cell phone either.”  
“Okay, there is only one thing you need to know about Officer David.”  
“Don’t make her angry.”  
“That’s me. You don’t make me angry, or Ziva, I suppose but she’ll only kill you,” I correct her as I raise my hand.  
“Don’t piss Alice off, and she doesn’t tend to bite you, mostly. So technically, really, there’s two things. The other is… she can take care of herself,” Tony agrees with me.  
“And you keep tattling on your team members and I’ll let Ugly tony the second bite you,” I threaten Lee with my rat-dog-thing making her jump away from him because she is afraid of Ugly Tony the Second.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ziva, just call us as soon as you get the message. We’re not worried. Just give us a call please,” McGee begs of Ziva’s answering machine on her mobile.  
“Okay, now I’m starting to worry,” Tony admits.  
“You think she’s all right?”  
“Well, if she was all right, she’d be here, McGee. Dodging my dog food,” I remind him tightly.  
“The question is, what would Gibbs do in a situation like this?”   
“He’d find her, Tony,” Shepard informs us.  
“I’m working on it, Director!” Tony snaps at him.  
“Work harder.”  
“Why don’t you call you’re contacts and find her yourself. You put her on this team and know she’s missing we have to find her? She is your girlfriend and you put her on this team because her father ordered it. So call her father and demand to know where she is, he has been following her for at least the last three months. Call him and demand to know where she is,” I order Shepard calmly.  
“Metro police just found her car on a sidewalk in Georgetown,” Shepard informs us without responding to me beyond glaring at me.  
“Actually, it’s not that unusual when Ziva’s driving,” McGee comments.  
“Yeah, I drove all the way through Eastern Europe with her. I should know, McGee. But in my experience, the FBI doesn’t usual concern themselves with traffic accidents.”  
“Tony, isn’t that the guy who tried to put you way for a murder?” McGee asks Tony as we watch the FBI walk off the elevator.  
“Yes, it is. And thank you for bringing up a painful memory, McGee,” Tony hisses at him before turning to Shepard and demanding, “You knew they were coming director?”  
“Calm down, Tony. I only just got the call ten minutes ago,” Shepard defends herself.  
“What do they want with Ziva?”  
“We’re about to find out. Together,” Shepard say before turning to the FBI and asking, “Agent Sachs, director Shepard.”  
“Director Shepard,” Sacks greets her.  
“Sacks what innocent person are you going to wrongly arrest this time? Tony? Again? McGee? Lee? Abby? Me?” I demand of him calmly making him give me a disgusted look because I remind him of that failed attempt to take Tony down. I demand of him, “What? You show up and the director releases an innocent man to you. But we’re not releasing the bitch to you. You need to find her yourself. And you need evidence because you’re wrong, again. But you should be used to that.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Very professional,” Tony complains to Sacks as they are both kicked out of the director’s office.  
“Your director kicked us both out, DiNozzo,” Sacks reminds him.  
“Only because you couldn’t keep our soup cooler shut.”  
“Well, your Mossad liaison officer killed two FBIS agents today. Sorry if that pisses me off!”   
“Where’s your poof?” I demand of him again.  
“Proof? Car abandoned at the crime scene. The Syrian was on their most wanted list. She’s disappeared. And, oh yeah, her brother was Hamas terrorist.”  
“Ari was a fucking sick son of a bitch. Did you go to his school? Anyway back on topic, family doesn’t determine your lifestyle. It determines what you have to bet, I did it and so has my bitch. You’re just pissed because you couldn’t prove Tony murdered anyone. And he was innocent and she si innocent of this. The only think she is guilty of is taking my sister’s job,” I snap at him tightly as I get into his face.  
“Where I come from, that’s called circumstantial,” Tony agrees with me.  
“Wait a minute! Where’s that? Narnia?” Sacks releases making me roll my eyes at the children; I am trying to fuck him off not bund over the move. He continues, “It’s a fantasy movie. The chronicles of Narnia.”  
“I know what it is! Okay story, excellent special effects.”  
“They were definitely kicking.”  
“That’s not the point. Six months ago, you were convinced that he killed a woman and chopped off her legs,” I cut them off while stepping between them, protectively.  
“Hell, I’m still not convinced he didn’t.”  
“Exactly. That’s my fucking point; you’re a worse investigator then the director. Do a better job or loss a job,” I snap at him calmly which Tony knows is dangerous combination for me; I tend to bite people in this perfect storm of emotions I am exhibiting.  
“So Ziva David is being framed? By who?”  
“You. Couldn’t arrest one. So let’s move down the list but when you get to the end, there’s only my face not even my name. And the words ‘not in this fucking lifetime’ and then you die.”  
“Well, that’s what I intend to find out,” Tony promises him calmly.  
“Good luck with that,” Sacks declares.  
“You two. Up here, now,” Shepard orders Tony and Sacks making me follow them towards Shepard calmly.  
“Director, will you please tell Agent Slacks,” Tony begins.  
“Sacks. It’s Sacks,” Sacks snaps at Tony.  
“Will you please tell Agent Slacks that we’re going to handle this on in-house?”  
“Without people accusing innocent people of crimes that didn’t commit,” I add tightly.  
“I just assured your director that the F.B.I. will be getting NCIS’s complete cooperation in this matter.”  
“Wow. That’s the fasted you’ve sold us out. Next time just sell us out before we do something wrong… what you have and this is the second time,” I snap at her.  
“Thank you, ma’am,” Sacks say proudly to Shepard because he just won.  
“If Ziva attempts to contact you, ore anyone on your team, I want you to notify myself and Agent Sacks immediately,” Shepard orders us.  
“This is complete bull,” Tony begins  
“This is an order from your director, agent DiNozzo. Is that clear enough for you?”   
“Almost crystal, ma’am.”  
“You can’t order people around when you are a fucking slut who turns on her people when they need you, so if Ziva contacts me, I will tell her you’re not her girlfriend because I’m ending the relationship for her,” I inform Shepard.  
“I give you my work that I will try and keep an open mind on this,” Sack promise.  
“Too late. Your mind closed six months ago, so don’t fucking lie to us. We know the truth, you know the truth. Hell those dead agents know the truth,” I snap at Sacks.  
“Yeah?” Tony overlaps me in disbelief.  
“Yeah,” Sacks promise him.  
“Okay. Listen, uh… about what happened between us before…”  
“No hard feelings. I got it,” Sacks overlaps you.  
“No, I was going to say, I still pretty much hate your guts, Sacks. And she will destroy your life if you falsely arrest someone on this team again,” Tony corrects him before pointing to me.  
“Me, too, DiNozzo. Me, too.”  
“I want Fornell back. Give me Fornell back, he’s nice-ish.”  
“Tony? That question you asked me earlier, what would Gibbs do? Gibbs isn’t here. You are,” Shepard reminds him before closing the door in his face.  
“I’m going to bite someone, over the duration of this case. Just warning you, so you aren’t surprised,” I inform Tony with Sacks staring at me in confusion. Who warns someone, something like that?  
“Okay, just flick your fingers twice before hand so I can record it,” Tony orders me calmly because he knows I will do it.  
“Depends who I’m bitting.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abby?” Tony asks Abby who is on her phone before continuing, “Who was that?”  
“Where?” Abby asks innocently.  
“On the phone.”  
“Oh, um… it was the nuns.”  
“The nuns?” McGee asks her confusion.  
“Yep. You know, nuns with the big white hats and the…”  
“Habits. Yeah, they’re called habits. Big white hats.”  
“Yep, they called to say that… bowling practice is cancelled.”  
“Damn it,” I exclaim as I flick my fingers in disappointment before signing ‘What’s really going on?’  
“Bowling nuns?” McGee repeats as Abby replays in sign ‘the nuns cancelled.’  
“Geez, McGee! What? Are you on some sort of anti-nun crusade here?” Abby demands of McGee as I sign ‘don’t lie to me’.  
“What?” McGee asks in confusion as Abby signs to me, ‘Ziva was in contact. Don’t tell the FBI please.’  
“Okay. All right. Lay off the nuns. I need to contact Gibbs. If we’re going to get Ziva out of this, I’m going to need his advice,” Tony gets us back on topic making me smirk because I know who to contact him.  
“Well last I heard he was still in Mexico,” Abby state.  
“Well, there must be some way of contact him,” Tony says as he looks at me.  
“I tend to fuck my new vibrator and he rings me to tell me how to do it right,” I inform Tony calmly making Abby smirk.  
“You been using it?” Abby asks me as Tony and McGee stare between us in surprise and (Tony) a pervy look.  
“Yep. It was worth the money and embarrassment to buy it,” I agree with her making her smirk at me.  
“What about the other things we brought?”  
“Not yet, but I’m still young.”  
“Yeah, but Gibbs isn’t and it’s more fun to play with together then solo.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I am wearing shorts, a t-shirt and my hair is longer than four months ago and falling over the top of my hat I am wearing. I have more than a weeks’ worth of stubble over my face because I haven’t shaved recently, I don’t have to look professionally for my work and Alice doesn’t seem to mind, especially when she screams loud enough to wake Mike up. All my burns are healed and without knowing that I was hurt, you won’t be able to tell I’ve been hurt.  
On the beach Mike is sleeping in the hammock near the water with a beer in his hand, as I climb up a latter onto the roof of his ‘house’ and begin fixing the roof. The hammering startles Mike away and he spills his beer all over his shirt.  
“AH, damn it!” Mike exclaims.  
“Hey, you say something?” I call down to him.  
“Four months and you still don’t understand the meaning of the word siesta, probie?”   
“The roof’s not going to fix itself, mike. Tropical storm season’s only a few weeks away.”  
“Did you ever stop to think that I might like rain?”  
“Yeah, just maybe not inside your house!” I inform him as I climb down the ladder to the ground with a grin where Mike throws me an open beer bottle to drink.  
“Don’t you have a boat to build or something?”  
“Yeah, well the problem with that, Mike, is I’m using all my good lumber to fix your dog-rot house,” I inform him calmly.  
“I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you use it to build your own… somewhere down there?” Mike asks as he points down the beach and out of sight as I guzzle the beer and lean against the ladder.  
“Hey, you just say the word. I’ll be gone,” I promise him.  
“Oh tempt me, Jethro. I ain’t nearly drunk enough. But until then, I was thinking your next project would be a nice little hot-tub. Say yay big? Right over there,” Mike explains with a warm smile as he indicates the size before adding, “I’m sure your little girlfriend would join you in it.”  
“Teak or redwood?” I ask him.  
“Hold, gentlemen,” Camila Charo greets us as she walks down the beach to us.  
“Gentlemen!? She can’t be talking to you and me, Gunny!” Mike exclaims with a chuckle.  
“You? No. Senor Gibbs, si. I hope you’re not letting him work you so hard” Charo says to me as she comes to a stop close to me.  
“Nah,” I answer her without moving from my spot.  
“He’s living here for free! What does he expect?!” Mike demands attention from Charo.  
“Perhaps someday he will tell us,” Charo informs him without looking at him.  
“Hey, how much do I owe you?”   
“Twenty-five American. And you have a phone call,” Charo informs him with a chuckle.  
“Okay.”  
“Not you. Leroy Jethro,” Charo says as she hands em the phone.  
“Who is it?” I demand of her.  
“A woman. And she sounded muy upset.”  
“Ha-ha. Probably that lady director of yours. About to have a nervous breakdown,” Mike laughs and all I can do is pray it’s not one of my ex-wives.  
“Yeah, Gibbs?” I say inform the phone.  
“Hola,” Ziva reports, confusing me more, what is she calling me? How did she get this number? What’s happened? Ziva continue before I can ask her, “Ah, how is Mexico?”  
“Ziva. How’d you get this number?” I demand of her and I know it’s not Alice because she has my personal phone so that no one knows when we’re talking and for how long.  
“From Abby. And if it helps, I forced it out of her.”  
“No. it doesn’t. What’s wrong?”  
“Why does something always have to be wrong? Can’t I just speak with an old friend? Do a little catching up?”  
“Today, Ziva.”  
“Okay. I may be in a little bit of trouble.”  
“Yeah? Define little.”  
“I am correctly on the run from the F.B.I., NCIS, Mossad, and my father.”  
“Geez! What’d you do?”  
“I did nothing, Gibbs. I swear, I did nothing.”  
“Where’s DiNozzo?”  
“HE can’t help.”  
“Alice.”  
“She wouldn’t help me, if she could.”  
“Well, you should talk to Jenny. Jenny can help you.”  
“I can’t.”  
“Ziva! Look, I’m retired! I’m three thousand miles away! What do you think I can do that they can’t do?”   
“Honestly? I don’t know. I was hoping, maybe you’d save me?” Ziva says before I hang up the phone as I rub my face.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
Two days. How long are these guys going to be here?” McGee complains as he watches the FBI in the squad room.  
“Officer David was ere for a year. Who knows how badly she compromised our security,” Lee comments making me hit her on the back of her head, hard. She turns and glares at me but I just glare back, “Ziva is innocent’ and Lee is turning her back on her already.  
“What did you say, Probie?”  
“Oh, come on, McGee. You think we don’t spy on our allies, too? It happened all the time.”  
“Agent Lee,” Tony walks up to her making her stand up to face him, innocently.  
“Sir?”  
“Shut up and keep an eye on the Feds. McGee, Alice, you’re with me. We’ve got placed to be,” Tony orders us before leading p away.  
“Should be done here, DiNozzo, in another… oh, five – six more hours,” Sacks informs us making em peg a pillow out his head and the rule just happens to be ‘if it seems like someone’s out to get you, they are,’ rule 40. We leave the squad room and take the elevator down to autopsy.  
“First off, this is a strictly voluntary thing. Ziva’s a fugitive. Anyone caught helping or assisting her in any way will be in serious trouble. Palmer?” Tony asks Jimmy who has a question as we all stand in a huddle in autopsy. By we, I mean, Tony, McGee, Abby, Jimmy and myself.  
“Um… by serious, you mean like, get fired?” Jimmy asks him innocently making me smile at him, he’s too innocent for this life style.  
“He means, Mister Palmer, instead of attending medical school next month, you will most likely be in prison,” Ducky corrects him.  
“Oh.”  
“I’m in!” Abby exclaims happily.  
“Danger, intrigue, a damsel in damsel in distress? I’m actually looking forward to it,” Ducky agrees.  
“Me, too,” McGee agrees.  
“Um… I’m not exactly the type that would do well in prison, guys,” Jimmy comments.  
“No one’s going to think any less of you if you want out, Palmer,” Tony informs him.  
“Really?”  
“Well, no. we probably would. At least I know I would.”  
“All right, then I want a code name something cool sounding.”  
“Alice?”  
“Piss off the director and the FBI? Why the hell do you think I wouldn’t be in on that? Besides, if we get caught, I will just get to shot Sacks,” I state happily.  
“All right. No one can know about this, especially the director. Are we all good with that? All right, then let’s figure out how to find her. McGee, I want you on her electronic tracks. Cell phone, computer, toaster oven if you have to. Ducky, please talk to your contacts in the F.B.I. I want to know everything about that Georgetown crime scene,” Tony orders Abby.  
“Palmer, how does ‘black lung’ sound?”   
“Like a horrible and painful way to die,” Jimmy comments.  
“No, plague is a horrible and pain for way to die. Besides, as a code name.”  
“Oh, I like it!”   
“Yeah. All right. Well then, you’re in charge of supplies, black lung. Which means lunch and at this point, probably diner. Abs, I need you to go,” Tony begins ordering us around.  
“I talked to Ziva yesterday,” Abby spits out quickly.  
“You don’t bowl with nuns? I should have seen that coming.”  
“I do! Alice doesn’t! Ziva made a promise not to tell.”  
“Why would Ziva care if we know that you bowled with nuns?” Ducky asks in confusion.  
“I think she means that Ziva didn’t want her to tell us, that she got in contact with her, because we were ordered to inform the FBI. Should we inform them by, sticking it on a bomb or placing it in a letter with plague?” I ask them with a grin.  
“I think she means that Ziva didn’t want us getting in trouble, Ducky,” Tony agrees with me as he moves away from me encase I have plague on me.  
“IT’s a bit late for that. Where is she?” Ducky asks Abby.  
“All I have is this phone number,” Abby admits as she hand over the phone number that Tony dials into his phone.  
“Well, there’s no answer. Abby, we sure that this,” Tony begins before cutting himself off to talk to Ziva over the phone, “Ziva… we love you, too… No, you’re not! You’re going to tell me what the hell is going on here… well, then I’ll,” Tony says before I bite his arm for leaving me out making him add thought the pain, “Alice and I will come to you. I’m also trying to get a hold of Gibbs right now, but I’m not having any luck.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“In coincidences? I know,” Ziva comments as she points a gun at Tony’s head as we walk down into Gibbs basement where he is talking to Ziva. Gibbs is dressed in a casual embroidered shirt, scruffy beard and long hair.  
“Lucky for you. Neither do I. according to the FBI, I should be the one aiming my weapon at you,” Tony informs her as she lowers the gun.  
“According to the FBI you should be in prison for twenty years for the last six months,” I calmly remind him as I walk down the stairs.  
“You were set up. The only Mossad liaison officer in DC,” Gibbs informs her as I pull her into a hug that surprises her.  
“Just happens to be present during a Metsada-style hit,” Tony adds as I release her.  
“Oh, god. I’m an idiot. He led me to the scene. Eschel framed me,” Ziva exclaims before switching to Hebrew, “Filthy rotting pig!”  
“Yeah, but I have two questions, why? And can I bite him?” I ask her as I raise my hand like a child at school.  
“I thought you might be needing this,” Tony comments as he tries to hand Gibbs a phone but Gibbs takes his coffee instead. Making Tony add, “Uh… I meant the NCIS cell phone.t hat’s my coffee, boss.”  
“Do I still look like your boss?” Gibbs questions him making me smirk because he looks human.  
“Nope, you look human, not like the robot we work for,” I comment as I wrap my arms around his beautiful body.  
“Uh… well, maybe if you shaved. And a haircut wouldn’t hurt. That smile thing’s definitely throwing me off, too,” Tony comments as I hold onto Gibbs happily making Tony smile because he hasn’t seen me this happily since I last went to Mexico. I am always so happily that I bounce off the walls all day on the Friday and don’t get any work done.  
“It’s good… it’s good to see you again, McGee,” Gibbs overlaps Tony as he slaps on the shoulder with on hand as he uses the other hand to hold me against him.  
“DiNozzo,” Tony corrects him as I laugh, I missed this. Even if Gibbs isn’t working with us, he can keep his team on their toes.  
“What’d I say?”  
“You called him McGee,” Ziva informs him.  
“Oh, that’s probably because if I left him in charge, you wouldn’t be on te4h FBI’s ten most wanted list right now.”  
“Hm… but you do remember?”  
“That I left you in charge? Yeah, I remember I left you in charge, DiNozzo,” Gibbs comments before taking a sip of Tony’s coffee, which is a bad idea.  
“Tony, you’re very hard to forget. I promise, I tried,” I joke with Tony.  
“What I forgot is your taste in coffee. It stinks!” Gibbs informs Tony as he hands him the coffee back before taking mine.  
“I like sugar. It’s my weakness. What’s our plan?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“Things are bad enough for as it is, Tony. You can’t,” Ziva begins.  
“I didn’t remember asking your opinion, Officer David!” Tony exclaims making me move for Gibbs side to bite him again.  
“You see? He’s been completely insufferable since you left,” Ziva complains as Gibbs pulls me back against his chest so I can’t bite Tony.  
“Is that true, Tony?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“When I need to be,” Tony lies.  
“Yeah? Hm… maybe you were the right man for the job. Our plan is to find this guy before he gets out of the country,” Gibbs informs us as he looks at Ziva’s computer with the photo of Namir Eschel.  
“And before you leave again?” I ask him sadly. I like him being here, I can hold him whenever I want without a flight.  
“Mm-hmm.”  
“Be careful. Please, don’t get near any bombs,” I beg of him as I turn around and bury my face in his chest again.  
“I’ll come back safe,” Gibbs promise me as he rubs his hand through my hair.  
“You can’t get hurt, I can’t live through that again so soon,” I inform him as I hold him tightly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How do we put out a BOLO without the FBI finding out about it?” McGee asks us in the lab.  
“I knew you’d ask me that, McGee,” Tony says on a tape recording.  
“See? I knew you’d ask me that, McGee,” Tony says in person.  
“And?” McGee demands of him.  
“And I… I don’t know. Any suggestions?”  
“We could tell the FBI about Eschel and let them track him down,” Abby offers.  
“Abby, Jethro and I tried that with Ari. Look how that turned out, the FBI hates me, Kate’s dead, Ziva’s on the run and Jethro’s retired. Besides when they ask how we know about him?” I ask her softly, trying not to upset her.  
“They’ll know we talked to Ziva,” Abby releases as she squeezes Burt making him fart as I pull her into a hug, she doesn’t need this.  
“McGee!” Tony turns to him.  
“Tony, what if we lie?” McGee asks.  
“Sacks is a self-centred egotistical jack hole, but he’s not an idiot. He’ll know.”  
“No, I mean lie on the BOLO. Instead of looking for a rogue Mossad spy wanted for murder, we put out a BOLO for a wife=beater,” McGee explains as he begins to type way at the computer.  
“That’s underhanded, devious…”  
“And it’s completely getting me hot,” Abby comments.  
“We need to talk about what gets you going,” I comment as I move away from her.  
“What? You would prefer I like wood word and the smell of saw dust? We need to talk about what gets you going, like Gibbs voice,” Abby tease me happily.  
“Least it’s not geeky, lying. Thing.”  
“I’m glad to see I’m finally rubbing off on him,” Tony comments as he gives me a look. He doesn’t need to hear about mine and Gibbs sex life but hey, no one is forcing him to stay in the room.  
“Do it!” Tony’s video recording orders McGee.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“It’s one of our own safe houses. We park on a dirt access road two hundred meters behind it and entre from the back,” Ziva informs me as we sit in my pickup truck watching the safe house.  
“You know he’s not going to be here. That’s the first place Mossad’s gonna try to reacquire him,” I remind her tightly, I just promised Alice I will be safe and Ziva takes me to a Mossad safe house.  
“Mossad does not know about this particular one. I set this one up for Ari.”  
“How’s Eschel know about it?”  
“When Ari infiltrated NCIS three years ago, Eschel was part of his recovery team.”  
“An FBI agent was killed then, too. Let’s get this over. I’ve got a beach in Mexico waiting for me,” I snap as I get out of the car. I want this over; she just casually mentions when Ari infiltrated NCIS, Alice almost died then and she is still traumatised and sometimes still makes me check that the body is dead. We move into the safe house to see someone watching TV.  
“Move or we shoot! Clear!” Ziva calls out to the person watching the TV.  
“He’s dead. Rigor mortis has already set in,” I inform her without needing to be near the body that I am walking towards.  
“How do you know he’s not faking it?”  
“Well, shoot him if you don’t believe me. Better hope that’s not Eschel.”  
“Why? You want to kill him yourself now?”  
“Uh-huh. But I won’t. Neither will you. We capture him alive. We kill him, there’s no way to prove you weren’t involved with the hit. He look familiar?” I ask her when I raise the motor bike helmet to show her the face of the dead man with a bullet in his forehead.  
“He’s not Mossad. Eschel is obviously trying to tie up his loose ends.”  
“Yeah. Well, that’s what you were. Spread out and start looking around,” I order her.  
“What for, exactly?”   
“Anything that’ll help us find out where he went.”  
“Right.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“Sacks. Who is this? How do I know this is legit?” Sacks demands onto his phone. He looks at his phone that shows a photo of Ziva at the safe house before turning to his agents and snapping at them, “I’ve got a tip, guys. House in Fairfax.”  
Lee stands there and watches them leave without doing anything to stop them or to inform her team of the situation.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“There’s nothing here,” I say as I finish looking through the house.  
“Eschel was always good at covering his tracks,” Ziva complements him before seeing me starting at the air-vent making her demand, “What?”  
I pull off the air-vent to find a camera hidden in there.  
“He’s watching us,” I inform her calmly, I’m glad Alice isn’t here. I won’t put her in more danger then she puts herself in.  
“It could have been left over when Ari was here,” Ziva defends the camera. But the landline begins ringing making her change too, “HE was watching us.”  
“What?” I demand into the phone.  
“I heard you retired,” Eschel says to me over the phone.  
“Yeah. I heard you were dead.”  
“To the Mossad, I am.”  
“They know you’re alive. I plan on fixing that.”  
“Poor Director David. First his son’s a traitor, and now his daughter by this time tomorrow; he’ll be working in a kibbutz! Unless, of course, he kills himself first. Is it true? Did you kill Ari Haswari?” Eschel ask before the phone call is ended.  
“He’s delaying us,” Ziva hisses at me.  
“Why?” I demand of her.  
“I’m his loose end, remember?”  
“He called the FBI.”  
“That’s not what I’m worried about. When our safe house was compromised in Paris, Eschel blew it up!” Ziva informs me making my heart freeze.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“We’re still not sure what the hell happened, DiNozzo. Or if she was even in there when the place blew up,” Sacks informs us in the squad room that night after going to the safe house where Ziva and Gibbs was but it blow up in Sacks face and I don’t know if Ziva or Gibbs was in it.  
“Bodies?” Tony demands of her.  
“No, it was incinerated. We won’t even be able to process the scene until at least tomorrow.”  
“What makes you think she was there?”  
“A tip.”  
“From who?” I demand of him as I step up close to him.  
“Anonymous…”  
“Did you try to track it? or does that not cross you mind? Tracking the person who decided to turn in an innocent person. Because the director has a habit of doing that,” I demand of him, Tony takes a step back knowing I have control of this situation and I don’t need help.  
“My guess is probably somebody inside Mossad trying to make nice.”  
“Someone is trying up loose ends.”  
“For all we know she blew up the place to cover her own tracks.”  
“Tony, it’s happening again. The fucking FBI is covering for a fucking terrorist as NCIS gets left with the dead bodies. Again. Stop stone walling us, we did this fucking dance last year, and Kate died because of it. We are not going to have any more NCIS bodies, this time it is the FBI is going to stack up. When, you hear me, when Ziva is proven innocent, I am going to fucking kill you for protecting the terrorist. I want that phone number, I want Ziva and I want that crime scene,” I yell in his face before biting his noise because I am that close. He jumps back and glares at me tightly, because he doesn’t know what I am going to do to him, he isn’t Fornell and hasn’t had to deal with my anger. Fornell knows not to get surprised when I bite or when I yell just don’t protected the fucking terrorist and you live to die another day by the hands of an ex-wife.  
“She was only looking for the guy who set her up,” Tony explains without caring about how close I am to the FBI agent or killing the FBI agent.  
“You mind telling me how you know that?”   
“Because that’s what I’d do.”  
“Because that’s what NCIS does. We don’t take the fall for the funking FBI, we prove our own innocent or did you forget that it was us that proved Tony’s innocents?” I demand of him before turning and walking over to the stairs with Tony who places his hand on my shoulder so I don’t funking kill the FBI.  
“Not god, Ducky,” Tony says to Duck who is standing at the bottom of the stairs up to the Director’s office.  
“You did manage to call them, didn’t you?” Ducky begs of us.  
“I got Jethro’s voice mail. I don’t know if he ever learned how to use it,” I inform him tightly as I try not to cry, I need my man to answer his phone. Just to hear is voice telling me he is okay, or even hurt as long as he is talking to me without losing his memory. I can’t live through that again.  
“And the number Abby has for Ziva?”  
“Not picking up,” Tony reports.  
“Then there’s only one thing for you to do.”  
“I know! Let the director know they’re probably dead and resign for disobeying a director order,” Tony answers him making my tears fall, he can’t be dead. I need him; I need him more than ever.  
“You’ll do nothing of the sort, Anthony DiNozzo,” Ducky orders him tightly as he pulls me into a hug.  
“And why is that?”  
“Because the man who did that is still out there. And I’ll be damned if we left him get away with it!”  
“What would Gibbs do, right? I’ve got a bulletin for you, Ducky. I am not Gibbs,” Tony snaps at him tightly as I step away from my father.  
“No, you’re not. Gibbs quit. You’re still here.”  
“Why wasn’t I with Ziva? I turned over my responsibility to him without even thing about it.”  
“Gibbs is one of the most capable ag…”  
“Was, Ducky! You didn’t see him. I mean, he didn’t even look like Gibbs. I think he went native down there.”  
“Uh, Tony?” Ducky attempts to stop Tony again.  
“His hair is all long and crazy looking. And he’s got this scraggly beard. He looks like a pirate or something…”  
“A sexy pirate. He looks hot. If You didn’t get Ziva in so much trouble with the FBI, I would have fucked him there, weather you were in the room or not,” I cut him off with a smirk, I so would but no he had to go and get himself blown up.  
“His eyes are all bloodshot,” Tony continues as he gives me a look for that comment, not that I care. I am only telling the truth and if he doesn’t like it, he can quit.  
“They call it a ‘redeye’ for a reason… the flight I was on all night to get here,” Gibbs informs Tony making us both jump as we spin around to face him.  
“Jethro,” I exclaim as I rush forward and hug the living daylight out of him.  
“Alice! I’m alright. I promise,” Gibbs whispers into my ear as he runs his hand through my hair. It needs to stop scaring me or I might kill him.  
“Oh, geez! You all right! Good. All right. Thank god,” Tony exclaims as he hugs Gibbs around me because I refuse to release Gibbs.  
“Yeah, thank Ziva. Already been blown up twice, Tony. Don’t think I got a third one in me. Space seventy-three. Presents in the back for Autopsy and Abby. Don’t be seen,” Gibbs orders Tony as he places his keys in Tony’s hand. Tony runs off to find out what it is as Gibbs turns to Ducky as I cling to him, he scared to me, again. He continues, “Hey, Duck!”  
“Welcome home, Jethro,” Ducky greets him happily.  
“Oh, you got the wrong guy. I’m just visiting,” Gibbs informs Ducky as he pats him on the back before continuing, “You might want to tell Palmer it’s going to be a late night.”  
Gibbs walks up the stairs as he holds my hand, making me follow him but I don’t mind. I am not letting him out of my sight again.  
“You going to talk to the director?” I ask him as I run up the two steps I am behind him so my right side of my chest is pressed against his back.  
“Mm-hmm. Don’t start a fight,” Gibbs orders me.  
“I’m not going to start a fight unless she tries to hand one of my team members over to the FBI again. For your information, I broke Shepard and Ziva up; Ziva doesn’t need someone who only cares about her when she is helping her. So I broke them up and I haven’t told Ziva yet.”  
“Okay, I promise she wouldn’t turn Ziva over,” Gibbs promises me as he pulls me against him.  
“Better not. I already yelled at the FBI,” I inform him as I walk into the director’s office and see her doing paperwork without fear for Ziva. Ziva is meant to be her friend and she is doing paperwork when Ziva is thought to be dead, but when Gibbs was in a coma, she didn’t do any work. That’s says a lot to me.  
“I really miss that view. Harbour isn’t bad, either,” Gibbs comments as he watches her do the paperwork and holds my hand.  
“I had a feeling I’d be seeing you soon, Jethro. How is she?” Shepard asks him as I follow Gibbs over to the window.  
“She’s scared. Not that she’ll ever admit that.”  
“NCIS can’t help her.”  
“No, NCIS can help her but you refuse to help her. And you’re meant to be her fucking friend. But when it was Tony and McGee you let us, that makes fucking sense. Stop being a two-sided fucking bitch that only care about your job, and care about the woman you have given up on. Don’t fucking lie and say was can’t help,” I snap at the director, she is being a fucking bitch.  
“Well see, that’s why I’m here. I’m not NCIS. I retired. Remember?” Gibbs reminds her as he pulls me so he is between me and the director so I can’t attack her.  
“I shouldn’t even be talking to you,” Shepard complains.  
“Anyone asks; just tell them two old partners catching up.”  
“My agency has been harbouring a foreign operative for over a year, one that I personally vouched for and insisted we needed,” Shepard complains.  
“What, you afraid your job is going to be in danger?” I taunt her.  
“She didn’t do it,” Gibbs defends Ziva as he ignores my commentary because he’s used to it; she is the second director I have done it too; she’s just the only one who takes it personally.  
“You think I don’t know that? I’m just telling you what they’re saying all over the Beltway. I give it twenty-four hours before they ask for my resignation,” Shepard continues to complain.  
“Don’t give it to them.  
“She was set up. Or do you not care about that?” I remind her tightly.  
“By whom?” Shepard demands.  
“A former Mossad officer. Claims it was to get back at Ziva’s father,” Gibbs reports to her as his hand falls to my hip, holding me against his body as he reminds me not to taunt Shepard.  
“What do you think?”  
“My gut says it was more than that.”  
“I agree. This is bigger than the director of NCIS or Mossad. This incident could jeopardize relations between both of our countries for year.”  
“I figure someone hired him to do just that.”  
“Well, I could think of ten countries and a dozen terrorist groups that fit that bill.”  
“Oh, yeah. I can too. Which is why I want you to do me a favour.”  
“Name it.”  
“It’s late. Go home. Catch up on some sleep,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Plausible deniability.”  
“Yeah. Something like that. Thank you.”  
“Jethro, it’s good…”  
“I’m not back, Jen. I’m just doing a favour for a friend,” Gibbs cuts her off as he begins walking towards the door with me.  
“I was just talking about your hair. It’s good to see it long again. It remains me of when we were undercover in Serbia.”  
“Serbia?” Gibbs asks in confusion making me squeeze his hand in comfort.  
“Do you remember that little farmhouse we were holed up in? A whole week with nothing to do but…”  
“No. no, I don’t, Jen. Memory is a little fuzzy on some things,” Gibbs informs her as he leads me out of the office.  
“Jethro, are you okay?” I ask him in concern, what if he doesn’t remember more important this then when he shacked up with Shepard.  
“I remember what I need to, I just don’t bother remembering what I don’t need to,” Gibbs whispers in my ear.  
“I’m just worried about you. You need to stop getting blown up,” I inform him as we walk down stairs making him laugh because he does agree with me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We matched the dead guy’s prints. Balash Sassanid. Arrested five years ago for reckless driving. An illegal from Iran. Student visa expired last years, boss,” McGee reports in the lab as he types away at the computer while talking about dead person Ziva and Gibbs pulled out of the safe house before the FBI turned up and the house blow up. Abby and McGee are at the computer as Gibbs and Tony stand side-by-side in front of the lab plasma and take a sip of coffee in unison. I am standing with my back to Gibbs chest drinking my own coffee. The hand of Gibbs that isn’t holding the coffee is holding me.  
“Good job, McGee,” Tony and Gibbs say together and I smile because I can feel Gibbs’ chest vibrating as he talks.  
“What about the cell phone Eschel called us on, Abs?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“I isolated the grid the call came in on,” Abby reports happily to have ‘her’ boss back.  
“NCIS work, abs,” Tony complements her.  
“Actually, no, Tony. The grid includes the entire city of Woodbridge, Virginia. He could be anywhere in it.”  
“Great. We’ve got nothing and Jethro talked the director out of quitting,” I complain making Abby smile at me, she knows I’ve been actively trying to get her to quite because that means that she admits that she can’t do the job.  
“Well, an ex-Mossad officer working with an Iranian student is something, Alice,” Tony corrects me.  
“Not if it doesn’t help us find Eschel in item,” Gibbs jumps in again.  
“McGee, the BOLO we put out yesterday. Any hits? You completely forgot about that, didn’t you?”  
“This one’s on me, Boss,” McGee admits before slapping himself on the back of the head before continuing to explain what he is found, “We have multiple hits. Six hits on men getting his general description. Three in Delaware, on in Pennsylvania, two in Virginia. Closest match. A local cop saw a man fitting his exact profile at a Freemont Inn.”  
“Where, McGee?” Tony, Gibbs and I demand of him together.  
“Woodbridge, Virginia,” McGee informs us making us head out of the lab, Tony and Gibbs both throw their coffees out and leave side by side. Gibbs steals my coffee out of my hand as we step into the elevator, and I don’t know why he likes my coffee more ten Tony because we both have sugar but I guess I have lease then him. We ride the elevator up into the squad room  
“I’m telling you, Gibbs, don’t call her. She won’t wait for us,” Tony warns Gibbs who is calling Ziva.  
“She will if I tell her to,” Gibbs informs us.  
“Tell her not to touch my pillows,” I order Gibbs in complete seriousness making Tony give me a confused look as Gibbs smirks at me.  
“The Freemont Inn in Woodbridge. I’ll swing by and pick you up… Ziva. This isn’t a debate. We of in together or we don’t go,” Gibbs orders her over the phone but she hangs up on her.   
“Let me guess. She’s going without us?” Tony taunts Gibbs.  
“If she kills him, there won’t be any way to prove the Israelis weren’t behind this,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Yeah, I know. Hey! Hey! No. this is my team now, Gibbs. My rules. And DiNozzo’s rule one?”  
“Don’t ask a woman her weight on the first date,” I offer innocently after snorting at him because, I refuse to follow or learn his rules.  
“I don’t sit on the sideline when my people are in trouble. You got a problem with that; let’s remember who’s got the badge and who’s the civilian.”  
“You done?” Gibbs demands of Tony as he stares at him calmly.  
“Yeah,” Tony agrees before Gibbs hits him.  
“I was going to say get McGee. I’ll meet you there,” Gibbs orders Tony calmly.  
“You know, I could arrest you for striking a Federal officer.”  
“I know that.”  
“Really, I bite the FBI and you want to arrest Gibbs for smacking some smarts into?” I ask him making Gibbs give me a look before shrugging it off, it’s not his problem that I bite people, Tony can deal with it.  
“All right. Just so you know,” Tony agrees with Gibbs before letting the elevator door close with Gibbs and me inside it.  
“You think I look like a sexy pirate? Huh?” Gibbs teases me.  
“When Ziva’s safe, I’ll show you just how much I think that,” I promise Gibbs before placing a quick kiss on his lip before the doors open to let other people into the elevator.  
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No One pov  
.  
Ziva picks the lock on the motel room, enters with gun drawn, and finds Eschel's dead body. As she stands to look at him, silenced gunshots are fired at her through the bathroom door. A second woman comes out of a room of the man room and the two women fight, and Ziva quickly disarms the girl and holds a knife to her throat.   
“Who hired you?” Ziva demands of the unknown girl, as he holds her knife to her throat.  
“Mossad,” the unknown girl, Faatin Amal, lies to Gibbs.  
“Liar! Who?”  
“Go on, do it! You’ll never make me talk.”  
“I believe you.”  
“Then kill me, make your daddy proud, Jew!” Faatin teases Ziva making her throw the knife into a wall without killing Faatin. Making Faatin yell, “What are you doing?”  
“Not making you s martyr. You’re under arrest.”  
“Your time with the Americans has made you soft. You should not have thrown your knife away,” Faatin exclaims Faatin attacks Ziva and a vicious hand to hand fight breaks out with Ziva the apparent loser.   
“Get up!” Faatin orders Ziva who is on the ground, gasping for air. Ziva forces herself up again before continuing to fight, badly. And Ziva quickly gets knocked down to the ground.  
“Not so tough now, are you?” Faatin yells at Ziva before spitting on her. As Ziva moans in pain.  
Out in the parking lot, Gibbs, Alice and DiNozzo screech to a halt at the same time.   
“I thought I told you to,” Faatin says as she pulls the knife from the wall and threatens Ziva with it as she shouts in her face, “GET UP.”   
“Who are you?” Ziva gasps out in pain.  
“VEVAK,” Faatin informs Ziva calmly.  
“Iranian Intelligence?” Ziva gasps.  
“Yes. And you have our thanks. The Americans will never trust your country again,” Faatin informs her making Ziva laughs in triumph.   
“It was easier than I thought, making you talk,” Ziva explains before the fight resumes with a much-energized Ziva clearly in command. One quick kick and the girl is knocked out.  
The room door opens. McGee, DiNozzo, Alice and Gibbs all enter with guns drawn. Ziva is standing over her defeated foe.   
“Ziva, are you okay?” McGee asks her.  
“I’m okay, McGee,” Ziva answers him.  
“You should have waited,” Gibbs tells Ziva as she staggers back for support.  
“Who's she?” Tony demands of her.  
“Iranian Intelligence. They were behind it all.”  
“How do you plan on proving that?” Alice asks her calmly, she really wouldn’t care but Ziva’s still a criminal.  
“I've been with NCIS for a year. I'm not just a killer anymore.” Ziva tells me before she lifts her shirt, removes a voice recorder and throws it to Tony. “I'm an investigator. Now can I go home?”  
“Come on, I’ll take you,” Alice promise her as she lead her out of the room calmly.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“The FBI reports they’ve apprehended the Iranian Terrorist believe to be responsible for the death of two of their agents. Two other terrorists were also killed in in a standoff with federal authorities in Northern Virginia,” a report says on the TV.  
“Federal authorities? They mean us! Four stinkin’ letters. NCIS,” Tony bitches at the TV in Shepard’s office with Ziva, Shepard and myself.  
“It’s either that story, Tony, or the FBI chares you with interfering in their investigation,” Shepard threatens us.  
“What investigation? Just like you, the FBI had already convicted her. no one cared about the truth, so don’t threaten us,” I snap at her.  
“I can live with Federal authorities,” Tony says as he grins at me.  
“Welcome home. Ziva!” Shepard turns to Ziva as she changes the conversation.  
“Well, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Gibbs,” Ziva informs us making me smirk, how many people can and have said that sentence? How many people owe their lives to him?  
“And me,” Tony exclaims, he doesn’t what to be forgotten but I will happily be forgotten.  
“True and Alice. But mostly Gibbs.”  
“Speaking of which…?” Shepard asks.  
“He’s in the squad room,” I inform her carelessly because I bet he has already walked out without anyone knowing. We walk out into the squad room to see Gibbs isn’t there.  
“Where is he, McGee? Abby’s lab?” Shepard demands of McGee as I walk over to my desk.  
“Gibbs left, ma’am. Said he had a plane to catch,” McGee admits.  
“Are you sure about that, McGee?” Tony begs of him.  
“Yeah, Tony. I’m sure.”  
“No… because he didn’t even say goodbye to me!”  
“Director, he wanted me to give this to you,” McGee comments as he hands the director a letter that she opens and pulls out a photo, from my desk I can only see the back.  
“Oh, nice snap. Where was that taken?”  
“Serbia,” Shepard answers him.  
“When?” Ziva asks the rude question.  
“A lifetime ago, Ziva,” Shepard answers her before leaving us alone in the squad room. I notice a gift on my keyboard and I open it to smirk at what Gibbs left for me.  
 


	30. Escaped

.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“The basement needs some work. But if it doesn’t shout wine cellar, I don’t know what does. Have a look and I’ll be right back,” Marny, my retailer, informs a potential buyer as I am carrying a box full of memories, I open a child’s lunch box to see it is full of photos of Shannon and Kelly making me smile sadly. I miss them, I miss them so much.  
“First my wife, now my house?” I ask Fornell as he walks down the stairs into the basement were I am cleaning the basement.  
“No! No, I learned my lesson. I’m through with your leftovers. You’re going to need a bigger box for that boat,” Fornell informs me making me smirk because Alice told me the same thing, alone with that I will need a bigger box to take her with me because she doesn’t want to lose a bet. But I don’t know what bet or who it is with.  
“You come all the way out here to give me packing tips, Tobias?”  
“Actually, I came to tell you that Petty Officer Derrick Paulson escaped from prison yesterday.”  
“No!” I answer after a moment of silence, he has to be in prison and I am retired so I can’t put him back and I’m not helping Fornell put him back in prison.  
“I haven’t asked you anything yet. You caught him last time. Figured you might like to catch him again.”  
“You thought wrong.”  
“He came to see me, Jethro, when I was with Emily.”  
“IS she okay?” I ask him in fear, she has to be okay. Emily is only eight and Fornell’s daughter.  
“For now. He just wanted to tell me that I got the wrong man, then strongly suggested that I reopen his case to prove it.”  
“He’s risking a lot for something he knows can’t happen.”  
“You think? I don’t know what his game is, but I’m not going to get a good night’s sleep until that S.O.B. is back behind bars.”  
“You don’t need me to find him.”  
“Need?” Fornell demand before angry stating, “A convicted killer was two inches from my daughter! Handing her crayons! He touched her! We’re way beyond need, Jethro!” after a moment he exclaims in disgust, “Nice tan.” Fornell storms away before I look down at the photos in my hands before slamming back down on the work bench.  
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“Open you’re… Gibbs,” Tony exclaims as I storm through the squad room on the way up to the director’s office.  
“What is?” McGee begins asking but Tony cuts him off.  
“I have no idea,” Tony answers him before I am out of hearing range.  
“Agent Gibbs! I’m… mister” Cynthia stutters out before I storm into Shepard’s office. Slamming the door open and then closed again, announcing my presents.  
“Just as I was getting used to my door being treated as a door,” Shepard complains before turning back to her call and saying, “I’ll call you back, Todd.”  
“I need a temporary reinstatement,” I snap at her as she ends the call.  
“I assume you’re here because of ex-petty officer Derrick Paulson? I read Agent Fornell’s report. Why the sudden, if temporary, interest in bank robbers?” Shepard teases me but I’m not in the mood.  
“If you’ve read Fornell’s report, Jen, then you already know. We’re wasting time.”  
“It’s not that simple, Jethro. I appreciate what you did for Ziva, but this is not some gym membership that you can turn on and off.”  
“No, I can’t. But I’m not director of NCIS.”  
“And the director of NCIS already filed your retirement package with NAVY human resources.”  
“Un-file it.”  
“It doesn’t work that way, Jethro! It would take weeks to reinstate you! And that’s even if you manage to pass your…”  
“My Psych Evaluation? Or are you talking about my firearms proficiency exam?”  
“No. that one I’m not worried about,” Shepard lies to me before I turn to leave, making her yell at me, “Wait!” I turn back around and glare at her making her add, “Let me at least… validate your parking,” She opens her draw before gasping and pulling out a stack of paperwork, she continues again, “That’s strange! I could have sworn I filed this! Your retirement package! I must have accidentally put in for your unused leave time instead. Of which, it seems, there are six days left until it has to be filed.”  
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No one pov  
.  
“Come on; don’t tell me you don’t eavesdrop, Cynthia. Every director’s assistant eavesdrops,” Tony begs of the director’s assistant.  
“He’s coming! He’s coming!” Ziva overlaps Tony with a warning.  
“Hey, Gibbs. Just visiting the neighbourhood or… taking your desk back?” Tony asks Gibbs who just walks past him to the spare desk next to Lee’s with a divider between them. Tony orders ‘his’ team, “Let’s go.”  
“You should have been here half an hour ago,” Gibbs says into his phone.  
“Yeah, I’m just getting Emily settled at my mum’s place,” Fornell informs Gibbs over the phone.  
“You want me to send an agent over?”  
“How many can you spare?”  
“Okay, I’ve got an idea. Maybe he lost his memory again, and forgot he quit his job,” Tony theorizes with Ziva and McGee.  
Wouldn’t he be sitting at his old desk then?” McGee asks Tony.  
“If Gibbs wanted us to know what he was doing, he would have told us,” Ziva reminds them.  
“Oh, right! Because he would never expect us to figure out for ourselves!” Tony exclaim as the elevator door dings.  
“Gibbs is back on temporary assessment. The Paulson case,” Shepard informs Gibbs old team.  
“Paulson?” Ziva asks her.  
“Petty Officer Derrick Paulson. Knocked over a bank. Killed two of his accomplice. Money was never found,” Tony reports to Ziva what the case is.  
“Paulson’s prison cell. I want to see what was in it,” Gibbs orders Fornell.  
“Already had the contents sent over. Maybe your techs can find something mine couldn’t… I’m worried,” Fornell informs Gibbs.  
“She’ll be fine, Tobias. Paulson isn’t after her.”  
“I ruined his life, Jethro. We don’t know what he’s after.”  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Where did you get that necklace?” Abby ask me as we read over the same book.  
“Jethro gave it to me. It’s a piece of the bomb that almost killed him four months ago,” I explain as I pull out the bent metal I am wearing around my neck and show her it. On the back there is an inception that says ‘It would take more than bombs, terrorised and the FBI to tear me away from you.’  
“That’s sweet,” Abby agrees with me before we get back to reading in silence with a photo of Gibbs smirking from when he threatened to smack her on the plasma screen.  
“Anything good?” Gibbs asks Abby as we continue to read the book without realising that he is here and not in our heads.  
“Yeah. It’s a jail-house appeal from some escaped convict. The guy really knows his forensics,” Abby explains before Gibbs places a coffee and a caff-pow next to us making her realise he is really here. She lunches up and hugs the living daylight out of him as he exclaims with a gasp, “I knew it! I knew it! I won’t need these anymore not that you’re actually here! I knew you’d come back!” Abby exclaims as she turns the photo of Gibbs off. I stand up and hug him know she isn’t hugging him. Gibbs is wearing a red t-shirt with yells dots and a pair of faded, well-worn jeans that are making him look sexy as hell.  
“I’m not back,” Gibbs corrects her as she hugs him again with me.  
“Of course you’re back. I can feel your badge. It is your badge, right?” Abby begs making me laugh, because she’s is scared it isn’t his bag. Gibbs reaches down between his body and mine, his arm running down the length of my body on the way down, into his own pocket and back up. He wraps his arm back around be as he shows Abby the badge that she is worried about. He holds the badge up to his eye, to show her before she moves away from him but I don’t. I like holding him and I’m going to for as long as I can until he returns to Mexico. Abby continues happily, “You are back.”  
“Reinstatement’s only temporary, Abs. until I can find Paulson.”  
“We’ll see about that,” Abby mumbles as she puts the photo back up on the plasma screen making me laugh against Gibbs chest. Abby demands of Gibbs, “So what can I do for you, Temporarily-Reinstated agent Gibbs?”  
“Process the contents of Paulson’s cell.”  
“What am I looking for? Oh, right! Anything to help you find him.”  
“I want to know what he was up to before he escaped.”  
“Unless the three of you have any other suggestions?” I call to the surveillance camera, knowing the team in being creepy and watching us.  
“Uh… hey! We were… we were just eavesdropping like little girls. But we do have suggestions,” Tony says over the surveillance making me laugh at them because they are scrambling to prove themselves to Gibbs.  
“Prison records show that only one person ever came to visit Paulson in jail,” Ziva informs us over the intercom.  
“Mickey Stokes. Seventy-two. Former Navy sailor,” McGee ads.  
“And since Paulson has no family, we should assume that he’ll try to contact Mickey.”  
“And I already have an address,” Tony informs us happily.  
“Tony, Ziva, you’re with me,” Gibbs orders his old team.  
“McGee, stay here and…”  
“Stay here and help Abby.”  
“Help Abby… process Paulson’s belonging.”  
“Then gargle this before the rest of us go snow-blind,” Gibbs orders him as he holds up Abby’s caf-pow because McGee’s over bleached his teeth making me laugh again.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Gibbs seemed awfully quiet in the car,” Tony complains as we get out of the car and walk towards Mickey’s house, Ziva and Tony was in the front as I sat in the back with Gibbs who was ‘listening’ to Tony rambling. Well he spent the whole time pretending to.  
“Well, it’s not like you were giving him a chance to talk, Tony. Are you nervous he’s going to want his old job back?” Ziva teases Tony as we walk up the walkway to the house.  
“No, I’m just bringing him up to speed on the latest protocols,” Tony defends himself as the door to the house opens.  
“What took you hot-shots so long? He’s been waiting over an hour! Hey, shoes off!” Mickey, an old man, demands of us as we walk up, making us rush into his house. Tony, Gibbs and Ziva search the house as I stay with Mickey so he can’t run off.  
“Clear!” Tony calls out where he is searching in the house.  
“Clear!” Ziva agrees with Tony from a different part.  
“Where is he?” Gibbs demands.  
“Please. Where is he, please?” I add calmly.  
“”Well, I never said he was here,” Mickey exclaims as he hands Gibbs the phone he is holding making Gibbs put it too his ear.  
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Gibbs,” I say into the phone as I watch the whole room, including Mickey who is quietly talking to Alice and I don’t like it, she is mine and I won’t let this man take her from me.  
“I didn’t expect to hear your voice. I heard you quit,” Paulson says to me on the phone as Alice laughs at Mickey.  
“Retired,” I correct him but I know Alice calls it that too.  
“Ha-ha. At your age? That’s quitting.”  
“Why don’t you turn yourself in? You can tell me about this in person.”  
“Turn myself in for what? I’m an innocent man.”  
“Try broken record.”  
“So you’re not going to reopen my case?”   
“We both know what I’ll find if I do. So why don’t you tell me what you really want?” I demand of him as I see Alice pick up a pair of cut handcuffs and bags and tags it calmly.  
“I already got it, Agent Gibbs,” Paulson states before hanging up on me.   
“So what does he really want?” Tony demands of me.  
“Our car,” Alice exclaims as she stands in the door way. We all look outside to see the car is gone making me close my eyes, tiredly.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Of course I help him! Derrick was like a son to me. I was the closest thing he had to family. What would you do if it was your kid in trouble?” Mackey snaps at Fornell who is lecturing him. Gibbs and Mickey are sitting on the couch together as I sit on the arm next to Gibbs. Ziva and Tony are processing the outside of the house for prove that Paulson stole our car and how.  
“I would have told him to give himself up before he got hurt,” Fornell informs him.  
“Well, I’m glad you ain’t my old man, Fornell. Shoes off!” Mickey orders Fornell making him look over next to the door to see a line of shoes and looks at Gibbs who wiggles his toes at him.  
“And I certainly wouldn’t let him steal my car,” Fornell say to Gibbs as he removes his shoes next to the door.  
“Didn’t. It was DiNozzo’s car,” Gibbs defends himself innocently making me laugh at that act.  
“He just wants you to re-open his case! You been reading my letters the past four years? You bozos got the wrong guy,” Mickey exclaims.  
Paulson took advantage of you, Mickey. He only brought you food because you lived near the bank he was casing,” Fornell snaps at Mickey making me feel bad for the old man.  
“You wasted your life saving defending the wrong guy,” Gibbs agrees with Fornell.  
“Hey, not my computer! I’ve got an online date tonight!” Mickey exclaims as an agent takes the computer.  
“Where is he, Mickey?” Fornell demands.  
“He doesn’t know,” I inform Fornell calmly as I walk past him with Gibbs, Fornell follows us out of Mickey’s hearing range.  
“Are you sure? Want to hit him for aiding and abetting?”   
“He did shelter Paulson and gave him money,” Gibbs agrees with Fornell again.  
“I say we use him as bait. Get Mickey a pass, put a man on him ion case Paulson comes back,” Tony offers.  
“You’re the boss,” Gibbs say to Tony making me pull a face, he’s a bad boss. He doesn’t even drink good coffee or buy me coffee. Or is hot, the boss has to be hot, not a slut.  
“Yeah. Where…”? Anything in it,” Tony answers his ringing phone before turning to Gibbs and saying, “D.C. Metro just found our car half a mile from here. The only thing missing was my laptop.”  
“And every file we had on Paulson,” I state.  
“I told you! He just… he just wants to work on his case,” Mickey exclaims happily from the couch, having to raise his voice so we can hear him.  
“Except he’s had all his case files since the trial,” Fornell corrects him.  
“Perhaps our have something his didn’t,” Ziva offers.  
“They do,” Gibbs agrees.  
“The address of the witness who testified against him,” Tony informs her.  
“He’s not a threat to anyone! He’s on the run and unarmed,” Mickey exclaims.  
“Do you keep any weapons in the house?” Ziva demands.  
“Oh, great. Now you’re going to pin another crime on him? Just my old colt.”  
“Where is it?” Fornell demands of him making Mickey walks over to a side table and pull out a wooden box. He opens the box to see the gun is missing from the box. Paulson is armed and dangers.  
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“Good then. It’s settled. Gibbs is staying. He has to. Right, Gibbs?” Abby begs of Gibbs who is standing in the doorway holding a caf-pow and coffee. I am standing beside her with my own coffee watching Gibbs stair at Abby making her put the photo of the smirking Gibbs back on the screen.  
“What do you got for us, Abby?” I ask her as we walk in and over to the desk next to her so we can look at her computer screen with her as we ignore Lee for the moment.  
“Paulson’s fingerprints on the gun case and on Mickey’s computer.”  
“And he’s also visited over a dozen people search sites. I think he was looking for someone,” Lee adds from behind us.  
“Yeah, I got that,” Gibbs snaps at her.  
“No names yet, but I’m using the FBI mainframe to decrypt the search code. Well, you always did have really good timing,” Abby complements Gibbs before an old lady appears on the screen over the top of the name she found.  
“Mickey! Where the hell is Mickey, you tramp!?” the old women demands of Abby.  
“Mickey isn’t here!” Abby informs the old lady before ending the call again, showing us the name as she informs Gibbs, “It’s Mickey’s online playmate. She keeps tunnelling through my firewall.”  
“Russell Nash,” I read the name.  
“Apparently he’s,” Lee begins.  
“The only accomplice Paulson didn’t kill,” Gibbs cuts her off.  
“Yeah, and the only he really should have. Nash copped a plea and testified against Paulson. Paulson got life, and Nash walked in eighteen months. Skipped out on his parole. Hasn’t been seen since.”  
“Well, if the money was never found, then maybe Paulson is looking for Nash because he thinks Nash has the money,” Abby offers.  
“Or maybe Paulson is looking for something a little more… Biblical,” Gibbs picks on what Lee said before while talking about how Gibbs works his cases.  
“Don’t worry Abby. He’ll stay, I have five bucks riding on it,” I promise Abby when Gibbs leaves the room making her grin at me because she knows I hate to lose a beat.  
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“Taking a little break, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of Tony from standing right behind him in Tony’s personal space because Tony is hiding behind the stairs, listening in on his team through the mobile to his head.  
“Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m doing, Agent Gibbs?” Tony answers him without removing the phone from his ear. After a moment longer Tony exclaims, “Showtime.”  
“I would let Tony hear you say that,” McGee says to Ziva as Gibbs and I follow Tony into the squad room.  
“Say what, Agent McGee?” Tony demands of him.  
“Yeah, I was telling McGee the FBI was able to,” Ziva begins.  
“Warn all the witnesses from Paulson’s trail except for one?”   
“Right! The only one they couldn’t find was…”  
“Russell Nash,” Gibbs and I cut her off as Gibbs walks over to ‘his’ desk behind the divider and I follow him calmly.  
“I have much to learn still, master. Campfire! There you go,” Tony orders his team making McGee roll his chair over the squad room to right in front of Tony’s desk as Ziva rolls hers over and sits down across Tony. Gibbs smiles at the fact Tony exclaims ‘I still have much to earn,’ before Gibbs kicks his feet up on the desk looking at Tony in confusion as I comfortable sit on the corner of Gibbs ‘desk’ watching the ‘campfire.’ Tony explains to Gibbs, “It’s sort of a new thing I like to do. I find it focuses the group better than just… you know, shouting across the bullpen. To that there’s anything wrong with that. Alice, you going to join us, this time?”   
“Nah, I’m quite comfortable here. But don’t let that stop you,” I wave him off calmly.  
“Let’s focus on Russell Nash.”  
“The inside man,” Ziva states.  
“Worked for the bank that Paulson knocked over,” McGee adds.  
“Our only missing witness.”  
“According to Abby, he’s the one Paulson’s after,” Gibbs calls over to them.  
“If we find Nash,” McGee begins.  
“We find Paulson,” I finish for him as I lead against Gibbs feet.  
“Campfire over,” Tony exclaims.  
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“You’re going to ace your oral exams, doctor,” Jimmy exclaims as we walk into autopsy to see her quizzing Ducky.  
“Going back to school?” Gibbs asks him making me smile because I finally know something Gibbs doesn’t and my father is returning to school, chasing another one of his dreams.  
“I never stopped,” Ducky informs him calmly.  
“The doctor’s getting a degree in forensic psychology,” Jimmy informs Gibbs happily.  
“Yes, and with it I’ll be able to add the psychological autopsy to my arsenal. I’ll not only be able to uncover the ‘hows’ of our patients’ demise, but the why’s as well. I mean, what motivates us can be a very tricky thing. I was wondering when you were going to come down and see me,” Ducky says to Gibbs after the end of his rambling.  
“I’ve been busy,” Gibbs defend himself.  
“Or avoiding me. I wonder why that could be.”  
“I’m not staying.”  
“Oh, I don’t think you were. I’m aware that when Leroy Jethro Gibbs makes up his mind, his mind’s made up. So… what are you here?”  
“The Paulson case. How much do you know, dad?” I ask him as I place my hand on Gibbs’ arm to make sure he is okay emotionally because this case has been hard on him to reopen and step back into four months ago and everyone thinks he is the same man and he’s not.  
“Well, I took the liberty of examining the M.E.’s reports on Paulson’s two murdered accomplices.”  
“Anything bug you?” Gibbs asks him.  
“It’s about as watertight a case as I’ve ever seen, pathologically thinking. Why? Do you suspect foul play in the foul play?”  
“No.”  
“Yet you’re down here asking me if anything ‘bugs you’ about the case. Are you getting one of those famous guts instincts again?”  
“I’ve already had that. And it said that Paulson was guilty.”  
“When Leroy Jethro Gibbs makes up his mind, his mind’s made up. Too bad for Petty Officer Paulson. Let’s hope things work out better for you in Mexico,” Ducky says to Gibbs before Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Uh-huh…? What…! Adams Boulevard… yeah. That’s where Paulson killed his two accomplices…” Gibbs answers it.  
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“Is Agent Gibbs aware a warrant hasn’t officially come through yet?” Lee demands of us for the hundredth time as we all get out of the car in the alley besides the building. Ziva, Tony and I was in the front, Tony is driving and Ziva is in the passage seat, I am sitting in the middle because I’m the smallest as in the back from right to left it went, Gibbs, Lee, McGee.   
“I think he got it by the fifth time you told him, Lee,” McGee explains to her as we all walk towards the FBI.  
“Got my team out front. Any idea what his game is this time?” Fornell asks us.  
“Not a clue,” Gibbs answers him.  
“Okay, McGee, Ziva, fire escape. Lee,” Tony begins ordering ‘his’ team.  
“Watch the cars.”  
“Get back!” Tony whispers to someone who lives in the building as Fornell, Tony, Gibbs and I sneak down the hallway to the hotel room that Gibbs investigated years ago.  
“I imagine you’d rather be enjoying a nice drink in a cantina right about now,” Fornell says to Gibbs as we hide behind a corner.  
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Gibbs answers him calmly.  
“Mine, too.”  
“Any bets on Paulson’s token of appreciation?” Tony demands of them, desperately.  
“Let’  
S hope it’s not Russell Nash’s head on a stick,” Fornell says.  
“Or any other body parts. I hate dismembered bodies,” I complain as we walk to the door.  
“Federal Agents!” Gibbs calls out before I turn the door handle, to find it unlocked. I push the door open allowing Fornell and Gibbs into the hotel room top find Paulson has stringed up all the blood splatter from the first crime scene.   
“Wow. If the FBI ever tires to falsely arrest me, I want this guy on the case,” I comment as I holster my gun making Fornell give me a look.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It appears ex-petty officer Paulson is attempting to highlight the discrepancies in his crime scene,” Ziva comments as we look around the stringed up room.  
“Yeah. I picked up on that,” Gibbs comments tightly.  
“For a guilty man, he’s unusually intent on trying to convince us of his innocence.”  
‘SECOND SHOT IN SECOND VICTIM FROM HERE’ one of Paulson’s notes informs us and it is pined to the wall and string so we know what he is talking about.  
“Picked up on that too,” Fornell agrees with Ziva.  
‘WHY DIDN’T ANYONE HEAR?’  
“No one heard the shooting?” Ziva asks.  
“Well, it’s not exactly a Neighbourhood watch kind of place.”  
DNA PLANTED UNDER THE FINGERNAILS.’  
“And the fact that Paulson’s DNA was found under this victim’s fingernails, but there was no other sign of a struggle?”  
“Mm-hmm. See that about a quarter of the time, Ziva” Gibbs states before I follow him and Fornell out of the crowded crime scene.  
“Why isn’t he running? I would be half way to Mexico by now,” I ask the two men who caught him last time.  
“Good question. What’s that git of yours say?” Fornell asks Gibbs.  
“Four years ago? That Paulson is guilty,” Gibbs half answers.  
“Didn’t mean four years ago.”  
“Paulson isn’t after Nash for the money from the bank job.”  
“He’s after Nash because Nash is the only man who could exonerate him. So was your gut wrong four years ago? Or is it wrong now?”  
“Now, he isn’t drinking enough coffee,” I answer for Gibbs making him and Fornell laugh at me.  
“Our job is not to reopen Paulson’s case. Just catch him,” Ziva informs Fornell.  
“Paulson’s already reopened his case, Ziva,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Doesn’t matter what our job is, if we want to figure out his next move,” Fornell informs us.  
“Now we have to reopen it, too.”  
“He’s a smart kid.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“So what changed your mind about my boy? Great Oz finally give you guys a heart?” Mickey jokes as Gibbs and I lead him into the squad room making me laugh at me.  
“Who said I changed my mind?” Gibbs demands of him making me place my hand on Gibbs arm to calm him down. Shepard is leaning back in a chair with her feet on a desk, and the rest of the team is spread out around the room.  
“It definitely wasn’t a brain.”  
“If Paulson was framed, we need to find out how,” I inform him politely.  
“Well, maybe it was a brain. Either way, thank you. I’ve waited a long time for someone to listen.”  
“Don’t thank her just yet. Jury had two weeks. They didn’t buy it that Paulson was framed. You have one day to convince our forensic scientist,” Gibbs informs him.  
“You must be Mickey,” Abby exclaims as she bounces up to him.  
“Well, I’ll be whoever you want me to be!” Mickey informs her making me laugh at his bad flirting.  
“Mickey, you’ll do just fine,” Gibbs says.  
“I like your outfit.”  
“Thank you,” Abby says happily as they leave.  
“My dog has a collar like that,” Mickey explains before the elevator door shuts.  
“For sake of argument, let’s say that Derrick Paulson was framed,” Tony begins as everyone joins into a campfire but for Gibbs. I am sitting on the corner of Tony’s desk because I lost the wheels on my chair, and I think it’s because of a prank Tony is trying to pull.   
“That makes Russell Nash your prime suspect,” Shepard reminds us. Why is she still here? She’s not an investigator but the director; shouldn’t she be director-ing? I don’t know anymore, I think that she misses the rush of the investigator or wanting to spend time with Gibbs.  
“Exactly, director. Hey, Gibbs! Why don’t you come on over and join us for a little campfire,” Tony calls to Gibbs but he just walks past him and I get up and follow him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’d offer you the sofa, but I told Emily you were staying over, she insisted you take her room. Even said you can sleep with her Raspberry Rum-tart doll,” Fornell says to Gibbs who is sipping a juice box that looks tiny in his hand as we sit in Emily’s room.   
.  
“Hey, watch! You may now kiss the bride!” Kelly say to me at a camp site before making her barbie doll dressed in a white wedding dress and a doll dressed in military doll kiss.  
.  
Fornell continues talking to Gibbs who I am sitting next to, “So it was four wives? Unless there’s anything else you want to tell me.”  
“IS there something you want to know, Tobias?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“You had a family, Jethro. I know you like to play it close to the vest, but… hell, I was married t your second wife!”  
“I tried to warn you,” Gibbs defends himself making me laugh behind my hand.  
“I know, I know. I didn’t listen. If I did, I’d still have a house with a gust bedroom for you. I know it’s not our usual stuff. So we screwed up.”  
“Wait and see what Abby says,” I inform Fornell before sipping my juice box.  
“We screwed up. Big time. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time. I know it’s not going to be the last.”  
“My last,” Gibbs declares but I don’t believe him, he’ll be back and I’ll bet another five dollars on it.  
“At lease we could still make it right.”  
“If Russell Nash did frame Paulson; he’s not going to come clean when Paulson finds him. He’s going to kill Paulson.”  
“I know it. I said we screwed, didn’t I? It’s funny how things work out. When I was a kid, all I ever thought about was being an FBI agent...”  
“That’s your problem. You didn’t aim high enough,” I cut Fornell of making him pull a face because he knows I don’t hate him, just his job.  
“NOW, not a day does by I don’t think about being a kid. I don’t pay much attention. The way I figure it, anyone doesn’t want to quit this job, isn’t doing it right.”  
“OR they are doing the wrong job,” I correct Fornell again making both men laugh at me.  
“Don’t have sex in my daughter’s bed,” Fornell orders Gibbs and I making me smirk, I would never have sex in a little girls’ bed.  
“That’s creepy. Who has sex in a little girl bed?”   
“I’m just informing you. It’s going to be a tight fit.”  
“We slept on a couch together. We’ll fit,” I promise calmly. He can go between annoying FBI guy and caring father-friend-thing.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Mickey says as he dances with Lee who spins out and bumps into Gibbs chest making me laugh at her uncomfortable look. Gibbs is wearing a white button down shirt and jeans, the same shirt he wear when he saved Ziva, and he still looks great but I always think that, so it doesn’t count.  
“This is not what it looks lie,” Lee gasp out to Gibbs before turning to Abby for help as she begs, “Abby, please turn the music off now, please? Off? I’m… so… this is what we were doing, sir. We were working on the pos… we were…”  
“We were establishing a baseline of henna ink’s optical reflectivity. You want to know why?” Abby asks Gibbs who just looks at her making her continue, “I’m glad you asked. We were trying to figure out if the evidence was planted to frame Paulson.” When Abby finishes talking, Gibbs and I walk over to stand beside her looking at the computer.  
“Yeah, like the DNA they found that could easily have come from some… uh… why is he looking at me like that?” Mickey demands when Gibbs give him the get to the point look.  
“He’s kind of a bottom like guy.”  
“He’s a bottom guy period,” I whisper to Abby making her laugh at me and everyone else gives me a look wondering what I said to Abby.  
“Bottom line, the more Mickey told us, the guiltier Paulson Looked,” Lee explains.  
“Until we looked at video from the bank job. Paulson was identified by his custom tattoo. One of a kind. Unique as a fingerprint, and pretty cool,” Abby explains.  
“With the corroborating evidence, it was more than enough for a jury to convict.”  
“Do you think it’s a copy?” Gibbs and I ask her.  
“That’s why we took the pictures. It looks like a henna tattoo,” Abby explains as she compiles photos of Lee’s henna and the robbers tattoo.  
“But if Russell Nash had a copy of made to dame Paulson,” Lee begs.  
“There would be a colour mismatch.”  
“Can you prove it?” I ask her hopefully.  
“Yeah. But we’re going to have to see Paulson’s original tattoo for the test.”  
“He’ll never go for that. Not unless he believes you’re serious about reopening his case, and he won’t believe that until you haul in that bastard Russell Nash,” Mickey jumps in.  
“Working on it,” Gibbs exclaims tightly.  
“We’ve got a lead on that, roo,” Lee informs us.  
“The FBI had been doing background checks on all of Nash’s buddies,” Abby continues.  
“Meet Gary Silverstein, Russell Nash’s old roommate. He used to work at a tattoo shop. It could just be a coincidence if,” Lee rambles making Gibbs grab my hand and lead me out of the lab without listening to her ramble herself out.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Do you think you could be happy flipping a sign all day?” Ziva asks Gibbs in the car as we watch Tony talk to Gary who is a sign flipper.  
“I don’t know,” Gibbs answers her as he sits in the driver seat as I sit behind in with Ziva beside me.  
“I think you’d get bored,” Ziva adds as I lean against the side of Gibbs watching Tony talk happily. Ziva continues to make him stay, “I’m just saying a man of your drive and ambition needs a certain kind of…”  
“I’m not staying, Ziva.”  
“That obvious?” Ziva asks him sadly as Tony gets back in the car making Ziva exclaim, “So? How’d it go?”  
“I’ll tell you in twenty seconds,” Tony says as he calls Abby. He talks into the phone and we can’t hear them on the other end of the conversation, “I’d say that went well… I know it. Forty miles north of here.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Not bad for rush hour,” Ziva comments as we walk towards the apartment were Paulson is meant to be.  
“Only you could make a forty mile in thirty minutes, boss. Something’s wrong,” Tony comments, there is a crowed and sirens around us.  
“Maybe Paulson beat us here and found out the hard way that Nash wasn’t willing to change his testimony.”  
“Stay right where you are... Stay right there,” a police officer order us.  
“It’s Nash,” I say as I look at a jumper dead on the ground.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The end is never pleasant. For this young man, doubly so,” Ducky say as he looks over Nash in autopsy.  
“At least he had a great view on the way down,” Tony jokes.  
“I doubt that he enjoyed it, seeing that his jaw was broken as well as six of fingers and his… knee. And all this before he fell.”  
“Killer beat him first,” Gibbs states.  
“More like he was interrogated. This damage is too methodical… too calculated to be a simple beating. Whoever did this was after information. And when he for it… he repaid his victim with these,” Ducky says as he shows us a couple bullets.  
“Guess we can rule out suicide,” Tony half jokes and half states.  
“Yes, unless Mister Nash was able to shoot himself in the back… three times in a row.”  
“Oh, do we have to do this now?” Tony complains as Ducky digs the last bullet out.  
“The slugs are Winchester hollow points! Winchester hollow points!” hey Gibbs! Gibbs! Cool, huh? They were fired from the bolt that Baltimore PD found near the scene,” Abby explains over the plasma that she used to communicate with Gibbs when Tony tried to kill me.  
“Abs, did you get a serial number? Or did the FBI accuse it of murder?” I ask Abby making her laugh at me.  
“It’s the same gun that Paulson took form Mickey Stokes’ house. He tried to wipe it, but I found a partial print.”  
“So the gentleman who asked us to prove his innocence just killed the one man who could exonerate him.”  
“Nash didn’t frame Paulson. They were partners, until Nash double-crossed him,” Tony releases.  
“Our ex-Petty Officer didn’t want to clear himself. He was looking for the money,” Ducky releases that what we dismissed earlier was right.  
“And he used to take him straight bank. Smart kid,” Abby agrees with him.  
“But if your gut says Paulson’s innocent, then maybe we’re missing something,” Tony offers to Gibbs.  
“The only thing that I am missing right now is happy hour at Carlos’ Cantina,” Gibbs says before leaving autopsy as I follow him happily.  
“I want alcohol too,” I complain to Gibbs making him smirk at me.  
“Why don’t you come with me to Mexico? Then you can get drunk with me every day,” Gibbs offers to me. Gibbs reaches over and turns the elevator off. I look at him in concern, is he okay?  
“Jethro, what’s wrong?” I ask him as I place my hand on his arm but he just pulls me into a tight hug. I talk to him, “Why don’t you go back to Mexico? We can finish this or you can stay and finish the case before returning. I’ll stand behind you, known matter what you have to do. I promise.”  
“I need to finish this. Never walk away before the job is done,” Gibbs whispers to me.  
“Job was done four years ago. The FBI can handle this… maybe. Yeah don’t go, they can’t find their own dick with their right hand when it’s in their left,” I change my mind making Gibbs laugh before he turns the elevator back on and send it to the lab instead of the squad room where he was already going. He leaves the elevator with one arm around me so I am tucked into his side.  
“You are security, right? Don’t let Gibbs leave the building! I already told you why, Tom!” Abby snaps into her phone as she paces in the lab that we just entered.  
“Abby?” Gibbs calls out to her.  
“Never mind! False alarm!” Abby hangs up the phone before turning to Gibbs and exclaiming, “Gibbs, thank god! I was so sure that you’d be half way to Mexico by now!” she pulls him into a hug and handcuffs him to herself before continuing, “Sorry. You’re a flight risk.”  
“Abby!”  
“We’re going to figure this case, Gibbs! We always do! Abby exclaims before seeing the face Gibbs making her add, “Youi already figured it out.”  
“No, but you’re going to. I want to know how Paulson knows.”  
“Knows what?”  
“Everything. Everything we seem to know. He finds out at the exactly same time as us and we have you,” I explain to her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Uh, well, actually yeah. There's quite a lot wrong, Ziva. Aside from McGee's teeth, we have a dead man who shouldn't be dead. An innocent man who isn't really innocent. And a trail that's about to run cold because our perp has managed to stay one step ahead of us since this whole thing started!” Tony snaps at Ziva in the squad room as they finish a camp fire which I am happy I missed it.  
“Are you just noticing that now, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“No, it’s kind of been a theme,” Tony defends himself before Gibbs slams Tony’s radio onto Gibbs old desk. Making Tony exclaim as Gibbs uses his knife to pry the radio in half, “Careful. That’s easy to… break.”  
“It’s a shortwave RF bug. Paulson probably planted it in your Dictaphone when he stole your car,” Abby explains.  
“This is why he wanted our car. Not to find Nash but for us to find Nash,” I summarise what Abby found.  
“And I’ve been burning campfires to CDE. The Dictaphone has been in my lab pretty much the entire day.”  
“At least now we know how Paulson tracked down Russell Nash,” Tony comments happily for that information.  
“There’s the little bugger.”  
“Can you back track it, Abby?” Gibbs asks her from his spot standing behind me as I am leaning against his chest.  
“It’s impossible without a private cipher. But I think I know where we can get one. Paulson’s crew bugged the bank’s general manager for two weeks before the robbery. It was a custom job, just like this one. The cops interviewed the bug-maker. Cleared him of any involvement. I would bet a caf-pow! That this came from the same guy.”  
“How can you tell?” Tony asks her.  
“He signed his name.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“’It is a crime for any person to acting under colour of the law to deprive any citizen of their legal rights.’ Title eighteen, US Code,” Stanley, the bug maker, recites to Ziva in integration room as we watch them from observation room.  
“No one is depriving you of any your right. We are simply asking for a copy of the cipher you made!” Ziva informs him calmly.  
“’No one shell be compelled in any criminal case to a witness against himself.’ That’d be the fifth Amendment.”  
“No one has accused you of a crime either.”  
“Then why did your goon confiscate my files?”  
“Because…”  
“Goon?” McGee demands with his feelings hurt. I rub his arm to make him feel better.  
“I told you to stop hunching your shoulders,” Tony orders him making me hit Tony on the arm.  
“How do you know he wasn’t talking about you?”  
“It’s called a mirror, McGee.”  
“Yeah, Tony can’t look in them because they break and this guy’s face isn’t broken, so he didn’t look at Tony,” I explain to McGee making Tony pull a face at me.  
“No, I said every exit, not every other exit. For the same reason you don’t floss every other tooth,” Tony says into his phone making me laugh.  
“Where’s that cipher, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of Tony as he walks into the observation room and walks over to behind me and holds me hip that is against the wall where no one can see it.  
“We hit a little snafu, boss. Gibbs.”  
“Federal code also states that not only do I have the right to remain silent, but to withhold any information I see fit,” Stanley rambles to Ziva still.  
“If this keeps up, we may be forced to unleash Agent Lee,” Tony rambles as Gibbs leaves the observation room and enters the integration room.  
“Well, this should be quick,” McGee comments as we watch Gibbs walk in and sit down were Ziva was sitting before.  
“It better be. We’ve got a fugitive on the run with a pretty big lead. The Fugitive!”   
“You can stare at me all day, G-man. I ain’t talking,” Stanley snaps at Gibbs who is staring at him.  
“You got something to hide?” Gibbs asks him sweetly.  
“What? So I refuse to talk, and that means I’m guilty? You ever hear of Miranda versus Arizona, nineteen sixty-six?”   
“I’ve been here all this time. How could I have missed it? It’s that simple,” Tony rambles about a movie as Ziva enters the observation room.  
“Missed what?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Gibbs is clearly Tommy Lee Jones, right? I mean, there’s no argument there. Which makes me Joey Pants. Initially, I was a little, you know…”  
“What happened? We’ve been avoiding the word fugitive for the last two days.”  
“He made the connection himself,” McGee informs Ziva because they have been avoiding that word for this reason.   
“The bottom line, eyeball. I run a lawfully licensed spy shop. I’m not responsible for what my clientele does with my product. I don’t have to answer any more of your questions, no matter what you say!” Stanley snaps at Gibbs.  
“I’ve got this little girl… who wants to go home to her dad. And that’s not going to happen without your help. So… please?” Gibbs begs of him after a long moment of silence.  
“Did Gibbs just say?” Tony asks in surprise but cuts himself off.  
“Mm-hmm,” McGee agrees with him.  
“I need to give him a treat. He is doing so well learning,” I exclaim making the team laugh at me because I’m treating Gibbs like I treat Ugly Tony the Second, reward him for doing what I want to do like saying please.  
“What did you… what did you want to know again?” Stanley asks Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Signal’s strong. No movement,” McGee informs us as we stand still in the yard at night.  
“Got eyes on the target, Ziva?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I did. Suspect’s in the house, and he’s not alone,” Ziva reports.  
“Are you sure?” I beg of her.  
“I heard Paulson’s voice,” Ziva reports as we all move towards the house quietly so that no one hears us inside and get ready for the take down.  
“Let me give you some more money in case you need it,” Mickey says inside the house.  
“I won’t,” Paulson snaps at his friend.  
“In position, boss,” Tony reports.  
“Come here. Take this,” Mickey orders Paulson and hands him a gun.  
“Gun!” McGee says.  
“Move! Move!” Gibbs orders us as we rush the house before Paulson can shoot Mickey.   
“Please, take it!” Mickey begs of Paulson before we fling the door open.   
“Hold it!” Gibbs orders Mickey and Paulson.  
“Hold it!” I shout when Mickey and Paulson moves.  
“Don’t do it, Derrick. We will shoot you,” Tony warns Paulson who is pointing his weapon at Mickey.  
“Tony, McGee, Alice, put your weapons down,” Gibbs orders us making us holster our weapons as Gibbs talks to Paulson, “I was wrong. I know you’re innocent, Petty Officer. But you’re not, Mickey! DiNozzo!”  
“You’re under arrest for the murders of Russell Nash, his two accomplices in the Greater Virginia back robbery, and last but not least, the Greater Virginia Bank robbery,” Tony arrest Mickey.  
“Is your porch light on? First you wrongly accused Derrick and now me?” Mickey demands of her.  
“If he set me up, where’s the money?” Paulson demands.  
Yeah! They don’t know what they’re talking about.”  
“It's here. It's been here the whole time. It's a Rosewood Bureau Plat desk, nineteenth century. That's thirty eight thousand dollars. First edition Huckleberry Finn, twenty thousand dollars. And it looks like in the bedroom here you've got a Chippendale mahogany case clock. That's six figures, easy. Mickey, you don't collect this stuff on a Navy pension,” McGee exclaims as he looks at the furniture in the house.  
“Whoa! Whoa! Agent Gibbs,” Mickey exclaims when McGee outs him making Paulson point the gun at him again.  
“Don’t talk to me. I think he should shoot you. Except he’s never been a killer,” Gibbs defends himself.  
“I don’t think you’re going to start now,” I add making Paulson lower the gun.  
“And miss his trail? Not for the world,” Paulson exclaims as he hands Gibbs the gun.  
“You’re a real piece of work, Mickey,” Tony says as he leads him away.  
“Antiques Roadshow,” McGee explains where he knows that information making me pull a face.  
“You need to get laid. No one but old ladies watches that,” I inform him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“I just came by to tell you that Derrick Paulson has been cleared of all charges. You saved that boy’s life,” Shepard explains to me as I sit in my basement on Alice’s chair facing my boat that night drinking a scotch.  
“He did most of the work,” I correct her.  
“Don’t sell yourself short. Or is too late for that?”  
“Is this supposed to be some sort of pep talk to get me to stay, Jen? You don’t want me back.”  
“No, I don’t.”  
“Worried you won’t be able to handle me, Director?” I tease her but I know that I might stay; Alice’s makes a very convincing argument.  
“No, Jethro. I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle yourself. You have already been in two comas. You might not come out of the third. The fact is, you’re good. The best. When you’re as good at something as you are when you can make a difference like you can, you just don’t quit,” Shepard informs me before leaving the basement and house. I finish my drink, thinking if I’m going to catch my flight or not.  
When my drink is finished, I place the glass on the workbench and head upstairs. If I’m going to catch my flight, I have to leave know and my bags are next to the door. I walk upstairs and quietly walk into the bedroom where Alice is sleeping, with all the pillows making me smile at her because she’s too cute.  
I have made my decision and no one is going to change my mind ever.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
I wake up the next morning to a cold bed, I guess Jethro decided to return to Mexico again making me sad but I understand. He’s been doing this for years and he quit in the end.  
I get up and walk downstairs to an empty house, not that I’m surprised anymore and walk into the kitchen and make a coffee. I pour the coffee into a thermos, I can’t afford all the take-out coffee that I drink with Gibbs because I have to be able to pay the house hold essentials and plane rides to Mexico to see Gibbs.  
I sip the coffee as I walk upstairs and get dressed for the day, hoping Gibbs’ flight went okay last night and am sorry I missed to see him off but I was too tired and fell asleep in his car.   
I walk outside in time for Tony to pick me up to drive me to the work because I don’t have a license but I am working on getting it.  
“Are you alright?” Tony asks me as I get into his car.  
“I’ll be fine,” I lie.  
“Alice, I’ve know you for over three years. Don’t lie to me.”  
“I woke up to an empty bed. I’m going to miss Jethro.”  
“Like you won’t go visit him this weekend.”  
“Yeah, I know. But it’s not like being in the same house as him. I… I love him and I didn’t see him off. I fell asleep and he had to carry me back into the house from his car.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You know, you used to be a nice person, McGee,” Ziva exclaims as she is talking about McGee getting a date, using Tony’s lines.  
“Good morning,” a man greets us and we node at him.  
“I think sitting at Tony’s desk is affecting your personality.”  
“For the better. McGee picked the girl all by himself,” Tony adds happy for his friend.  
“Yeah, at a funeral!”  
“You didn’t tell me that.”  
“Well, you were right, man, because when women are vulnerable… you get right in there,” McGee stutters off in the end making us look in the squad room to see Tony’s pornos on his old desk and Gibbs is sitting at his old desk with his the start of a beard but into a moustache, and a set of glass with a brown long sleeve shirt, making me smile, he didn’t leave me. He stayed and I get my man and five bucks. Lee is standing just inside the squad room holding all her stuff.  
“What?” Gibbs ask because we’re all staring at him in shock making McGee smile with his over bleached teeth and I rush over to him.  
“Jethro,” I exclaim as I hug him as he stays sitting. I missed him at work and know he’s not leaving us.


	31. Singled Out

I am sitting at my desk in the squad room happily working because the team is back right, no ex-lawyers, Gibbs back and the team how it’s meant to be and the director better not change it. Ever or I’ll bite her. Gibbs is wearing a light grey polo shirt with a brown jacket over his chair.  
“Problems, Tony?” Ziva asks him when he angrily hangs up his phone and walks over to his desk from the director’s office.  
“Wrong number, Ziva,” Tony defends himself as he begins gearing up as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his phone making me smile, I missed hearing that. Tony just couldn’t get the right snappish tone.  
“IS there a reason you’re gearing up?” McGee questions Tony.  
“What’s my motto, McGee?” Tony asks him.  
“You’ll never date a woman that eats more than you do?”   
“Piss people of and then compare their reaction to a movie?” I offer happily.  
“Well, yeah. That’s true. But always be prepared. Bat signal may fly at any moment,” Tony informs us with a chuckle.  
“We’re on our way,” Gibbs says into the phone before handing the call and ordering us, “Grab your gear! We’re heading out.”  
“How did you know?” McGee begs of Tony.  
“Well, it’s a gift, McGee. I… choose not to question it,” Tony defends himself.  
“Where are we going, Jethro?” I ask him as I fall into step beside him.  
“Ask DiNozzo. All I got was a wrong number,” Gibbs informs me making me laugh at Tony. He’s lie is out of the bag and I didn’t have to threaten him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Boss, vehicle’s registered to a Navy Lieutenant Anne Sullivan… is a computer programmer for base housing. Reported U.A. this morning. First time in her career,” McGee reports to Gibbs how is searching through the van for something in Tony’s new organising.  
“Witnesses?” Gibbs asks McGee without stopping his search.  
“Uh, nine-one-one call. Two motorists reported a man driving her vehicle with a bloody woman screaming in back. I’m assuming that’s our missing Lieutenant.”  
“Assuming?”  
“Well, Fredericksburg P.D. has descriptions of both the woman and her abductor. They’re sending them to NCIS as we speak.”  
“That’s a good job, Tim.”  
“Can I help you find something, boss? Maybe…?”  
“My notepads.”  
“Right back here. We reorganized the supplies. Tony felt this way was more efficient,” McGee explains to Gibbs as he opens the draw near me that holds the notepads.  
“Besides no one could find were Kate hide everything. We finally found the knee pads,” I add sadly, we could have just kept Kate alive and we wouldn’t have to reorganize it.  
“You don’t say,” Gibbs says to us as he takes a note pad.  
Well, you know, I could put them back the way it was before you quit,” McGee begins but Gibbs glares at him making him change it too, “retired.”  
“Quit. They wouldn’t listen to him so he quit. Isn’t that how Mike quit?” I ask Gibbs making him smack my ass for that.  
“We both retired, not quit,” Gibbs informs me before turning to McGee and asking, “Well, that depends, McGee. Is it more efficient?”  
“No, it’s stupid. I have to get all the way in the truck to find gloves that fit me.”  
“It seems to be,” McGee admits.  
“Then leave them where they are,” Gibbs orders McGee as he begins walking over to Ziva and Tony at the possible victim’s car.  
“There appears to have been a struggle. Multiple hand and fingerprints. A lost shoe. A pair of glasses. And I don’t believe she was slaughtered. At least not in the back of this vehicle,” Ziva explains about the car that has blood everywhere.  
“Why is that?” Tony asks her.  
“The traces of blood are all from skin contact. A more serious wound would have left pools of it. Enough criminal investigating for you, Tony?”  
“Lieutenant Sullivan’s address. She lives in Culpeper,” Gibbs informs them as he pulls the paper out of his notebook.  
“Take McGee. If you leave now, you can avoid traffic. Anything unusual, you call me,” Tony orders Ziva and McGee but stops when we release everyone is staring at him because Gibbs is the boss not him. After a moment he turns to Gibbs and say, “I mean, you know, you do… you… whatever you want them to do, boss.”  
After moment Gibbs orders Tony and Ziva to go as McGee, Gibbs and I stay behind in the crime scene making me feel bad for Tony, he was only just getting used to be the boss and know he has to take orders again.  
“Tow truck should be here any minute, boss,” McGee reports.  
”You find the other shoe yet, McGee?” Gibbs asks him as he looks in the car to see that there is only one shoe.  
“Uh… there was only on in the vehicle.”  
“You ever see a woman try to walk with one high heel on? Not pretty.”  
“Or easy. Almost always results in falling flat on your face,” I add making McGee and Gibbs give me a look because they don’t know I tried that.  
“Hey look at this. Look smears on the pavement. If she was carried, they’d do drops. And what looks like a strand of nylon thread. Maybe it was from a stocking.”  
“She could have fallen and scraped her knee?” McGee promises.  
“Told you it wasn’t easy,” I state.  
“Mark it,” Gibbs orders him making McGee mark and photo it. Gibbs continues, “Okay, you’re looking for help, which why would you go?”   
“Well, Waverley’s football team was away. The lot was empty all weekend. Should have headed towards campus, but she didn’t. She went in the opposite direction. She was forced,” McGee releases.  
“That’s good thinking, McGee,” I complement the man.  
“Come on. Another blood drop. Like I said the other shoe.”  
“They would have forced her to remove it because she kept tripping. Makes sense, easier to remove the shoe then to carry the girl.  
“Okay, now tell me where she went,” Gibbs asks McGee as I bag and tag the second shoe after McGee photos it.  
“There was another car. Judging by these tire tracks, they left in a hurry,” McGee comments as he looks at the tire tracks.  
“Match the tires, might even find out the make and model.”  
“Good to have you back, boss.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This is a police sketch-artist’s rendering of what the witnesses saw late yesterday afternoon. And this is a photo of Lieutenant Sullivan for comparison,” McGee says as the two are on the plasma above my desk. I am leaning against Gibbs softly as listen to what everyone has to say in hopes of finding the girl safely and quickly. Gibbs is wearing a light brown shirt with a black jacket.  
“I’d say that’s a pretty good match,” Tony states as he looks at the drawing and photo.  
“You think, DiNozzo?” Gibbs snaps at him before turning to McGee and asking, “The driver, McGee.”  
“Fredericksburg P.D. out a BOLO out on him last night,” McGee informs Gibbs.  
“Any hits?” Gibbs, Tony and I ask him together.  
“Sorry, boss. Continue… if you want to, of course,” Tony says to Gibbs but I don’t apologize, I want leads for this missing girl.  
“No hits yet, but the local LEO’s did match the likeness to a mug shot. Justin Farris. Arrested for car theft five years ago. Currently lives with his mother. Claims she hasn’t seen him since yesterday,” McGee reports.  
“Our Lieutenant had around sixteen profiles on people at her apartment,” Tony adds his own report.  
“Without photographs or names,” I remind him what he told us.  
“I’m still waiting on the why,” Gibbs adds.  
“Me, too, boss. I’m just saying, Farris might be one of them. Our Rosetta Stone, if you will,” Tony informs us.  
“Find him! That’s good work, Tim. Not bad either, Tony,” Gibbs complaints them before leaving the squad room and I stay with the boys.  
“Is it just me or does he seem a little more,” McGee begins asking.  
“Human?” Tony offers.  
“Well, I was going to say mellow, but yeah.”  
“Yeah. I think it’s the moustache. Lulling us into a false sense of security.”  
“I think you two just expect him to be the old Jethro, not the one who has been in two comas and quit. I think he was always nice; you two just pushed his buttons and pissed him off for years at a time. Are you two alright? With Gibbs back and having to step back into your old position?” I ask them in concern.  
“Yeah,” McGee answers me.  
“It’s what we wanted,” Tony says.  
“Tony, don t dance around the question, are you okay or are you hurt because he took his old job back?” I ask him as McGee walks away to give us some privacy.  
“I wish he’d told me before he took the desk back.”  
“Me too, but you know that Jethro just expects everyone to know what he is thinking. I… if you need to talk, I’m always here for you. And don’t let anyone bully you into something you don’t want to do. Especially the director. I don’t know what she is offering you but if you can’t say yes straight away don’t make her guilt you into it,” I whisper to him.  
“Thank you Alice, I’ll keep that in my mind. I promise,” Tony says to me making me squeeze his arm before I leave him and jog over to the elevator where Gibbs is holding the door open for me.  
“How are they?” Gibbs asks me as step into the elevator and the door closed.  
“Hurt, confused but happy your back. But that’s to be expected,” I answer him tightly.  
“How are you?”  
“Fine.”  
“Alice, don’t lie to me.”  
“I thought you left me without saying goodbye,” I whisper making him pull me into a hug.  
“I couldn’t. I was going to leave, but I went to say goodbye to you and couldn’t wake you up or leave. You made me stay by being too cute,” Gibbs whispers to me as he hugs me tightly.  
“I’m glad you couldn’t leave,” I happily whisper into his chest without holding him tightly. The elevator opened at the lab making Gibbs release one arm so that he is hugging me with one arm as we walk into the lab quietly.  
“It appears one of them is missing,” Ziva says to Abby as we enter the room.  
“Missing what?” Gibbs asks her making our presents known.  
“One of the profiles. Alpha-bravo-one-zero-one-six,” Abby reports to him as he moves over between Ziva and Abby with me still tucked against his side and holding his take-away coffee.  
“Targets?” I ask her.  
“The binder they were kept in listed them as potential targets,” Ziva informs us.  
“The Alpha-Bravo designations. It’s how we labelled pre-planned artillery targets in the corps,” Gibbs informs us.  
“Maybe she was planning on dropping bombs on them,” Abby jokes.  
“What else was missing from the lieutenant’s place?” I ask them.  
“I’m more concerned with what was left, Alice… money jewellery. It’s not your typical burglar,” Ziva informs him.  
“This means they knew what they were looking for. What can you tell me about these?” Gibbs asks them while nodding to the profiling.  
“She was profiling men. All the information gathered was taken from public records.”  
“Yeah, I can see that. Why?” I ask them in confusion.  
“Well, that’s an excellent question. I was wondering that myself.”  
“Abby?” Gibbs asks her.  
“All of these were printed from the same printer. You want to know how I know?” Abby asks Gibbs happily.  
“Never models imbed micro codes in the print that helps I.D. hardware to counterfeit money and documents,” Gibbs explains to her.  
“Go Jethro,” I cheer for him; before he quit I don’t think he’d know that before.  
“Wow. Good guess. It also means that the information they represent is on her computer,” Abby says impressed with Gibbs too making me smirk, he is getting so smart with computers.  
“Show me,” Gibbs orders her as he walks over to Abby’s computer.  
“I’d love to, but I can’t. Not yet. Bad guys smash up real good. I’m still trying to recover the hard drive.”  
“How long?” I ask her.  
“Did I mention bad guys smash up real good, like really, really good? Probably days.”  
‘We don’t have days, Abs. get McGee to help you,” Gibbs orders her before turning to leave making me smile at them before moving to follow him.  
“Wait! There’s more. I ran the fingerprints from the SUV. I matched all of them, except three to a partial handprint.”  
“And?” Gibbs and I ask her together.  
“And I can say with certainty, that the woman in the back of the SUV was…”  
“Lieutenant Anne Sullivan. McGee already figured that out,” I inform her calmly.  
“Okay, did he tell you this? The partial handprint that I couldn’t match has a supper-defined index finger. Which means it’s not Sullivan’s. It’s the bad guy. I’m running it now.”  
“Name is Justin Farris,” Gibbs informs her.  
“McGee!”  
“Yep!” Gibbs answers her before leading me out of the lab.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yes, I know. I used to be team leader, Pro-o-o-bie,” Tony teases McGee who ignored Tony when he called him probie in the squad room after Tony ends his call.  
“Temporary team leader. And that was only because Gibbs quit,” McGee informs him calmly.  
“You don’t think I rate my own team?”  
“You wouldn’t be here now if you did, would you, DiNozzo?”  
“Yeah. Maybe you’re right. If Gibbs asks, tell him I went out for coffee,” Tony orders McGee before leaving.  
“Tony, I didn’t,” McGee attempts to apologise but Tony waves him off.  
“McGee, how long have I been a NCIS special agent?” Gibbs asks McGee as he steps into the squad room and sit on the corner of McGee’s desk, after hearing Tony and McGee’s conversation about being called probie.  
“Almost sixteen years.”  
“Want to take a wild guess what my first partner still calls me?”  
“Gotta love your boss. He’s funny and a drunk and owes me five bucks,” I laugh at Gibbs confused look because he doesn’t know that I made a bet with Mike.  
“Why does boss owe you five bucks?”   
“Because we bet on when you would regret quitting and return to work. I was right he was off on his timing,” I answer him.  
“Retired.”  
“You spent the whole time in the hospital arguing if Mike quit or retired and know you want to have the same argument with me? You both quit because you didn’t get your own way, got over it and drink coffee.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I voluntarily turned myself in. I’m just trying to do the right thing here, Agent Gibbs. Look, I’m admitting it, okay? I stole the damn SUV, but I didn’t kidnap anyone,” Farris (Misha Collins) asks Gibbs in confusion in integration room with me.  
“How do you explain these?” Gibbs asks him as he shows the photos of the bloody car.  
“I don’t know that chick was back there when I took it.”  
“Her name is Lieutenant Anne Sullivan!” I correct him; he is being heartless about this girl.  
“Where is she?!” Gibbs shouts at him.  
“I told you, I don’t know. Look, I am telling you. I just committed grand theft auto. Why the hell would I do that if I wasn’t telling the truth?” Farris demands of us.  
“To avoid kidnap and murder charges!” I state calmly.  
“Whoa! She’s dead?! No! No, she was alive and screaming in the back of the SUV the last time I saw her.”  
“Screaming what?” Gibbs overlaps him.  
“I don’t know. Something about a… being singled out by some guy.”  
“What guy?” I ask him.  
“I didn’t exactly stick around to find out, okay? I am telling you I didn’t kill her. I knew it was too good to be true. The door was open, engine running, couldn’t help myself, agent Gibbs, Todd.”  
“Where?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“It was the Texaco station on Wildwood Road. Look, I’m telling you the first time I saw this chick… sorry, Lieutenant Sullivan… was in the rear view mirror when she woke up and started screaming.”  
“Last time?” I ask him.  
“In the lot where I dumped the ride. Look, I even dialled nine-one-one! Yeah, I hung up, but I dialled. That’s got to count for something, right? Wait, wait. There might have been another car. There was silver Honda Accord that I thought might be tailing me. I thought someone say me boost the SUV at the station.”  
“You see the driver?” Gibbs asks him.  
“No, he was wearing a ball cap. I never got a good look at his face, okay? But he must have followed me. That’s who you should be looking for! I’m not a kidnapper!”  
“No. you’re just the dirt-bag that left her there to die,” I state before leaving integration with Gibbs.  
“Ziva’s running down the gas station lead. Nine-one-one hang up already checked out. Traced it to Farris’ call. Ducky wants to see you,” Tony reports in the hallway next to integration.  
“About what?” Gibbs asks Tony.  
“Something about profiling Lieutenant Sullivan’s profile. Maybe you should ask him. So do you think Farris is innocent?”   
“I don’t know. You check the bloody fingerprints Abby has against his yet?” Gibbs demands of Tony before leaving him in the hall to walk over to the elevator.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You are quite the fascinating woman, my dear. Sadly, due to Darwinian evolution, men tent to cherish women’s bodies rather than their minds. I must admit, I sometimes fall prey to that myself,” Ducky says to the photo of our missing girl in autopsy he has photos and books spread out over an autopsy table to do this profile.  
“I thought you only talked to bodies,” Gibbs comments as we enter autopsy.  
“A lot has changed since you quit. Fortunately, one doesn’t need a body for a psychological autopsy, which is what I’m doing here on our missing lieutenant.”  
“I heard you passed your test.”  
“Yes. The graduation ceremony was very rewarding. All my friends were there,” Ducky informs him, having a dig because Gibbs didn’t come.  
“What do you have, dad?” I ask him while stepping between the men to use my body to hide them; even knowing I am smaller than Gibbs, so I can’t hide him.  
“Um, well, a sampling of the Lieutenant’s DVD collection: Under the Tuscan Sun, Sabrina, Ghost, Fried Green Tomatoes. What tony could classify as chick flicks. Yet they contrast vividly with her choice in literature. Like our Timothy, she is quite the fan of the detective and the spy genres. A dissonance made even more interesting by these. Her fitness reports. They reveal a brilliant tactical mind with little tolerance for failure. One who is highly driven. She’s well-travelled, but notices this…”  
“Alone,” Gibbs says as we look at the photos of her on her own.  
“Yes. I imagine you know something about that.”  
“Are you going somewhere with this, doctor?”  
“Yes. This woman is a highly motivated loner with an odd desire for secrecy. These profiles that she keeps may indicate a need to control her environment and the people in it.”  
“But you don’t know who they are?” I ask him.  
“Well, this isn’t an exact science.”  
“Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Over here! Gibbs, your new golden boy McGee, he was wrong. The partial handprint,” Abby exclaims over the plasma screen after getting Gibbs attention.  
“Isn’t Farris’, boss,” Tony finish from Abby over the plasma from the lab.  
“Whose is it?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Well…”  
“That we don’t know yet. But what that mean is,” Abby cuts Tony off.  
“Somebody else was there. Thanks,” I cut them off.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Farris claims he didn’t know Lieutenant Sullivan was in the vehicle when he stole it. When she started screaming, he dumped it here, with her still in it. Which means, whoever kidnapped her must have followed Farris to get the Lieutenant back,” Ziva theories in the squad room as we all sit at our desks the next morning. Gibbs is wearing an orangey button up shirt with a brownie-green jacket.  
“If he’s telling the truth. That still doesn’t explain why she’s profiling people,” Tony states.  
“Blackmail. Espionage. Assassination.”  
“All good reason why someone would want to make her disappear,” I state.  
“We could be missing something.”  
“Believe me, not from this angle,” Tony comments.  
“She could be a covert operative.”  
“She’s a Navy computer geek who worked on software for base housing. According to her co-workers, she’s a female version of McGee.”  
“Being a geek makers for a good cover.”  
“Cover for what?” Gibbs asks as he walks into the squad room and handing me one of the two coffees he is carrying.  
“We’re still trying to figure that out, boss,” Tony admits.  
“Did you pull security tapes from the gas station?”  
“There weren’t any. System’s been broken for months,” Ziva admits.  
“Tire marks from the lot checks out Farris’ story. They’re a match for a factory-standard Honda Accord,” I report about the tire marks.  
“Well, let’s hope that Abby and McGee had better luck. Come on,” Gibbs orders us making us follow him.  
“Ah,” Tony mumbles as he follows Gibbs with the rest of his team.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I wouldn’t call this luck,” Tony comments as we watch Abby and McGee sleep in the lab.  
“Your computers on fire,” Gibbs whispers in Abby’s ear.  
“McGee! My baby’s French-frying!” Abby exclaims as she jerks awake and attempts to save the burning computer that’s not burning.  
“Checking internal core temperature!” McGee exclaims as he types away at the computer before finding out its find and Gibbs and I am laughing at them.  
“That is so not funny, Gibbs,” Abby smacks Gibbs chest.  
“I must have nodded off.”  
“Tell me that you two have something,” Gibbs asks them as he moves away from them and over to in front of the plasma screen with Tony, Ziva and myself.  
“We have something. We just don’t know what it is.”  
“It looks like a time table for an operation,” Gibbs comments as he looks at it.  
“The problem is the events on the axis are encrypted.”  
“We’ve been trying to crack it all night,” McGee adds.  
“Try harder, McGee. Chances of finding her alive drop to almost zero after forty-two hours,” Tony orders McGee before remembering Gibbs is back so he adds to Gibbs, “Sorry, I’m sure you know that, boss.”  
“Don’t apologize, DiNozzo,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Right. Sign of weakness.”  
“Not to mention annoying,” Ziva teases him.  
“We were able to pull some programs off her directory. This is the only one that stands out. MorphPro. It’s super high end imaging software. It’s unusual, because it retails for over five thousand dollars,” Abby informs us as she pulls the program up.  
“Big bucks on a lieutenant’s salary,” Tony comments.  
“Big bucks on any salary,” I correct tony.  
“What’s it for?” Ziva and I ask Abby together in confusion.  
“Morphing human features. Um, we pulled some test runs out of her cache,” Abby explains to us.  
“Ah, yeah. This is like the end of Saving Private Ryan. You know, when Matt Damon morphs into his older self. Anybody else get head faked by that, ‘cause Tom Hanks was who I thought,” Tony rambles about a move.  
“I’ve seen software like this before, Abby. Mossad used earlier versions to age Nazi war criminals. It was a great asset to hunt them down,” Ziva cuts Tony off.  
“I always wondered how Mossad did that. It’s one of the only good this Mossad did, hunting down them animals,” I say to Ziva.  
“So basically what you’re saying to me is, we have nothing,” Gibbs snaps.  
“Gibbs! Ziva and Alice are talking about Nazis. I wouldn’t exactly call Nazis nothing,” Abby corrects him.  
“Abby.”  
“We have nothing until we crack her encryptions.”  
“You mean if. It’s high leave. It’s extremely sophisticated,” McGee explains.  
“Would her password help?” Ducky asks as she walks into the lab.  
Well yeah, Ducky, but we don’t have it,” Abby says to him happily.  
“Well, I just spent a long night in our lieutenant’s head. I may be able to offer some suggestions. Try coral gables,” Ducky says to them making McGee type it but its wrong so Ducky offers another one, “Uh… Fiddler’s Green.” That too is wrong so he tries again, “Hampton Inn.”  
“Nice try. Tony, Ziva, Alice, with me,” Gibbs orders us when Ducky’s three guess is wrong as we leave.  
“Spanish Rose,” Ducky offers again and it’s right this time.  
“Whoa!” Abby exclaims.  
“We’re in! Ducky, that’s,” McGee begins.  
“Mind-blowingly amazing.”  
“It’s more of an art, than a science. Oh, Lieutenant Sullivan was indeed into targeting people. She was using all her military knowledge and skills to find a husband,” Ducky admits.  
“Well, it looks like she found herself a psycho instead, Doctor Mallard,” Gibbs says to him.  
“Thank you. One day I am going to get him to say that,” I say to Ducky, Abby and McGee making them node at me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Now that we have access to her files, we can see she was using MorphPro to predict the appearance of her adult offspring,” McGee informs us in the squad room with the program on the plasma between Tony and McGee’s desks.  
“Creepy. No wonder she couldn’t find a husband,” Tony comments.  
“If it wasn’t so price and I know about it before Ari, I would have used it to torment Kate with all her boyfriends,” I admit making Tony smile at me because he could see me doing it.  
“You know, choosing someone to spend the rest of your life with is not easy. Who wouldn’t want to know all the facts before deciding?” McGee asks us.  
“Isn’t that what dating’s all about?” Ziva asks him.  
“Yeah, you should try that sometime, McGee,” Tony teases McGee.  
“Gee, I wonder what would happen if you two hooked up? Guys, meet your love child,” McGee say before putting what Tony and Ziva’s baby would look like which is infant with fat cheeks and squinting eyes  
“Aww, it’s so cut,” I exclaim as I stare at Tony and Ziva’s would be child as Ziva laughs at it.  
“Do Gibbs and the Director!” Tony and Ziva orders McGee making McGee do it and it comes out with a very pretty redhead making me smile because she has the same blue eyes as Kelly and Gibbs and Gibbs noise.  
“Mmm. Now that’s not a bad combination,” Ziva comments as I look at her, she’s beautiful and Gibbs would have loved her to the end of time.  
“Even with Gibbs as a father, I’d date her,” Tony admits.  
“Never more than once, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him as he walks into the squad room and gives me a look that makes sure I’m okay, especially with Tony, Ziva and McGee used the director when they know I’m dating him.  
“Ah! You and the director make nice Gibblets, Gibbs,” Abby complements them before adding, “What about Alice and Gibbs?”  
“McGee, pull up that website. While you four were playing, Abby found out where our lieutenant was the day she was abducted,” Gibbs informs us while McGee puts up the website. Gibbs walks over to us and stands right behind me with his hand on my hip, holding me against his body.  
“Speed dating?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“There was an email invitation on her computer. It’s a three day event and she went missing after the first day,” Abby explains to us.  
“Gas station where Farris stole her SUV was two blocks from the hotel hosting it,” Gibbs adds.  
“So she wasn’t screaming about being singled out by a guy,” Tony begins.  
“She was talking about this,” Ziva finishes for him.  
“I’ve heard of V-S-O. Apparently they have an eighty0five percent success rate,” McGee informs us.  
“For what?”  
“For marriages.”  
“What about kidnappings, McGee?” I ask him.  
“I will work on getting a list of clients attending the event.”  
“I tried it. Their lawyers say the ‘Virginia single out’ is a confidential service. So they keep their client list under lock and key,” Abby informs him.  
“Warrant. On it, boss,” Tony says as he jumps into action.  
“Not enough time. It ends tonight,” Gibbs reminds us.  
“I can’t tell you who is there, but I can tell you that it’s the same guys from Sunday night. You want to know who I know?” Abby asks us.  
“The V-S-O is designed to introduce successful men to a wide assortment of eligible women. Each night brings the promise of romance and a chance finding your soulmate,” McGee informs us making us stare at him and he adds, “Or so I’ve heard. Okay, know what? I… I thought about going to one… one time.”  
“After this is over, you and I are going to have a little talk,” Tony says to McGee.  
“So the men remain the same, but the women change every night,” Abby informs us what McGee has already said.  
“Hey, we’re doing this the old fashioned way. So Ziva, do you still think being a geek makes for a good cover?” Gibbs asks her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You sure about this?” McGee asks Ducky in the lab where Ziva is dressed like a nerd.  
“Oh, absolutely. We have created an image of Lieutenant Sullivan’s type. Yeah, hopefully the similarities will trigger a visceral response in our kidnapper,” Ducky admits.  
“Do you really think he’ll come back for another woman, Ducky?” Ziva asks Ducky making me place me arm around her, she is not going into danger.  
“No, no, no, no, no. I think he’ll come back to avoid suspicion. I doubt you’ll be in any kind of danger.”  
“Video-surveillance glasses,” McGee hands her the glasses to wear.  
“I haven’t sent hem since we set Kate into strip club with Tony,” I exclaim with a smile, she was horrified and used all the hot water trying to get the sin off her after that case. While Kate’s set used to flick up with a rounded bottom as Ziva’s set is square, nerdy set.  
“Good work, McGee!” Tony says as he looks at the nerd Ziva.  
“I look like a dork,” Ziva complains as she is wearing plain skirt, hair pulled back into a bun, eyeglasses with a plain black frame.  
“Yeah, that’s the point.”  
“And this is a portable finger print scanner. Its wireless,” Abby explains to Ziva as he hands it over to Ziva.  
”And we’ll know within a matter of seconds if the prints you collect match our mystery prints from the SUV,” McGee informs her.  
“All you have to do is get each dater to press his right index finger here.”  
“Really? Is that all, Abby? How do you suggest I do that?” Ziva asks her in confusion.  
“Improvise. You’ll figure it out,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Our priority is I.D.ing the members and finding out which one drives a silver Honda Accord,” Tony informs her.  
“Questions?” I ask them.  
“Just one. Can anyone please explain what speed-dating is?” Ziva asks us.  
“It’s were a group of single people get together in a room and over a predicated amount of time, a bell rings and all the men move to the next woman, so everyone can talk and if you click with the person, at the end of the night, you can exchange numbers,” I explain to Ziva.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ninety-second dates? I thought Alice was kidding me, Gibbs,” Ziva complains from the ballroom turned speed-dating room that night.  
“You’ll do find, Ziva. I had marriages shorter than that,” Gibbs informs her making me laugh into my hand from my spot beside him in MTAC.  
“Huh! I’m starting to understand why.”  
“Tony, sit-rap,” Gibbs orders Tony who is in the ball-room watching Ziva to keep her safe.  
“No Silver Accord in the parking structure. Our girl’s looking a little nervous, though. I think we found her kryptonite. Our big bad spy doesn’t do geek,” Tony teases Ziva.  
“Did you just say Greek?” Ziva mishears Tony.  
“How about both of you shut up because you give yourself away,” I offer to them.  
“Okay, daters we’ve got a really full house tonight, so please remember, be courteous to each other and move at the sound of the chime. Please begin now,” we hear over the radio as speed-dating begins before a chime rings out and a man slides in the seat across from Ziva making me grab Gibbs arm. She better be safe, she has to be, I have gotten too attached to her.  
“Hi, Natalie! I’m Larry,” Larry greets Ziva  
“Hi. Uh… last name?” Ziva asks him.  
“Uh, West. Uh… banker by trade. But my passion happens to be astronomy. Um… why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?”  
“I like computers. And that stuff you do with the yarn.”  
“Knitting?”  
“Yes! That’s it.”  
“Has anyone ever told you you’re very attractive, Natalie?”  
“My brother.”  
“That’s interesting.”  
“Get his prints, Ziva,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“You know, I feel,” Ziva begins talking to Larry.  
“Interface is up. She’s getting his prints now,” McGee informs us over Ziva.  
“With you, Gary.”  
“Larry,” Larry corrects Ziva.  
“Oh.”  
“Wat have you got in your hand there?”  
“It’s called a mood scanner. See?”   
“Oh.”  
“It lets me know if you’re in the mood.”  
“Ooh, very new age. I like it,” Larry chuckles at Ziva as she uses on him.  
“There is something about your eyes.”  
“I get that a lot. It’s allergies.”  
“Oh. What kind of car do you drive?”  
“Does it really matter?”  
“Well, cars get me extremely hot, Larry!”  
“I drive a Porch.”  
“You mean a Porsche?”  
“You. It’s in the shop.”  
“That’s a nice… car.”  
“Oh for one. Twenty-four more guys to go,” McGee informs us.  
“He’s clean, Ziva,” Gibbs repeats to Ziva.  
“Yeah, well you didn’t have to smell him, Gibbs,” Ziva complains.  
“And do turn up the charm, Ziva David. You’re a geek, not mentally deranged.”  
“Be nice, Jethro,” I hiss as him as I hit his arm. She is trying but she’s out of her comforted zone. More dates come throw Ziva who has turned up her flirting but none of them is the right guy yet.  
“Get you another one, sir?” Thomas, the bartender, asks Tony who is standing by the bar.  
“Oh, yeah sure. Why not? Thanks, Graham,” Tony agrees for another drink.  
“You with the speed-dating party, sir?”  
“Why? Do I look like I need that stuff to get a date?”  
“I have to ask, sir. They get fifteen percent off drinks.”  
“Mm. Just my luck. I’m just waiting for a friend. Met her online last month. She was supposed to be here an hour ago. Want to see a picture? Recognize her?” Tony asks Thomas as he shows the bar tender a photo of our missing girl.  
“Dirty vodka martini. She’s a regular. Saw her around on Sunday afternoon.”  
“Really? Was she alone or with someone?”  
“She was with the speed-dating party. A couple guys were buying drinks for her afterwards. You know how that goes.”  
“Yeah. Yeah. Any of those McFisters here now?”  
“That’s one of them. Over there. The gentleman with the glasses across from the nerdy-looking girl.”  
“Yeah, thank you. Did you get that, boss?” Tony asks us when Thomas moves on.  
“Yeah. Got it,” Gibbs agrees.  
“We’re going to need a print on this guy and you’re out of time, Ziva,” I warn her.  
“Really?” Ziva says to something the guy says.  
“Oh, yeah! I think there’s something spiritual about glass. Hot molten silicate, shaping it with nothing,” the guy, Hooper, rambles about glass.  
“You know, I feel an attraction between us, Calvin,” Ziva cuts him off as she gabs his hand.  
“Really?”  
“Yes, something animal, you know. Something uh… primal,” Ziva continues as she places his hand on the scanner.  
“Okay.”  
“And time,” the runners of the speed-daters call out making Hooper remove his hand and tries move onto the next woman.  
“Print didn’t scan,” McGee informs us.  
“Ziva, we still need his print!” Gibbs orders her.  
“But we did get a hit on his name. Calvin Hooper reported a silver Honda accord stolen Sunday night in Fairfax. He could have been the one following Farris.”  
“Tony, take him down, quietly,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Intercepting now, boss,” Tony reports as he begins to move.  
“Would you like to get a bite to eat, Calvin?” Ziva asks Hooper, delaying him.  
“Uh, you mean… together?” Hooper asks Ziva in surprise.  
“Of course.”  
“Uh… well, sure! I’d love to!”  
“Or let’s just skip the dinner and go straight for desert!””  
“You know, this kind of thing never happens to me.”  
“Oh!”  
“Calvin Hooper?” Tony asks him as Hooper had a hand on Ziva’s ass and the other hand on the scanner.  
“Yes? Huh?”  
“Remove your hand or I will rip your arm off and beat you to death with it!” Ziva threats him making Hooper remove the hand.  
“Um…”  
“It’s not a match!” McGee informs us.  
“What, Run it again!” Gibbs orders him.  
“Boss, he’s not our guy.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“But you’ve no right to arrest me,” Hooper complains in integration with Ziva and Tony. Ziva is back in her everyday clothing and not a nerd.  
“You’re not under arrest, Calvin,” Tony promises him.  
“Yet,” Ziva adds.  
“We just want to clear up a few things.”  
“No one read me my Miranda right,” Hooper reminds them.  
“That’s because you’re not under arrest.”  
“Yet!” Ziva adds again.  
“Ziva!”  
“Sorry!”  
“You should be proud of him,” Shepard says to Gibbs in the observation room with me as we watch the integration.  
“DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks him in confusion.  
“When you left, there were some rocky moments…”  
“The only rocky moments, you created. We worked just fucking fine when you got you big noise out of his team. So don’t lie and make it out like Jethro’s or Tony’s or Ziva’s or McGee’s or my fault. When you left to fuck someone else in another town, we were just fine. But you got involved and it got rocky,” I cut her off making Gibbs pull me away from her because he doesn’t need me to attack the director.  
“He really held the team together,” Shepard attempts to talk over me so Gibbs can’t hear me.  
“That’s what I trained him to do,” Gibbs informs Shepard without releasing me.  
“I just thought you should know he excelled at it.”  
“Then give him his own team, Jen.”  
“You think he’s ready?”  
“I wouldn’t have quit if he wasn’t.”  
“See, quit. You quit,” I exclaim forgetting all about the director in favour of proving Gibbs quit and not retired.  
“Retired.”  
“You said quit.”  
“You should tell him that,” Shepard overlaps me again.  
“Oh, trust me. When DiNozzo thinks he’s ready for his own team, you’ll know about it. Hell, the whole world will know about it,” Gibbs promises her.  
“You say you reported your car stolen Sunday night,” Tony says in integration.  
“Yes. Is that some kind of crime?” Hooper demands of him.  
“No. of course, not. However, filing a false police report…”  
“Crime!” Ziva cuts Tony off happily.  
“I think I want a lawyer now,” Hooper snaps at them.  
“What part of ‘you’re not under arrest’ don’t you get, Calvin?” Tony demands of him.  
“So I’m… I’m free to go here at any time?”   
“Sure. Unless we charge you with a crime. See, the thing is, Cal, can I call you Cal? Arresting you means more paperwork for me. So what I need from you is the truth.”  
“But my car really was stolen.”  
“Which sucks for you. Unfortunately you reported it stolen from your home in Fairfax.”  
“Speed0dating is a three day event. You stayed at the Belmar every night. You paid case up front,” Ziva reminds him.  
“Which was wise, considering that you’re married and attending a speed-dating service.”  
“I’m calling his wife.”  
“No! Wait! Please. It wasn’t stolen from my house, but you can’t… I… she’ll find out. My wife was at her sister’s place in Jersey. They just had a baby. I’ve been married eighteen years now. I was just trying to have a little fun,” Hooper exclaims in fear of his wife finding out.  
“That’s why I am never getting married,” I mumble in disgust. Who knows what he could catch because he wanted to have a little fun.  
“Oh, baby. Don’t be that way,” Gibbs whispers in my ear as he watches the integration.  
“Yeah. What we need to know is where and when, Cal,” Tony informs him.  
“The first day of the event, I struck out,” Hooper exclaims.  
“Shocking,” Ziva says sarcastically.  
“So I drove to the Texaco around six to get some cigarettes and wine. And I’m in the store maybe a minute when I look out and this guy is driving away in my car!”  
“Please describe him,” Tony says.  
“White, about your height. He was wearing a Chicago Cubs hat. And really, you know, I just got a glimpse of him but…”  
“Not good enough. You grabbed my ass, Calvin,” Ziva snaps at him before threatening to ring the wife again.  
“No, hold on! Hold on! Just a second. Um… give me a second! Just a second to… um… when I drove up he uh… he was standing out front, and he was on the pay phone. I swear that’s all the ever happened.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Farris stole the lieutenant’s SUV with the lieutenant in it from the gas station at around eighteen hundred,” Ziva works through the crime scene timeline in the squad room the next morning.  
“And Cubs hat steals Calvin’s car at the same time, same place, and follows him,” Tony adds.  
“Well, do you think they were working together?”  
“IT’s possible.”  
“Except they weren’t. Guy in the Cubby hat stopped by to use the payphone. Probably didn’t want to risk being overheard. Didn’t figure on Farris coming by and stealing his car,” Gibbs blows their theory apart.  
“So he had to steal the Accord to sallow Farris.”  
“ID he wanted the Lieutenant back,” I remind him calmly.  
“Well, we’ve got to get that pay phone, find out who he was calling.”  
“McGee just brought it back,” Gibbs informs us making Tony put his gear back down.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Feast your eyes on a Western Electric one-D-two. A piece of nineteen eighty-nine’s finest technology. The three latent prints that we took of this phone matched our mystery prints we got from the back of Sullivan’s SUV. Cubs hat is definitely our kidnapper,” Abby rambles away in the lab about the pay phone that is on her desk.  
“Did you run the calls made Sunday night?” Ziva asks Abby.  
“Did and done, Ziva. The traces just came in. there were only four calls made from the payphone that night. I mean, the payphone industry has been decimated by cell phone penetration. The only time you really use a pay phone would be on an airplane, which is probably the reason that you can’t user your cell phone on an airplane…”  
“Abs, the missing Lieutenant,” Gibbs overlaps her.  
“Right. Um… three of the calls were to taxi cab companies, and one was to a warehouse in Fredericksburg. It’s a rental space. There’s the address,” Abby hands us the address written on a notebook for Gibbs.  
“Abby! Good job,” Gibbs complements her before we all leave the lab.  
“Thanks Abs,” I call back to her as the elevator arrives.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We arrive at the warehouse that night and quickly move towards warehouse that is locked. Ziva picks the lock and they enter the darkened warehouse. Quickly turning on the lights, they fan out in a search pattern but the space is clear.   
“Clear!” Tony calls to us.  
“No one’s here, Boss,” McGee informs us.  
“The Lieutenant was here. It’s her purse; military ID is still inside,” Ziva informs us as she looks through the purse lies beneath a chair within a caged-in area.  
“They knew we were coming,” I state as I look at a detailed timelines, plans and a scale model of a hotel: it looks like someone has been planning a heist. The plans describe a coin collection and auction.  
“Maybe not, boss. You definitely need to check this out. It looks like a professional crew. Detailed itineraries, blueprints, and a scale model,” Tony calls over to Gibbs as I stand beside Tony staring at the plan.  
“It’s for the Belmar Plaza Hotel,” Ziva finishes for Tony.  
“They’re planning a heist?” McGee asks in surprise.  
“Yeah, a big one. Coin convection and auctions. They’re planning on hitting the hotel’s vault,” I state.  
“Does it say who?”  
“From inside. They’re working the place,” Gibbs informs as making us look over and see rack of hotel uniforms  
“What does the Lieutenant have to do with this?”  
“She was dating one of them. Alpha-bravo-one-zero-one-six. The missing profile. It says he’s a hotel bartender. Lied to her about his entire past,” Ziva calls out to us  
“She ran a background check on his cover,” Tony releases.  
“I can only imagine he panicked when she started questioning him about it.”  
“We need to get to the hotel before they hit the vault.”  
“They started four minutes ago. Come on!” Gibbs orders us before we all run back to the car; Ziva, Tony and McGee get in the back as Gibbs and I get in the front of the car.  
“Where’s our missing lieutenant?” I ask them in fear for her and no one can answer me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“NCIS!” Gibbs calls out from outside the laundry truck that Ziva is inside of, outside the hotel.  
“Put your hands where we can see them!” Tony orders the heisters.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Have a seat,” Ziva says to Sullivan on the ambulance bed.  
“Thank you. Thank you,” Sullivan stutters out in fear.”  
“You’re going to be okay. But your computer is dead,” I inform her softly.  
“I thought he really liked me.”  
“Love is hard to come by but don’t let this stop you from trying. But can I make a suggesting before you try again?”  
“What is it?”  
“Have a lookout. Someone you trust who you check in with, a friend, family member, me. Anyone but someone who you check in with and are at these things with you, watching your back,” I offer to her.  
“What well that do?”  
“Your lookout has the name of who you’re going out with and if you don’t check in they go to the authorities with the name and where you’re meant to be, and do a well-fair check and god forbid something happens to you, they have a name of who is the last person who saw you or took you. Does that make sense?”   
“Yes. I should have thought of that myself, it like having groups on ops.”  
“Lieutenant, you’re not a computer it is okay to overlook something but when you release you overlook it; you fix it and make yourself safer.”  
“Of course,” Sullivan agrees with me.  
“Sullivan’s if you need a lookout or just need a friend to listen to what happened this weekend call me, I’ve always got my phone,” I promise her as I hand the scared girl my card with my mobile number on it.  
“Thank you.”  
“Get checked out, take a week or longer and ready, get a lookout and find your love of your life and I’ll like photos when you do,” I tell her with a smile before moving away allowing her to be taken away by the ambulance.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Jethro,” I call out as I walk into the basement where he is working on the boat.  
“Hey,” Gibbs greets me back I walk down the stairs and over to him, pulling him into a tight hug. I don’t talk but enjoy holding Gibbs as he works on the boat, something I have missed in the last four months.  
“Jethro I heard a joke while you were in Mexico that you would love,” I exclaim happily.  
“Mmm-hmm?”  
“Why did God make snakes before lawyers?”  
“Why?”  
“Because he needed the practice,” I inform him making him laugh at me and I enjoy the vibration.  
“That’s a good one. I like it,” Gibbs informs him happily at the joke I heard.  
“You know, I missed this,” I mumble into his back.  
“Mmm, me too,” Gibbs agrees with me before putting the sander down and pulling me around so I am between him and the boat rib. He rubs my back and on each pass down his hand gets lower and lower.  
“Jethro,” I gasp when his hand grabs my ass and doesn’t move from there.  
“What? You’re the one who said I was a bottom guy,” Gibbs says innocently without moving his hand but squeezing it instead.  
“Yeah, but that’s the truth and I don’t lie,” I inform him making him chuckle against the top of my head before I pull back and kiss his lip. It’s different kissing him now that he has a moustache instead of clean shaved and even when he had the fuzzy beard and I’m not sure if I like it or not because I need more evidence before I decide if I like it or not.  
Gibbs bites my lips softly making me open up and he runs his tongue into my mouth and takes control of the kiss, I run my hand up into his shaggy hair, gently pulling on it. I run my second hand down his back and up under his shirt to see is skin against my own. Gibbs beaks the kiss to run his lips down my neck before latching onto my sweet spot making me moan at him, he knows my body to well and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel his leg slide between mine and I pull on his hair as I grind onto the leg.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out when he sucks my skin into his mouth and bites harden to leave a mark but not break the skin. I pull him away from my neck so I can kiss him heatedly. I run my lips down his throat to where his neck meets his shoulders and I bite there hard enough to leave my own mark as I run my hand down to grab his budge…


	32. Faking it

“How would you know?” McGee asks Ziva as they walk into the squad room this morning.  
“Know what?” Tony asks them.  
“When an expert liar is telling Ziva a lie.”  
“And this started how?” I ask them in confusion.  
“Well, I told her that I went to the gum this morning.”  
“Liar.”  
“No great skill in guessing you were fibbing there, probie. You may have lost some weight, and personally I am very proud of you. But gym is definitely not your middle name,” Tony agrees with me and Ziva while belittling McGee.  
“Okay, well, Ziva thinks that all men are liars.”  
“Really? So if I were to lie to you, you would be able to tell?”  
“Particularly you,” Ziva laughs at Tony.  
“You think?”  
“I wouldn’t go there, Tony,” McGee warns him making me smirk; this is going to be good.  
“Oh, watch and weep. True or false? I had eggs for breakfast this morning.”  
“True,” Ziva answers him.  
“Lucky guess. Last night I had a date with a very beautiful woman.”  
“False.”  
“She’s good,” Tony complements Ziva to McGee before saying his last question, “My first car was a shiny new red Corvette.”  
“False. Strike three. I win.”  
“What about me? Can you tell is I am lying?” I ask Ziva making her turn from Tony to me.  
“Go.”  
“I haven’t had breakfast yet today.”  
“False.”  
“I first started drinking coffee at the age of eighteen.”  
“True.”  
“I have had a threesome,” I say as I stare into her eyes with a smirk making the boys grin like two year olds.  
“True. Strike three. I win.”  
“I had breakfast today, bacon at the coffee shop. I started drinking coffee at the age of eighteen months. I have never had a threesome. Strike three, I win,” I inform her the truth making everyone look surprised because I lied to Ziva without trouble until I remind them, “I tricked you on who I was dating for over a year. This was nothing.”  
“How did… how did you do that?” Tony asks Ziva once they get over the shock that I lied to Ziva without her releasing.  
“When you said you had a red Corvette, you looked down and to the left. A tell-tale sign when people lie. Something Alice seems to have overcome,” Ziva explains.  
“And the date?”  
“Tony, if you had a date, we would have heard everything from her hair colour to how she feels as you fuck her,” I remind him.  
“Tony, if you’d gone out with a beautiful woman last night, you would have talked about it all day,” Ziva explains.  
“I would?” Tony asks in surprise.  
“Location?” Gibbs says into his phone from outside the squad room but near to us.  
“Oh, yeah,” McGee agrees with us.  
“Okay, but do you possibly know that I had eggs for breakfast this morning?” Tony asks in confusion making me smirk.  
“Gear up. We have a message from a dead guy,” Gibbs informs us as he moves into the squad room and over to his desk.  
“Ready to roll, boss,” Tony agrees as we get out gear.  
“DiNozzo?”  
“Yeah, boss?”  
“You’ve got egg on your shirt,” Gibbs informs Tony as we walk over to the elevator.  
“Not just your shirt,” Ziva adds.  
“So you had a threesome?” Gibbs asks me softly making me laugh at him because of course he heard that.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s amazing what the human body can endure. This poor fellow probably lasted longer than he should,” Ducky informs us as he looks at the body in the car that wrote NCIS in his own blood.  
“How much longer?” I ask him from beside Gibbs next to the car that Ducky is squatting next to.  
“Several minutes. Not much when you stack it against a lifetime, but minutes nonetheless. He could have driven a couple of miles.”  
“More like a couple of city blocks. Traffic sucks this time of day. According to his military ID, he’s chief Petty Officer Jack T Vale. You know him?” Giotto, the local cop who out victim died in front of, informs us.  
“No,” Gibbs answers him in the least amount of words needed making me smirk.  
“Well, he knows you guys.”  
“Jackpot. There’s got to be fifty or sixty bucks there,” Tony exclaims as he looks at the coinage on the ground around the open driver door that feel out of two large bags of mostly quarters.  
“Yeah, there’s more in his trouser pocket,” Ducky informs Tony.  
“What do you think? Illegal slots?”  
“Maybe he was on his way to a video arcade,” McGee theories.  
“Maybe he was doing laundry,” Ziva adds.  
“That’s a lot of laundry,” Tony comments.  
“Maybe he’s doing your laundry Tony,” I joke making Tony laugh at me.  
“Maye he was a once a month kind of man,” Ziva theories.  
“I do it once a week,” Tony comments making us all give him a look before he adds, “Laundry.”  
“Who’s the fare?” Gibbs asks the local cop.  
“Oh, that’s Robert John Stevens. But the guy’s got an accent as thick as polish sausage, so I ain’t buying it. Found a loaded thirty-eight on the seat. Recently fired,” Giotto explains while handing Gibbs the ‘fake’ ID and the gun.  
“Got an exit wound?” I ask Ducky.  
“No, there doesn’t appear to be an exit wound. So, I dig out the bullet, you match it to the weapon and hey, presto! Justice prevails,” Ducky explains.  
“Open and shut case, boss,” Tony says happily.  
“No such this, DiNozzo. Only water-tight,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“Give me a call when you’re finished,” Ducky asks us before getting ready to leave.  
“You got it, Ducky,” Tony agrees with him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Fake name. Fake plates. Real weapon. Real guy dead,” Gibbs says to our unknown man in integration.  
“When he first saw you, he called nine-one-one. When you realized he was trailing you, you shot him,” I continue for Gibbs.  
“Even the very, very good ones slip up eventually. And you, mister Stevens, you’re not very good,” Gibbs says to him but he just ignores us making us leave the room. “Ziva,” Gibbs calls to our little truth detector as we step into the observation room where she is with Tony watching our unknown man.  
“Gibbs,” Ziva turns to him.  
“How many languages do you speak?” Gibbs asks her before I hand her the file making her node before walking into the interrogation room. I move over to stand beside Tony facing the mirror with Gibbs standing closely behind me.  
“What is your name?” Ziva asks him in French.  
“French,” Tony says what she is speaking but the known man doesn’t react.  
“All we want to know is your name.”  
“And German,” I state with Tony.  
“Tell me with your name.”  
“Italian, of course,” Tony exclaims what language Ziva just spoke in.  
“Why won’t you tell us your name?”  
“Greek.”  
“Arabic,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“Nice, boss.”  
“Tell me your name,” Ziva repeats in Russian.  
“Ah, got him. He’s Russian.”  
“Looked down and to the left. Sure sign of a liar,” Tony resights what Ziva informs him.  
“That’s very good, DiNozzo.”  
“Thanks, boss.”  
“Did Ziva tell you that?” Gibbs asks Tony making em laugh at him because Gibbs doesn’t give Tony enough credit sometimes. Not this time but sometimes and I don’t want Tony to feel belittled.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Tell me you found a match on our suspect’s prints, Abs,” Gibbs begs of her as we enter the lab today to see Abby meticulously stacking the coins from the crime-scene and Gibbs leans over her shoulder watching her work.  
“Negative. It’s still processing. What we do have is seventy-three dollars and sixty-five cents. That’s what the victim was carrying. And there’s no pennies. He probably threw them out. A lot of people do, you know. I mean, I don’t, but other people do. Do you know how many pennies are thrown out or pit into jars every year?” Abby rambles her answer making me smile because she didn’t even stop for breath.  
“First Abby breath. And second enlighten us,” I ask her with a grin.  
“Three and a half billion. Billion, Alice, Gibbs! That’s like thirty-five million dollars in pennies. That’s a lot of pennies in any language.”  
“Including Russian?” Gibbs asks her as I close my mouth, that was a shockingly large number.  
“No, Russians don’t have pennies. They have kopecks. What does it have to so with Russia?”  
“Run his prints through immigration and let’s find out,” I request of her.  
“Oh, because he’s a foreigner and every visitor us printed when they enter the U.S. Cleaver, Alice, Gibbs. Okay, I reviewed the nine-one-one call. Ready?”  
“My name is Jack Vale. This si really important, okay? I’ve identified a terrorist – a known terrorist. I’m following him downtown right now. Get someone over here. Call NC,” Jack Vale, our victim, says on the recording.  
“Wow, calling from the grave,” I comment with a shiver because it’s not often we hear our victims’ call out our name.  
“NCIS. I’m guessing an over-taxed relay tower in the downtown area caused the line to drop off before he finished. But Gibbs, this guy works in the supply department. And what would he know about terrorists?” Abby asks in confusion.  
“That’s a good question,” Gibbs agrees with her.  
“I also isolated the background noise,” Abby informs us before a machine beeps in the lab making her continue; “It’s kind of a Pac-man-retro-meets-Vegas sort of this. Not really something you’d hear in a car.”  
“He was on foot when he made that call,” I release as her computer beeps again.  
“And we have a winner. Nikolai Aleksandrovich Pulenko. Russian. Un-oh. And there’s a homeland security alert. You’re not the only one interested in Mister Nikolia Puchenko,” Abby informs us before we rush out of the lab and back into the elevator to go told to Nikolia, ex-unknown man who the cops pulled over before our victim drove to them and left our name in his blood. We get back to integration room and Gibbs enters the room with me but I promise I won’t say anything.  
“Like I said, Nikolai Puchenko,” Gibbs begins in Russian making Puchenko listen making us know beyond a doubt that we have him, Gibbs continues, “Everyone slips up eventually.”  
“I want lawyer,” Puchenko exclaims in English.  
“Get a good one. Tell him the charge is going to be murder,” I inform him calmly in English.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Normally, matching the bullet to the weapon shouldn’t present us with any great difficulty. But this is far from normal,” Ducky informs us in autopsy today.  
“How far?” I ask him.  
“I haven’t seen anything like it in twenty-five years of slicing and dicing. Well, the bullet entered below the rib cage, traveling from left to right. It nicked the pancreas, missed the liver, deflected off the fifth rib, and gouged its way through soft tissue and perforated the stomach. No exit wound. And so that’s where it appears to have um…”  
“TO have um… what, Doctor Mallard?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Vanished. It’s not in the billet furrow and it’s not showing up on any of the X-rays. I mean, I don’t know where it’s gone. I’m afraid we don’t have a bullet,” Ducky explains making us look confused.  
“Wait what? Can you say that again? Please?” I ask him in shock.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The nine-one-one call was routed through this tower here,” McGee begins as they attempt to work out where the phone call was made on a map in the squad room as Tony, McGee and I are at their own desks working.  
“Anyone ever heard of Operation Sunburst?” Tony asks but that’s seems to be off topic and probably a movie so I don’t care.  
“Which Locates Vale somewhere in this area when he made the call. Anywhere outside of the circle, it meant that the call was routed through a different cell tower.”  
“Back in ninety one! Come on! Anyone! Operation Sunburst!”  
“About three city blocks.”  
“Yes, Abby said the signal dropped out.it probably puts him at the outside of the reception area of that tower,” Gibbs reminds McGee.  
“That’s pretty clever, boss. How did you figure that out?”   
“Too much time around you.”  
“Boss! Operation Sunburst. Do you know it? It was a sting. One of our ops. Chief Vale was part of it. He was just a P.O. three back then. Detailed from the supply department to NIS for five weeks,” Tony calls over to us making me release he wasn’t talking about a movie, but hey he has a history.  
“Get that file from archives,” I call over to Tony as I get up and walk over to him and come to a stop behind him.  
“I can’t!” Tony exclaims making Gibbs raise his eyebrows making Tony add, “I mean, it’s not possible, boss. I’ve got the index reference, but when I called the archivist, he said the file was missing.”  
“Check the log. Who booked it out last?” Gibbs demands as he walks over to us and stands beside me watching over Tony’s shoulder.  
“CIA. So I guess that’s… not a who, it’s more of an it.”  
“Who was the NIS case agent?” I ask Tony next.  
“What time is it in Mexico right now?” Tony asks us when we see the name.  
“Cantina time,” Gibbs answers with half a smile.  
“That’s all the time,” I remind Gibbs making him grin bigger as he pulls out his phone and walking away over to the stairs and I follow him.  
“Well, I’m surviving, you?” Gibbs asks the person on the other end before waiting for a response, “Every day. But then something stops me… Operation Sunburst… you remember a Petty Officer named Vale…? Yeah, well he was shot dead this morning… Well, you tell me. We’ve got a suspect. A Russian… Nikolia Puchenko… So you sent him undercover…? Oh, he bumped into Puchenko on the street. Recognized him. Tried to follow him. Puchenko shot him… Yeah. Working on it, boss. Good luck with the fishing down there. Thanks for the tip.”  
“Can I have the phone for a moment?” I ask Gibbs as I hold my hand out for his phone making him give me a look as he hands it too me. I say into the phone, “You owe me five dollars, I win.”  
“That’s why you wanted the phone?” Gibbs laughs at me as I hang up the phone.  
“Mmm-hmm.”  
“We got a case yet, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asks Tony as we move back into the squad room.  
“Like you said, working on it, boss,” Tony answers him letting us know he was eavesdropping.  
“We’ve narrowed down the area where he was shot. And we do have a suspect in possession of the gun,” Ziva reminds us.  
“Which means murder one,” McGee adds.  
“With a bullet,” Tony also adds.  
“If we can find one,” Gibbs and I say together.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Probie,” Mike calls out as he walks into Gibbs basement where Gibbs is working on his half-finished boat that night. He is finally finished the ribs and is now working on adding the outside hull, and I am laying under the boat on the table thing we sometimes sleep on reading the case file about what we have found so far hopping to find something to help us solve it.  
“Yeah,” Gibbs asks him as I watch the older ex-agent come down the stairs with his bag.  
“What’s this? Number three?”  
“Four.”  
“I would have thought you’d been done practicing by now.”  
“There’s always something to learn, Mike.”  
“Hard lessons.”  
“Yeah, some harder than others.”  
“Got any extra-fine?” Mike asks Gibbs as he holds up Gibbs drink.  
“You didn’t waste any time getting here.”  
“You were expecting me?”  
“Well, I would have been disappointed if you didn’t come.”  
“Yeah well, let’s just say I don’t like loose ends, probie.”  
“It would take more than lose ends to get you off that beach in Baja.”  
“These scumbags have been selling weapons to tyrants and terrorists ever since they gave us the slip. Guns, and bombs, and RPGs used to kill American soldier and Marines in every hellhole from Mogadishu to Baghdad. It’s time it ended.”  
“You know who tipped them?” I ask Mike as I stick my head out and hang it upside down watching Mike.  
“Rumour was they’d agree to supply some new-tech Soviet missile to CIA. Guess they figured they wouldn’t get their missile if their arms dealers were in prison, which is exactly where I was going to send them. You’ve got a chance here, probie. Don’t screw it up.”  
“Mike, I want my money. And if I was you, I would get on the next plane because every agent that quits NCIS and then comes back never seem to leave,” I add making Gibbs laugh at me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Same to you, Nikolai. Who’s that with him?” Mike asks as we watch Nikolia in from observation room the next morning.  
“Marty Allen. His lawyer,” Tony informs him.  
“Hope he’s not a good lawyer.”  
“Is there a such then as a good lawyer?” I ask mike in confusion, I don’t this those two words go together.   
“Enjoy your tour?” Gibbs asks Mike as he walks up to us as we return to the squad room.  
“Yeah. The place is like a video arcade. You’ve got more technology in one room than we gad in every office across the whole damn country.”  
“Mike, I have more technology on my body then you had in every office across the whole country and I only have a phone on my body,” I cut him off making him laugh at me before continuing.  
“You know, if I needed to interrogate someone when I worked at Camp Pendleton, I’d take them into the brook closet with a telephone directory.”  
“Yeah, no brook closet, no telephone directory, no smoking,” Gibbs informs Mike who is about to light up.  
“Another three reason why I left just in… time,” Mike says as Shepard escorts a man to us.  
“Special Agent Gibbs, may I have a moment?” Shepard asks Gibbs sweetly.  
“Hoo-rah, gunny.”  
“That’s our lady director,” I whisper to Mike making him smirk at me.  
“You know that guy?” Ziva asks Mike who is watching Gibbs follow Shepard over to the mystery man, we have too many mystery men in this case and Mike’s making it worse by being here.  
“Yeah. Like a rat knows a snake,” Frank answers her as we eavesdrop on Gibbs and Shepard’s conversation and I walk over to Gibbs, I don’t trust Shepard not to fuck us over again.  
“Director Shepard,” Gibbs greets her innocently.  
“Special Agent Gibbs, this is Roy Carver, homeland security,” Shepard introduces this unknown man.  
“Agent Gibbs, “Carver greets Gibbs.  
“Mister Carver is here in relation to a suspect we’re holding.”  
“Nikolia Puchenko.”  
“I’d like you to transfer him into Mister Carver’s custody.”  
“Why? What did this one promise you?” I demand of Shepard.  
“He’s working for us. He’s providing valuable intel on the arms trade among terrorist groups in Eastern Europe,” Carver informs me,  
“Was he working for you when he killed the sailor yesterday?” Gibbs demands of him tightly as he places his hand on my back to stop me from attacking this guy.  
“I read the preliminary autopsy report on that, agent Gibbs. Seems there’s a lack of evidence linking Puchenko to the crime scene.”  
“I don’t know what you read, but it’s not our file, we have all our duckies in line. Jimmy must have mistyped it again. Never mind, I’ll make sure you get the fixed one with the arrest file. Good bye, don’t forget to let the FBI know you failed like they did,” I lie to him.  
“He was carrying an illegal firearm,” Gibbs informs Carver about my lie.  
“Not connected to the shooting,” Carver snaps at us making me smirk.  
“Yep it is. Like I said, your contact inside NCIS is wrong this time. Fuck off and don’t let the director blow you on the way out,” I snap at him tightly.  
“Well, find evidence that proves he was involved in any serious criminal activity…”  
“EVERY crime is a serious activity. Not just the murder or kidnap or the rapist but every criminal. So don’t feed us a load of bullshit that worked on our director, you’re taking him and you want give him back for a bullet in the head.”  
“And I promise, I’ll hand him right back to you,” Carver overlaps me but I don’t care.  
“Do we have anything yet, Agent Gibbs?” Shepard completely releases my lie making me glare at her.  
“We will,” Gibbs answers her when he releases my lie is out.  
“Until we do, I’m releasing him to Homeland Security.”  
“Fuck off; you are going to do this again. You are wrong, again. Fucking overreacting and making the wrong decisions. You’re supposed to be on our side not handing everything over to the other people in the alphabet soup. What is the fucking point of having NCIS if you are just handing over all our cases and suspects to the other agencies. If you think this is the right why around political pressure, then you should just shut NCIS down, because we’re not doing our jobs and just wasting time and money,” I snap at Shepard.  
“Ziva, get Puchenko,” Gibbs orders Ziva when he realise Shepard isn’t going to change her mind correctly.  
“Hello, this is Special Agent DiNozzo. David is coming down to pick up Puchenko,” Tony says into the phone as Ziva leaves. Gibbs leads me away from Shepard and Carver, back over to Mike, Tony and McGee so I that I don’t kill them both.  
“If he walks out of here, you won’t see him again. Any evidence you have won’t be worth spit,” Mike informs us.  
“I know. But the director is too busy trying to get a high job to release she is fucking us over. Again. It’s that mean times we need a new word for her fucking us over,” I inform Mike angrily.  
“We haven’t got enough evidence to even clear our threat. We can’t charge him with anything,” Tony reminds us.  
“Besides being in possession of a fake ID. Lying about his identity in a federal investigation.”  
“Mister Carver, would you sign these custody transfer forms?” Shepard asks him righteously as she hands them to him like she isn’t fucking us over and under the bridge here.  
“Director, may I draw your attention to an NIS case codenamed Sunburst, which dealt with serious allegations of arms smuggling by this man, Nikolai Puchenko,” Frank asks Shepard softly as he walks over to her but we all hear him and Carver tenses up.  
“Or have you heard of the line, don’t fuck over the people who are keeping you employed as a bad boss?” I snap at her making Gibbs physically restrain me.  
“I’m aware of the case, Mister Franks,” Shepard says, making a point to call him Mister instead of agent to point out he is a no-body to her.  
“As I recall, the file was lost, Mike,” Carver exclaims tightly.  
“Nah. Nothing is ever lost at NIS. We have too many people who can’t write so they write it over and over, leaving a messy draft somewhere. And I’ve copied Mike’s final draft and I still need to get a translated from an archaeologist,” I correct him calmly.  
“I made a copy, Roy. A messy draft,” Mike agrees with me making me smirk at ‘Roy.’  
“Jack Vale was the key witness. He’s dead. You don’t have anyone to testify,” Carver exclaims, hoping we are lying because otherwise he is getting out alone like I told him to.  
“I was the case agent. I’ll testify,” Franks promise him.  
“Serious enough charged for you, Director Shepard?” Gibbs taunts her, because she has two options, one fuck us over or two fuck homeland security over and protect her Agency.  
“Take him back into custody. I’m sorry, Mister Carver. NCIS is not through with this man,” Shepard says being on our side for a change and ordering Ziva to walk back down with the man she just got here.  
“Homeland Security looks forward to reviewing the file,” Carver exclaims.  
“We’ll be sure to send you a copy. But don’t worry, the original will be computerised because it can’t get lost,” I promise him as he storms away.  
“This is an outrage! I strongly protest your department’s treatment of my client!” Allen exclaims as he storms after his client.  
“You are a dead man!” Puchenko threats Mike in Russian and the treats keep coming.  
“Hey, hey, hey,” tony says to him as he helps Ziva manhandle him out of the room.  
“Come on,” Ziva adds.  
“What did he just say?” Shepard demands.  
“He said, ‘You’re a dead man, mike,’” Gibbs explains.  
“He’s threating the wrong person. If it was me, I would be threatening the person who doesn’t stand up for her own people but rather to do the paperwork to hand them over to whatever agency wants them,” I state calmly before lunging for the director but Gibbs catches me, because he saw it coming.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We’re taking Puchenko’s threat to kill Frank seriously. So right know, this is who we have to worry about. McGee?” Gibbs begs planning to protect his boss and then pointing to the photo on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk in the squad room who is Puchenko’s boss.  
“Arkady Mikhailovich Kobach. Late forties. Served with Puchenko in the Spetsnaz. That’s the soviet special forces. First Afghanistan, then Chechnya. In nineteen ninety, Arkady executed three clerks in the payroll office because they could not pay his men. He then shot the colonel who came to arrest him. Been dealing arms ever since,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“I want a twenty-four hour protection detail. DiNozzo, you’re team letter,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“You’re in safe hands, Mike,” Tony promise.  
“I’ve seen your hands, DiNozzo. They don’t impress me. I don’t need babysitting, gunny. I can look after myself,” Mike informs us making me laugh at his insult of Tony.  
“After spending four months in that crap hole you call home in Baja, I find that highly debatable,” Gibbs says.  
“Mike because this morons kill you, can I have my money?” I ask him innocently making him roll his eyes at me, but hand over the five bucks finally. I say, “Thank you, Mike. You can go die know, unless you want to make another bet.”  
“Safe house, boss?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“Yep. Make yourself at home, Tony,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“Won’t touch a thing, boss. McGee!”  
“We’ll be right down,” McGee says into his phone before hanging up and informing us, “Boss, Ducky found the bullet.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s fascinating where bullets can end up. I once found a twenty-two calibre slug in a woman’s knee, and she’d been shot in the chest. You see, the bullet entered her heart, was pumped down through the aorta, into the iliac, and on down into the femoral artery. Extraordinary,” Ducky rambles down in autopsy about our missing bullet but our missing bullet.  
“So the missing bullet’s in his knee?” Tony asks him hopefully.  
“No, no. God heavens no. That’s much too east. And anyway, it would have shown up on the X-rays.”  
“SO where is it?” Ziva asks him.  
“I have no idea. None at all.”  
“You said you found it, dad,” I remind him in confusion.  
“Well, I have. I just don’t know where. I can, however, tell you how. It was Abby who gave me the idea when she said that she would be sick to her stomach if she ever lost evidence. Sick. That’s the key word. So I had Abby run some tests of material I took from his esophagus. And we found traces of protein pepsin along with all sorts of other things such as sulphides, oleic acid, polyphenols. But the smoking gun, so to speak, was the presence of Tritium durum.”  
“Pasta?” Ziva asks him in confusion.  
“Well, specifically, it’s spaghetti cooked with garlic and olive oil. Spaghetti aglio-e-olio, as the Romans say. Very nice with a glass of San Genovese. Anyway, anyway, when the bullet became lodged in his stomach, he became sick. What you might call projectile vomit.”  
“He puked up the bullet?” Tony asks Ducky.  
“Yeah, find the puke and you’ll find the projectile.”  
“So you want us to look for a pile of… dried-up vomit,” McGee states.  
“Yes, and I’ll need a generous sample so I can positively match it to what I found in the victim. Oh, and of course, the bullet.”  
“Ziva, McGee, get on it,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Well, boss, we have narrowed it down to a few city blocks.”  
“Vale must have still been on foot when he was shot or he would have gotten sick in his car,” Ziva reminds him.  
“So maybe a parking garage or a parking lot? That narrows it down.”  
“Then, go. Don’t come back without the bullet,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Where’s Mike?” I ask Tony when I release he is missing.  
“I thought you were supposed to be protecting him,” Gibbs snaps at Tony lost his boss.  
“I was! I mean, I… he was right here,” Tony exclaims but Mike’s gone. We all quickly begin looking around for Mike. We take the elevator back up to the level with the squad room to look for Mike.  
“He couldn’t have gone far, boss,” Tony promise.  
“Don’t count on it,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Franks! Franks!” Tony calls out as he begins searches the rooms while I follow Gibbs who is looking around and following his noise making it easy to find Mike who is sneaking a smoke in the stairwell, just around the corner from the elevator.  
“Couldn’t find a broom closet,” Mike admits as he looks down at his cigarette.  
“How far did you look? The elevator’s right there. And the broom closet is over near integration,” I state making Mike blink because he missed it.  
“How do you know Carver?” Gibbs asks Mike as he leans on the wall behind me.  
“Just another spook from the old days that made my job difficult,” Frank explains to us.  
“You never mentioned he made a backup copy of that file.”  
“It was a long time ago, Probie.”  
“Is it enough?” I ask him hopefully.  
“Should do the trick.”  
“What’s in it?” Gibbs asks Mike.  
“Where’d you learn to be such a pain in the ass?”  
“Working with you. There’s a lot of people who want to see what’s in that file, Mike.”  
“Guess they’re going to be disappointed. There’s nothing to see. But there’s plenty to listen to.”  
“Vale was wearing a wire?” I ask him before adding, “Did they have that technology back then? When was the first wire used?”  
“And I was on the other end of it, listening to every word. I dubbed a copy. I tell what I heard, the audio tape back me up, and everybody’s happy. Except for Nikolai,” Mike informs us without answering my other question.  
“Where’s the tape?” Gibbs asks Mike ignoring my questions because I always ask questions that aren’t relevant.  
“Safe.”  
“How safe?” I ask him.  
“Safe enough that no one’s found it for fifteen year. This director… she’s okay, I guess. But I get the feeling that you’ve been working under her a little too long.”  
“The word’s changing, Mike,” Gibbs states as he places his hand on my hip to hold me still against him.  
“All the lines are getting blurred, probie. Hard for a man not to step over them. And you can call off this protection detail. I can take care of myself just fine.”  
“No, I can’t do that, Mike. All you have to be is a half a second slower, and you’re dead.”  
“Or the other guy just has to be a half second faster, just like it’s always been.”  
“I found him, boss!” Tony calls out when he ‘finds’ Mike.  
“Nice work, DiNozzo,” Mike complements him before stepping I side to show Tony we are already with him and I wave at the agent.  
“Were we lost too?” I ask Tony innocently.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs is working away at his computer in the squad room, with just me in the room with him because Mike and Tony are at the safe house, Gibbs’ house, and Ziva and McGee are searching for the bullet and vomit. I am sitting on the ledge behind Gibbs, rubbing his shoulders as he reads off his computer screen.  
Gibbs gets up, grabbing my hand to pull me after him up the stairs ingot MTAC where Shepard is running another operation on the screen in MTAC.  
“Need-to-know basis. And this one you didn’t need to know,” Shepard informs Gibbs tightly.  
“How well do you know Carver?” Gibbs demands of her, getting onto topic.  
“Um… been with Homeland Security since the start up.”  
“Before that.”  
“NSA?”  
“Try CIA,” I correct her calmly.  
“In ninety-one he was trying to get a sneak peek at top secret Soviet hardware, which links him directly to Puchenko and Kobach,” Gibbs adds.  
“Sounds speculative,” Shepard states.  
“And if I’m right?”  
“If you’re right, it probably was Carver who tipped off Kobach and Puchenko when we were going to arrest them in ninety-one.”  
“Hey, and look who pops to get Nikolia off the hook? CIA has a shopping list. Carver is the buyer. I want him taken out of the loop,” Gibbs orders her.  
“You don’t seriously think that Carver’s leaking information to Kobach on Mike Franks?”  
“He did it in ninety-one. No Mike, no case. Puchenko walks again. Probably right into a deal with Carver,” I inform Shepard calmly, but tightly she is pissing me off and I can’t kill her.  
“Jen, listen to me. Take him off the need-to-know list,” Gibbs orders her again.  
“Too late. Carver’s ready been briefed,” Shepard informs us making Gibbs storm out of MTAC with me back to the squad room where he rings Tony again.  
“DiNozzo, it’s Gibbs… we’ve got a security problem. Time to go off-script. Where’s Frank…? Tony! DiNozzo! Tony!” Gibbs calls into his phone before hanging up and grabbing his gear. I grab mine and follow him out to check on the safe house.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How is he?” Gibbs asks the paramedic at Gibbs house who is checking on Tony who was knocked out. Tony is sitting on Gibbs front seats, waiting for us and the paramedics to leave.  
“He’ll live,” the paramedic informs us.  
“Well, I’ve been hit harder, boss, by you,” Tony informs us making me laugh.  
“How many were there, Tony?” I ask him.  
“I didn’t see. Came up real fast from behind. The rest of our guys deployed from the house in less than thirty seconds, but they were already gone.”  
“With Mike?” Gibbs asks in fear for his boss, friend.  
“There must have been two teams. One to take me down, and the other to snatch him. Whoever did it, they were good. Sorry boss. So why grab him when all they had to do was kill him?”  
“He was holding evidence,” I explain with a grin.  
“Where?”  
“He wouldn’t tell me,” Gibbs admits.  
“Well, I guess you didn’t hold a blowtorch to his eyeballs to find out. These guys will.”  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his ringing phone. He continues, “Tell her I’m on my way.”  
“Jenny?” Tony asks Gibbs when he hangs up the phone.  
“Jenny? Just how cosy did you two get while I was away?”  
“Boy, that knock to the head must have been harder than I thought, ‘cause I’m saying crazy things that I didn’t even understand… do you think she’s single?”  
“He’s fine,” I say to the paramedic.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You didn’t waste any time,” Gibbs comments as we walk into the director’s office to see Carver is already here.  
“Bad news travel fast, especially in this town. How’s your agent?” Carver taunts us childishly.  
“Do you really give a damn?” I demand of him tightly.  
“Any updates on Mike Franks?” Shepard asks of us, while simultaneously telling Carver we are missing our prime witness making me raise my hands in disbelief. Why would she tell the bad guy that? She might as well fucking hand him the evidence too.  
“No,” Gibbs answers her tightly.  
“Do you expect to find him, Agent Gibbs?” Carver demands.  
“He’s a resourceful man.”  
“No doubt. In the meantime, I’d like Nikolia Puchenko released into my custody.”  
“I’m not finished with him.”  
“But you are, Agent Gibbs.”  
“Besides, we have evidence. Mike handed me the file for Sunburst. As we speak a trusted agent is typing it up and lodging it again. Within the hour it will be public knowledge to the how world how the CIA and now homeland security is protecting a terrorist that they have on their payroll. And leaked and almost, maybe still killed and NCIS, or NIS agent. The case is still live and you’re fresh out of luck. Fuck off,” I snap at Carver.  
“Perhaps your time would be better spent finding out who in your department leaked the location of the safe house where you were keeping your key witness,” Carver exclaims to Gibbs as he ignores my threat but it got under his skin with how he tensed up, his career is over when it becomes public.  
“Did you?” Gibbs demands of him tightly.  
“Gibbs,” Shepard snaps at him.  
“Well, did you? Or did you just tell your handler in the terrorist organisation where it was. Because it hasn’t been leaked in the last sixteen years butt the fucking second you are briefed on it, it’s leaked. That’s hinky to me,” I snap at him as I get into his personally space and ignore the director’s warning look.  
“Todd, that’s enough.”  
“No,” Carver answers us tightly.  
“You did in ninety-one,” Gibbs states as he pulls me back.  
“If you would like to have this request formalized, Director Shepard, that can be arranged.”  
“What? You not going to deny the fact you’ve betrayed NCIS twice and we’ve only dealt with you twice,” I demand of him tightly.  
“I’m sure you didn’t mean for that to sound like a threat, Mister Carver. But in the meantime, Mister Puchenko will remain in our custody, pending our investigation into the disappearance of Mike Franks,” Shepard finally steps in to protect her agents.  
“Well, I think you need to look closer to home. Maybe there was no leak. Maybe Franks just lost his nerve and ran away. Or Kobach met his asking price,” Carver snaps at us.  
“You don’t know Mike Franks,” Gibbs snaps back at him.  
“And you really think you do? Director,” Carver taunts him because storming away.  
“You’ve got about an hour, and then all hell is going to break loose. Jethro? I really hope you know Mike Franks as well as you think you do,” Shepard threats Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, what’s kept him?” Gibbs demands in the hallway outside of integration.  
“Business,” Tony answe0rs him as he opens the door showing us Allan and Puchenko in interrogation.  
“Good, I hate lawyers,” Gibbs complains as we enter the room.  
“I demand you release my client, agent Gibbs. You’ve got no grounds to hold him. Your key witness has disappeared. You have no case,” Allen snaps at us.  
“Oh, you’re right. We don’t have a case against your client for arms dealing,” I start.  
“But I do have one for murder,” Gibbs finishes for me as he hold up the bullet Ziva and McGee found in the bloody vomit in a carpark. Gibbs turns around and looks at McGee in observation, a good job look as Puchenko and Allan have a conversation quietly.  
“Two options. One, you spend the rest of your life in prison or two, you can cut a deal,” I state when he is done talking to his lawyer.  
“And you can tell me where to find your friend, Arkady.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Clear!” Tony calls out when we burst open the door into the apartment that Puchenko told us Arkady is in.  
“Clear!” Ziva agrees.  
“Clear!” I call out from the bedroom.  
“Clear! McGee!” Gibbs calls out.  
“Smoke’s from a Russian cigarette. Arkady hasn’t been gone long,” Ziva comments as McGee hooks his computer up to the phone.  
“Come on, doubt time,” Gibbs orders McGee to make him hurry up.  
“Okay, we’re on. Ten calls made in the last day. Three in the last hour and a half. First was to a cell phone, Marty Allen. Second call was to Merchant Bank. And the last call was to a hotel in the port district, El Executivo. Call was made to room seven,” McGee reports when his computer beeps.  
“Mexican hotel.”  
“Names and numbers please, McGee. Starting with the hotel!” I beg of him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you sure?” Gibbs demands of McGee who is called him too inform him at the hotel where the call was gone. We walk into the hotel room only to see a full ash tray.  
“Frank’s brand,” Tony nodes to the cigarettes and I pick up a menu for the hotel’s restaurant.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“Beer’s cold, but they’re all out of lime. I sent the barman to buy some. I told him to take his time,” Mike informs Kobach as he walks into the hotel restaurant. As he is talking Frank walks over behind the bar and opens two beers calmly.  
“You’ve got what I want? And I’ve got what you want,” Kobach informs him.  
“The truth is, Arkady, you’ve got nothing I want,” Mike explains as he suddenly picks up the gun he hide behind the bar and aims it at Kobach.  
“You think you are the first to point a gun at me?”  
“No. but I will be the last,” Mike explains before a big guy steps out of the shadows pointing a shot gun at Mike. Before he can fire Gibbs and Alice step out of the shadows on the other side of the room, shooting the big guy dead making Kobach pull his own gun. The big guy pulls the trigger as he dies; the bullet embeds itself in the roof. Kobach looks up ready to aim his gun at Mike to see Alice, Gibbs and Mike all have their guns aimed at him without any hesitation. Kobach drops his gun but Mike shots him anyway.  
“I knew he was over there. I figured I could take them both. Arkady first, then the big guy. Maybe I am half a second slower,” Mike admits before sipping his beer.  
“There was no lead, was there?” Alice asks Mike softly.  
“DiNozzo okay?”   
“Boss!” Tony calls out as Mike takes both beers and leaves the restaurant, turned crime scene.  
“Clear! Secure the room,” Gibbs orders him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“You set yourself as bait,” I state as I walk out of the restaurant over to Mike who is standing outside on his own.  
“The bigger the bait, the bigger the fish you catch. Arkady never would have got to court, Probie, and you know it. Carver, or whoever else is pulling the strings, would have made sure of that. Another crappy deal - more innocent people die. If you think I'm not going to sleep well tonight because of what I just did, then you're wrong. I'm going to sleep like a baby because Arkady Kobach was a scary S.O.B. who kept me awake nights for the past fifteen years,” Mike explains to me.  
“Someone else will take his place.”  
“That’s your problem, probie. I got my guy.”  
“Hey. You got that audio tape?” I call out to him because I don’t believe the Alice has it, but at the same time I wouldn’t put it past her.  
“Beer’s getting warm,” Mike says to me as he hands me the tape and walks away.  
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That night, I am working on paperwork when everyone leaves for the night and I grab out an old tape player and place the audio tape in. I hit play and listen to it, and I grin when I release that it is cheerful Mexican cantina music, making me grin. Mike lied the whole time he was here.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
Ziva, Abby and I are all watching the A-Team on Abby’s TV, having a girls’ night in and enjoying our friendship. We are all eating popcorn and talking about boys like the girls we are.   
For the first time since she joined NCIS, I release Ziva is my friend and that I don’t wish to go back to before Kate died. I still miss her but Ziva has her own place in my life.


	33. Dead and Unburied

“Make sure you capture the back of his head, too, if you would be so kind,” Ducky says to McGee and Jimmy about the dead, almost decomposed body sitting in the chair in the living room of a house for sale that was found today.  
“Yeah got it,” McGee agrees as he begins rushing around to photo it, bumping into Jimmy.  
“Sorry!” Jimmy says.  
“Sorry!” McGee overlaps him.  
”There’s no rush, gentlemen. Our patient isn’t going anywhere,” Ducky explains to them.  
“Well, Ducky, the old Gibbs is back.”  
“The old Gibbs?”  
“McGee! Over here. Hands and knees. On the floor,” Gibbs orders McGee as he walks into the crime scene and ordering McGee around, showing us that he has shaved his moustache off.  
“Okay. Um… you’re not going to step on me, are you?” McGee asks Gibbs in gear, but Gibbs gives him a quizzed look making McGee releases, “Footprints! Footprints. Looking for footprints. It’s a pretty tight weave.”  
“It looks like sisal. It’s a naturally stiff fibre, woven from the leaf of the cactus plant. It doesn’t mat, trap dust or build static. Makes it ideal for carpeting but personally, I prefer a good shag,” Ducky explains making us give him a look making him add, “From a criminal-investigative standpoint.”  
“I don’t see any dirty footprints.”  
“I didn’t think it’s safe to assume that our friend didn’t stroll in here on his own.”  
“You look happy to see me, boss!” Tony exclaims as he walks into the crime scene carrying a coffee and Gibbs grins at him. Gibbs snatches the coffee and ignores Tony making him ass, “Oh, it’s the coffee. Ran the military ID our local LEOs got off the body. Lance corporal James Finn stationed at Quantico. Went UA when his unit was shipped to Iraq six months ago.”  
“Looks like he’s got a pretty good reason for not showing,” McGee comments.  
“Find out where he was buried?” I ask the boys as I look out our poor victim.  
“It won’t be fair, McGee. Had the trip been longer, some bits would have fallen off,” Ducky informs us.  
“Okay, I’ll check the backyard,” McGee says before leaving to look for the crime scene.  
“Scene’s not going to sketch itself,” Tony mumbles before getting the gear to sketch the crime scene but Jimmy bumps into him.  
“Perhaps it would be better if you fetch the gurney, Mister Palmer. I’ve seen all I need to see here,” Ducky orders his gremlin.  
“Yes, Doctor,” Jimmy says before walking off to get it.  
“Tony,” I call his attention before handing him my sketch of the crime scene, but I understand if he wants to do a better one.  
“Thanks Alice. You make my life easier,” Tony exclaims as he grabs the measure to get the crime scene measurements for the report.  
“I do try.”  
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“IT’s a tidy crime scene,” Tony comments on the crime scene after a while of working it.  
“Quite. It appears to be a body drop. A tertiary crime scene. Or quaternary. Or quinary. I could go on,” Ducky rambles.  
“Oh, you did. It’s an odd decorating choice. Although the corpse does give the place a certain lived-in look.”  
“Don’t tell Abby or she’ll want one,” I explain to the boys making them smile at me in understanding.  
“You can see, he brushed the dirt off his face,” Ducky explains to us and pointed to the brush marks on the victims face.  
“Oh, geez!” Tony complains before moving away and bumping into Gibbs making him exclaim, “Sorry.”  
“Hell,” Ducky says to a bug with a chuckle before continuing, “Nicrophorus Americanus. Also known as the carrion beetle. Come here, you little money! Ah-ah! Yeah, a reminder that Shakespeare got it wrong. We are not food worms. It’s the flies and beetles that feast upon us.”  
“I’m more interested in why someone did this, doctor,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Well, then I’ll have to research the predatory, manipulative, grandiose nature of this behaviour. But my first impression is that we’re dealing with a complete loon.”  
“That master’s in psych is starting to pay off, Ducky,” Tony informs him making Ducky happily chuckle as I follow Gibbs out of the room.  
Ziva is talking to the person how found our corps as I follow Gibbs out back where McGee is looking for the grave.  
“I think I found where he was buried. I checked for footprints, but it rained last night. So everything is pretty washed out,” McGee explains as we walk up to him with Tony.  
“You got access?” I ask him because it’s next door.  
“Well, there’s side access at street level. Chain link fence around the yard, but anyone with gloves could have scaled it.”  
“Wait for me!” Ziva calls to us as she runs over to us; she was talking to the real estate agent slash half owner.  
“Did the real estate agent solve the big mystery?” Tony teases Ziva.  
“No. but she owns the property with a contractor, and every real estate agent in town had access.”  
“I think the mystery is how they expect to sell a house for six hundred grand when it only has two and a half bathrooms.”  
“Well, you know what they say. Location, location… location. Do judging from the marks around the edges; I’d say the digger used a garden spade. The soil is not real packed, so it would have been easy digging for a male or female,” McGee says to us as we stand around the grave.  
“Why would anyone dig up a dead body to put it in a house for sale, when they got away with murder for six months?” I ask them in confusion because I don’t get that.  
“You see that?” Gibbs asks as he points to a black plastic in the grave.  
“Black plastic bags,” McGee offers.  
“Garbage bags,” Tony corrects him.  
Body bag,” I correct them both.  
“Get it back to Abby. Have a soil sample. I want ground-penetrating radar,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Uh, boss, those techs are booked weeks in advance. I’m going to tell them it’s an emergency, and I will not budge until they show,” McGee offers.  
“Who’s staying with McGee?”  
“I can,” I offer to Gibbs.  
“I can. If you want Tony to check out the other real estate women,” Ziva also offers to Gibbs.  
“Fine with me,” Tony agrees with Ziva.  
“Tony! Stay with McGee,” Gibbs orders Tony before grabbing my hand to pull me away from staying behind.  
“I could have stayed with McGee,” I inform Gibbs as we walk out of earshot of the others because Ziva is staying behind to tease Tony.  
“You’re staying with me.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I’m the boss and I said so.”  
“Jethro, Tony could have helps Ziva.”  
“I don’t want you to be alone with McGee for a long time. When you can be with me,” Gibbs tightly explains to me as he holds my hand tighter making me grin, he’s jealous.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I wouldn’t do that, Anthony,” I say to Tony, who is using Ziva’s deodorant in the squad room the next morning without looking up from my computer where I am working on case. Tony and McGee had to be at the crime scene all night and only left know to come to the office, covered in dirt and sweat.  
“Much better. Before I smelled like dirt and sweat. Now I smell like dirt, sweat and sandalwood,” Tony reads the smell of the deodorant ignoring me as he puts the deodorant on with his shirt unbutton because it’s a new shirt from yesterday.  
“Good morning! What are you doing at my desk?” Ziva demands of Tony who is standing behind her desk. I look up but I don’t see Ziva and Tony, instead I see Kate yelling at Tony for a second before I see who it really is.   
“I couldn’t find my deodorant, so I used yours,” Tony defends himself, and I’ve heard that before and Kate threated to shot him or let me bite him. But he’s not talking to Kate this time and I don’t know what Ziva will do.  
“You, you didn’t,” Ziva exclaims as she pulls deodorant out of Tony’s hand and checking it.  
“Yeah, we’re partners. What’s the big deal?”  
“A hair!” Ziva exclaims before throwing the deodorant in the bin.  
“Come on. You attach electrodes to men’s testicles. You’re getting squeamish about a hair? I’m not going to feel bad. Those ground-radar techs didn’t show ‘till dawn. McGee and I watched the sunrise together. It was very ‘Brokeback Mountain.’”  
“He had me at ‘Howdy,’” McGee informs us as he walks into the squad room covered in dirt.  
“How romantic. I’m sorry I missed it,” Ziva teases them.  
“Well, I can show it to you on my new phone. It takes video. Behold the majesty of the sun,” McGee explains as he shows Ziva the sunrise and I walk over making him show me next.  
“Nice phone. And nice video,” I complement McGee; I know he is very proud of himself.  
“On a two inch screen? Are we all getting those?” Ziva demands after scoffing at the screen before releasing it is better than her phone.  
“Nope. I bought it,” McGee admits as he puts the phone away.  
“Expensive?”  
“Not really.”  
“Ha! Yeah, really. You’ve been dropping a lot of cash lately, McGee. New phone, new watch, new teeth. What’s up?” Tony asks McGee.  
“McGee, don’t let them get to you. Your book was really brilliantly written. Can you sign my copy latter?” I whisper to McGee so that Tony and Ziva can’t hear me but McGee looks proud of himself as Gibbs storms into the squad room.  
“Ducky matched the dental records. The body downstairs is Lance Corporal Finn. Ziva, when did you… McGee! How long does it take to put on a clean shirt?” Gibbs snaps at McGee making em move away from the poor boy, I hope he’s not getting in trouble because of me.  
“Ten seconds. With buttons a little longer,” McGee answers but release something so he adds, “Rhetorical question.”  
“Contractor’s off the hook. He’s been out of town for a week. Going to check on the real estate agents this morning,” Ziva reports to Gibbs.  
“That’s all you did?” Tony demands of her.  
“No, while you and McGee were watching the sunrise, Alice and I pulled Lance Corporal Finn’s SRB, and I have to say it was...”  
“Spotty. Hinky. Cassidy,” I give Ziva a couple words to explain the records.  
“Spotty, thank you. He was UNC on the range and failed his swim qual.”  
“SO they made him a supply clerk.”  
“Right. Six months ago he signed out on a three day pass before deploying to Iraq, and he never returned home.”  
“Get me his C.O,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“He’s in Iraq,” Tony reminds him but Gibbs glares at him making him add, “I’ll contact MTAC.”  
“I’ve put in a request for Finn’s bank records, earning statements, and medical records,” McGee reports.  
“Night wasn’t a total loss. Ground radar picked up a shovel about ten feet from the gravesite. Already sent it to Abby,” Tony reports making Gibbs storm off that way and I follow him quickly.   
We step into the elevator and quietly ride it down, but I do lean against Gibbs chest, enjoying the moment with my man.  
“Alice, why must you make my life so hard?” Gibbs asks me after a moment.  
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say in confusion.  
“Baby. I know you’re a nice person to everyone, but it makes it hard for me. You being nice and someone might try to steal you from me.”  
“I’m sorry. But I promise you, I can be as nice as I can be, but no one will take me from you,” I promise him as I hug him tightly and stop the elevator.  
“I know that. I do, but… I’m an old man who’s lost too many good women and I don’t want you to be another one. I do know it’s going to take a coffee to get you to lose me, but my fear is still there and I don’t want to lose you.”  
“What do you need me to do to make you feel better?”  
“I don’t know. Just don’t want to lose you.”  
“Jethro, talk to me. Please.”  
“I don’t know what I want but I don’t want to lose you.”  
“I’m not leaving you. I promise upon my coffee shop.”  
“I know. It’s my own insecurities popping up,” Gibbs whispers to be before restarting the elevator.  
“You’re allowed to be insecure sometimes as long as you don’t break the team,” I whisper to him before the door opens and I walk into the lab to see Abby staring at the crime scene photo.  
“Do you see something, Abs?” Gibbs asks her as we walk over to where she is staring at the plasma screen.  
“Beauty. I mean it’s tragic, but if you were to see this tableau in a museum, you’d swear it was a brilliant commentary on the human condition,” Abby explains to us as we come to a stop on her right with Gibbs standing right behind me.  
“Who gave you the photos? I ask them to keep them away from you because you can’t have one at your house,” I state.  
“What? A corpse staring at the TV set?” Gibbs overlaps me.  
“It says it all,” Abby answers Gibbs.  
“Well, it doesn’t say who put him there, or why??”  
“That’s for us to find out,” Abby explains as he turns to us and releases Gibbs shaved his face making her gasp and exclaim, “You shaved your mustache! I liked you with a little hair on your face.”  
“I’ve still got my eyebrows,” Gibbs reminds her as he raises them to draw her attention to them.  
“Good point. I found Finn’s blood, hair, and fingerprints on the plastic. So he was probably wrapped in it. But I didn’t find any other prints on the plastic or the shovel.”  
“Any chance of grabbing the gravedigger’s sweat off the handle?” I ask her as we follow her over to the shove on a wheeling table.  
“After being underground, it’s unlikely. Strange case, hug? I had this friend once that used to display road kill in his living room. He got a NEA grant…”  
“Abby?” Gibbs cuts her off but getting her back on topic.  
“Next I analysed the soil. It’s compost material, rocks, and small sticks. Nothing over an inch long. That indicates it was processed through a screen.”  
“Pretty clean for dirt,” I comment.  
“Well, it’s a commercial product. But the house was just re-landscaped, so it’s not surprising. I sent the acidity levels to Ducky. I then inventoried Finn’s personal items.”  
“Got anything with a date on it?” Gibbs asks her as we follow her to the personal effects.  
“Nope, sorry. No credit card or purchase receipts. I guess he was a cash guy. I mean, if you can call a guy with thirty-one dollar and seventy-one cents a cash guy. His clothes were Dockers from Sears. No judgements. The shirts are large; the shoes are off-bran. And his underwear are boxer briefs, like you wear, Gibbs.”  
“You’re fishing, Abs,” Gibbs chides her before leaving with me as I attempt to not laugh. The second the door to the elevator closes I double over with laughter, that’s too funny.  
“You enjoyed that too much,” Gibbs informs me as we ride the elevator down to autopsy.  
“It’s too funny. Not my fault,” I defend myself.  
“You do not answer that question,” Gibbs says as he points his finger in my face making me bite it because he stuck it in my face.  
“If I haven’t answered it by know, I’m not going to answer it,” I explain when I release his finger as the door opens and we leave the elevator.  
“How’d the Lance Corporal die, Doctor?” Gibbs asks Ducky as we walk into autopsy.  
“How he died may take me a while. Try when did he die?” Ducky admits.  
“That was my question but he beat me to the punch,” I admit.  
“That I can answer. It’s a tricky calculation. One has to factor in temperature, soil acidity, and the variety and volume of insects who now call Lance Corporal Finn home.”  
“Give me a round number,” Gibbs says when Ducky stops for breath.  
“Ninety-two days with a three percent margin of error,” Jimmy cuts in.  
“It would appear, you deserted before you died,” Ducky says to our victim.  
“Gibbs, Lance Corporal Finn’s fiancé is upstairs. She saw a report in the local news last night,” Ziva reports as she steps into the room.  
“How, Doctor?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“As soon as I know, you’ll know,” Ducky promises us before we leave and step into the elevator.  
“Her name is Siri Albert. She’s twenty-five. Lives in Manassas and works as a physical therapist,” Ziva reports as we ride the elevator and then leave into the hallway near the conference room.  
“Finn’s fiancé is here. I put her in the conference room,” Tony reports to us in the hallway.  
“You did? I did.”  
“No, I did.”  
“His fiancé?”  
“Yeah, his fiancé.”  
“Tall. Light brown hair.”  
“Red head,” Tony corrects her making us open the door and look into the room to see a girl to match both descriptions.   
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No one pov  
.  
“Someone has made a huge mistake. James isn’t dead. He’s been writing me letters from Iraq,” Siri, the light brown hair girl, say to Ziva and Gibbs in the conference room.  
“It’s a common name,” Ziva attempts to explain it to her.  
“The news said he was born in Jackson, Pennsylvania. It’s a small town.”  
“That James Finn has been dead three months.”  
“He left for Iraq three months ago. I saw him the morning he went away, and I just got a letter from him last week. He says he misses me and he’s working a lot.”  
“We’ll need those,” Gibbs orders her tightly.  
“Okay. But I want them back,” Siri say as she hands the letters over.  
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“It’s his handwriting. I recognize it. They’re been coming for months. Now I want to know who that other woman is?” Rebecca snaps at Tony, McGee and Alice in the squad room as she hands over a stack of letters. She is sitting on a chair next to Tony’s desk as Tony sits in his own chair; McGee sits on the desk ledge behind Tony’s desk while Alice sits on the corner of Tony’s desk near Rebecca.  
“We’re not here to talk about that,” Tony says to her.  
“Is she saying that she’s engaged to Jimmy, too?” Rebecca demands of us before laughing and adding, “’Cause if that’s true, he’d better hope he’d dead, or else I’ll kill him!”  
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“James and I connected on a deep spiritual level. From then on, anytime he was in town, he was with me,” Siri explains to Gibbs and Ziva.  
“How often did you see him?” Ziva asks her.  
“He would come and go a lot, but I understood. That’s how it is with Special Ops.”  
“Lance Corporal Finn’s record does not indicate he was involved with Special Operations.”  
“He said his missions were top secret. He wanted to tell me more, but he didn’t want to put me in danger.”  
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“When was the last time you saw Lance Corporal Finn?” Alice asks Rebecca in the squad room while taking notes on everything said and also recording it to transcribe later.  
“Six months ago, before he left for Iraq,” Rebecca answers her.  
“How’d you meet?” Tony asks her next.  
“At a bar two years ago. I was there with some girlfriends, and when I got up to go to the lady’s room, he blocked my path. Said he couldn’t keep his eyes off of me.”  
“And that worked?” McGee asks in disbelief.  
“What worked is that when we talked, he had something to say. Most guys won’t shut up about their online war games. But this guy, he had seen real action. And I was feeling patriotic that night. So I invited him to come home with me. The sex was fantastic.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“When did you two get engaged?” Ziva asks Siri in the conference room.  
“About a week before he left. James wanted to borrow thirty thousand,” Siri explains.  
“Did he tell you what the money was for?”  
“Gambling debts. And if he didn’t pay, they were gonna hurt him.”  
“Who?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“He said it was better if I didn’t know, because of the danger.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Look! I didn’t give him the money! I loaned it to him!” Rebecca snaps at them.  
“So you drew up a legal document?” McGee asks her.  
“No, but we had an oral agreement. I mean, he promised to pay me back… with interest! I mean, I maxed out all of my cards! So you better find that money!”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What was he like the last time you saw him?” Ziva asks Siri.  
“He was sweet. We made love right before he left,” Siri explains.  
“Did he use a condom?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I’m on the pill,” Siri begins but Gibbs leaves the room as Siri explains to Ziva, “We were engaged.”  
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“Abs, can DNA still be recovered from Lance Corporal Finn’s skivvies?” Gibbs ask Abby over the phone as he stands in the hall watching Alice, Tony and McGee talk to the other fiancé.  
“It would take the cooperation of weather and protection. He was wrapped in plastic, and it’s been cold, so there’s a decent chance,” Abby rambles her answer.  
“Well, run the test. We’ll do a cheek swab on his fiancés.”  
“Wait. Did you say fiancés? Like plural? Huh. Kinky,” Abby comments before hanging up the phone.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ah. Is that it?” Siri asks Ziva as she gets a cheek swab to compare to the DNA in Finn’s underwear.  
“For now, Siri. I need to follow you home and pick up his belongings,” Ziva explains.  
“I want them back when James returns.”  
“He’s dead. He can’t return.”  
“Look, I know he’s not dead. I would feel it in my heart. We’re soul mates.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“No,” Siri cries in autopsy as Ziva and Ducky show her Finn’s body.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Agent Lee, I need legal help. We have a suspect who’s refusing a cheek swab,” Tony calls to Lee as he runs over to her.  
“I’ll file for a DNA search warrant. What’s the name?” Lee asks him.  
“Rebecca Kemp. I’ll email you the info. Listen, do you miss working with us?”  
“I think the legal department is more my speed. Why? Do you miss me?”  
“Uh, sure,” Tony says distractedly before moving over to Gibbs who is pulling something off his shoe, “Boss! Agent Lee is getting us our cheek swab.”  
“Is Rebecca paranoid or guilty?” Gibbs asks Tony.  
“Uh, might just be angry. At Finn, us, and the world.”  
“Go back with her to her apartment. Get Finn’s stuff. And no, I don’t want to wait for a search warrant,” Gibbs orders Tony as Rebecca signs and Ziva and Siri walks into the squad room.  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
“I’ll grab my coat. Wait at the elevator,” Ziva orders Siri as I walk over to them.  
“Okay,” Siri agrees. I walk over to the elevator with Siri and hit the button to call the elevator.  
“Hey, you! Where’s my money? Yeah, you! Did you and Jimmy spend it?” Rebecca demands of Siri as she storms over to us and I step between the women to hopefully keep it civil.  
“Rebecca, go and sit back down. Now,” I order her as I point back to the chair she just vacated.  
“Please get away from me! I don’t know you,” Siri says innocently.  
“I am Jimmy’s fiancé,” Rebecca informs Siri.  
“James loved me!!”  
“He used you.”  
“Rebecca, go and sit back down. NOW. I will not ask again,” I order her tightly, she is going to do it or I am going to arrest her.  
“You liar,” Siri shouts over me before attacking Rebecca around me. Siri grabs Rebecca’s shoulders and Rebecca goes to grab Siri but catches my eye, scratching it and then shoves me out of the way, my head hits the elevator door and my head bounces off it as Siri pulls Rebecca down.  
“Help,” I call out as Rebecca pulls Siri’s hair and Siri scratches Rebecca, where ever she can get.  
“Chick fight,” Tony overlaps me as I grab Siri and pull her off Rebecca. Rebecca reaches up and bites my arm as Siri grabs a hand full of my hair, pulling on it. Rebecca’s heel catches me in the stomach when she misses Siri, making me release Siri who goes straight back to Rebecca. Siri lunges for Rebecca and her elbow catches me in the right eye as she grabs a fistful of Rebecca’s red hair.  
“Get off me!” Rebecca orders Siri without stopping the chick fight.  
“Get off! Get off of me!” Siri orders Rebecca without releasing the fistful of red hair she has.  
“Stop it!” Ziva orders them both as she reaches me and attempts to help me break the fight up. Ziva is shoved out of the way by the feuding girls making her bump me, pushing me into the elevator again.  
“Hey, get off her! Get off her!” Gibbs orders Siri as he pulls her off Rebecca, and I quickly pry the hair out of her hand as the elevator door opens. Gibbs has Siri restrained so she can’t move her hands and throws her into the elevator. I reach down and pick up Siri’s stuff and throw it into the elevator as Ziva steps in with her.  
“You alright Ziva?” I check on her and she nodes before the door closes.  
“Get up!” Gibbs orders Rebecca as he pulls her to her feet making her gasp. Gibbs glares at her for a moment as I place my hand on the back of my head to feel a bump and blood.  
“So much for getting coffee,” I complain making Tony and McGee finally come over.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ducky, look at Alice,” Gibbs orders him we walk into autopsy as he pointed to me where the blood has gripped down my back and onto my white shirt, through the cloth I am holding to the back of my head.  
“What happened, dear?” Ducky exclaims as he moves away from the microscope and hokes his glasses back one, from where they were hanging off one of his eyes.  
“Got between jealous women. Never doing that again,” I explain as I climb up onto the autopsy bed. Ducky hums as he moves the cloth and then my red hear out of the way so he can see the back of my hear to see a gash from my head colliding with the metal elevator door.  
“This is going to need stitches. I don’t suppose you intend to go to the hospital?”   
“Not if I can help it. I don’t like hospitals. Their bad,” I explain making Ducky hum before grabbing a thread and needle to stick it.   
“This is going to hurt,” Ducky warn me before putting in some numbing cream into the wound. He waits for the two minutes the bottle says to before stitching the back of my head, every time it hurts I squeeze Gibbs hand. He puts four stitches in the back of my head before moving around to check my arm that is just bruised from her teeth and my eye has a scratch across the cornea from Rebecca’s fake nails and will be sure and red for a while.  
“Thanks.”  
“No problem. Don’t get the stitches wet, ice the bruise and your eye is going to be sore for a while but if you get blurred, double, black spots, or delayed vision, tell me straight away. Same with if you get a headache that doesn’t go away, nausea, pass out, insomnia, suddenly sleepiness. Anything out of the ordinary.”  
“How’s this guy die, dad?” I ask Ducky about our victim.  
“As I told you, when I know, you’ll know,” Ducky reminds him.  
“Know faster,” Gibbs orders him as I just off the bed.  
“Shaving off you mustache has brought back you usual impatience.”  
“Good! That means I’m going my job.”  
“I do have a potential cause of death, but it’s by no means airtight. You see this fracture?”  
“Well, yeah. You’re pointing right at it,” Gibbs says while looking at the x-ray.  
“The brain revealed an epidural hematoma, verified by this CAT scan. Though it’s far from massive. Statistically, it’s only fatal in about seventeen percent of cases.”  
“Blunt force trauma?” I ask him.  
“Most likely. We’re looking at a baseball bat or a golf club. Perhaps wielded by a disgruntled fiancé.”  
“You tell me how, I’ll figure out who,” Gibbs orders Ducky before storming away.  
“Thanks dad,” I say to him before leaving after Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Intelligence has placed La Grenouille in Nairobi. That might mean a shipment to Somalia. We’ll continue to monitor these activities. Just do your best,” Shepard orders someone for the op she is leading in MTAC.  
“Mission trouble?” Gibbs asks her innocently.  
“That’s need-to-know. Initiate the video conference Special Agent Gibbs requested,” Shepard orders the tech before turning back to Gibbs and asking him, “Have you figured out why somebody would unbury a body?”  
“That’s need-to-know.”  
“You can’t pull that one with me, Jethro. I’m your boss.”  
“Are you? Then you wouldn’t be handing every one of the cases we get to the FBI and homeland security. But nope, so you’re not his boss, you’re the enemy who doesn’t get to know anything because you will use it to hand the case to someone else. Prove you won’t do that and you can be on the need-to-know bases,” I correct Shepard calmly.  
“Iraq standing by, ma’am,” the technician informs us before putting the call up.  
“I got your email concerning Lance Corporal Finn. I assume you’ve been over his SRB,” Stengel, Finn’s C.O, informs us over the monitor.  
“Yeah, we have, skipper. We’d like to know what’s not on the record,” Gibbs explains to him.  
“Finn wasn’t one of my stronger Marines. Wasn’t surprised he went U.A.”  
“Did he have any enemies in the company?” I ask him next.  
“He was well-liked. Played poker. Not well, but covered his debts. Liked to talk about his sexual exploits in detail. You know how marines love that.”  
“How does a dead Marine stateside send letters home from Iraq?”  
“I wondered about that myself. Get over here, Marine! Meet Lance Corporal Hagan… soon to be Private Hagan. Before deployment, Finn gave him… a couple hundred bucks to pop letters in the mail to two women. First batch started six months ago. The second three months later. Got enough to last the rest of our deployment.”  
“I’m going to need those,” Gibbs informs him.  
“I’ll send them on the next flight out,” Stengel informs us before ending the call.  
“Two fiancés… is that a marine thing?” Shepard asks Gibbs.  
“Oh, that’s need-to-know, too, director,” Gibbs tease her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This is my favourite part,” Abby exclaims as she watches the chick fight on McGee’s phone because instead of helping me, he just recorded it.  
“Which part?” Gibbs demands making them jump because he is standing between them looking over their shoulder.  
“I didn’t like any of it. And I have the stitches and bruise to prove that,” I agree with Gibbs on Abby’s over side making them look at me where my eye is begin to bruise already.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“No! It’s not much to go on,” Ziva comments as we walk into the evidence garage at night where Tony and Ziva are comparing what was at each fiancé’s house.  
“Only one place left to check. Ha-ha!” Tony exclaims as he removes his hand from a pair of jeans, and I don’t think there his.  
“Ha! Tony just put his hands down another man’s pocket, and it made him very happy,” Ziva explains to us when she sees us.  
“Found a pre-paid calling card.”  
“That’s it?” I ask them when I look at what they have, a razor, toothbrush, three pairs of white underwear, one white sock with a gold toe, one pair of blue jeans, which is the same out each house but one is pink underwear and a black mesh t-shirt.  
“Yes,” Ziva answers me.  
“No engagement rings?” Gibbs asks.  
“Do you want those, too?” Tony asks making us give him a look because they are evidence so Tony adds, “I’ll go to Siri’s and get the ring, and any other gifts Finn might have given her. McGee, you’ve got Rebecca.”  
“Be careful. Both of you,” I state as I rub my bruising eye that is throbbing with every beat of my heart as Ziva’s phone begins ringing and the boys leave.  
“Officer David… Yes, it’s an ongoing investigation,” Ziva says into the phone before whispering to Gibbs, “It’s the real estate agent.” She turns back to her call and informs her, “Yes, but I… no, I’m sorry,” Ziva removes the phone and hands it to Gibbs with the line, “She wants to have a word with my supervisor.” Gibbs takes the phone and hangs up on the woman before handing it back to Ziva as we walk over and into the elevator. We all grin at each other as the doors shut.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
‘Why would someone unbury a body?’ Ziva types into Ziva’s computer as we brain storm, they are both sitting at Ziva’s desk as I sit at my own desk the next morning.  
“’Why would someone unbury a body?’ I can answer that. To send the message. Like, hi, I’m dead.’ never get engaged to two women at the same time?’” Tony theorises why.  
“It would be easier to just rent a billboard. Second question.”  
‘Where’s the money?” Ziva types next.  
“’Where’s the money?’ ah! Maybe in Siri’s engagement ring. I’ve got to bring this down to Abby,” Tony explains as he shows Ziva the ring.  
“I can save you an elevator trip,” Ziva offers before blowing on the ring in Tony’s hand.  
“Oh, that’s nice.”  
“It’s creating condensation. On a real diamond, that evaporates immediately.”  
“It’s staying.”  
“Because it’s a fake.”  
“Give it one more try just to make sure.”  
“Do you two want a moment? Or do you want to get back to work and stop creeping me out. And I spent time with Fornell, alone,” I call over to them.  
“I’m not blowing on you again! Question three,” Ziva exclaims as she begins typing again.  
‘Why buy a shovel?’  
“Why buy a shovel?” Tony asks her in confusion.  
“Oops! No, sorry,” Ziva says as she retypes it.  
‘Why bury a shovel?’  
“’Why bury a shovel?’ Yeah, I have no answer to that idea,” Tony admits.  
“How about, to hide the evidence, either from the police, family or both. Or they forgot it. Or again both,” I call to them making them both to node to me.  
“Good point, Alice. But here, how about this one?” Tony asks before typing away.  
‘Who is Dark-man?’  
“’Who is Dark-man?’” Ziva reads in confusion, what movie is Tony on about now.  
“That is the question. Liam Neeson in the nineteen-ninety cult classic directed by Sam Raimi about a mentally unstable scientist who seeks revenge,” Tony rambles on about the movie.  
“You left out ‘who shot Rebecca?’” Gibbs reminds them as he walks into the squad room and hands me a coffee before sitting down at his desk.  
“That was my next question,” Ziva says as she types the next question that Gibbs reminded them off.  
“Siri claims she was out walking at the time of the shooting. No witnesses. GSR test came back negative,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Even if Siri shot Rebecca, I don’t think she killed Finn. I saw her face when she saw his body.”  
“If Siri is innocent, she’d assume that Rebecca’s guilty and she’d seek revenge.”  
“Shooting someone in broad daylight is just dumb.”  
“Well, she’s a jealous woman. Those things hurt, and I wasn’t fucking her soulmate. So I can’t image the anger to the other woman,” I correct her as I rub my head but stop when I pull on my long hair and hurt the stitches.  
“Well, you’re not thinking like a jealous woman, Ziva,” Gibbs overlaps me.  
“They’re keeping Rebecca in the hospital overnight. She lost a lot of blood, but the wound was through and through,” McGee reports as he walks into the squad room, covered in blood with the rest of Finn’s belongings from Rebecca’s.  
“Anything on the shooter?” I ask McGee.  
“Said she didn’t get a good look at her.”  
“How’d she know it was a her?” Tony asks him in confusion.  
“Rebecca said she heard a female voice at the door. When she opened it, bang.”  
“Siri.”  
“Maybe not. When I went back to search Rebecca’s place, I found this between couch pillows,” McGee informs us as he pulls out a hand gun.  
“Rebecca shot herself,” Gibbs summarizes.  
“I think so. She lost a lot today. Her fiancé, her life savings.”  
“Her respect,” Ziva adds.  
“Could have been her freedom,” Tony states as he gives me a pointed look because I refused to press charges on either girl for hurting me, a federal agent.  
“Could have been a failed suicide attempt,” McGee theorise.  
“Or a bid for sympathy.”  
“Or an attempt to escape discovery that she had sex with Finn the day he died,” Ziva theories.  
“What’s your gut tell you, boss?”  
“Take your shirt off,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
“There we go,” Tony comments as Ziva and her lean back in their chairs to watch this.  
“Well, I know it’s kind of messy,” McGee begins.  
“Your shirt, McGee. Take it off now,” Gibbs orders him making McGee take the shirt off before Gibbs grabs it and shoves it into an evidence bag.  
“Take it down to Abby. Or would you all rather wait for the search warrant?” I ask them innocently making every freeze when they catch onto Gibbs’ thought process.  
“Rebecca’s DNA. I need to borrow one of your shirts,” McGee begs of Tony.  
“Are you afraid all that white might burn out Abby’s corneas?” Tony teases him.  
“Tony, they used to fuck. I think she’ll survive, but I don’t think you will when Jethro releases that there is a half-naked man in the squad room,” I call over to him teasingly making Tony freeze.  
“Do not make me walk around like this all day. Come on, help me out,” McGee begs of Tony.  
“All right, I can’t resist a damsel in distress. Here. Take this. I’ll get a fresh one,” Tony says as he takes off his shirt and hands it to McGee, leaving them both half-naked.  
“Wow, it’s just like Chippendale’s… without the bow ties or muscles,” Ziva comments.  
“I think I need to go throw up what I’ve eaten today,” I comment as I return to my computer to work without looking at the flab rolls on the two agents in the squad room. Why couldn’t it be Gibbs that had to take his shirt off?  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Give me a second. I have to finish this email to Kofi Annan,” Shepard says to me as I walk into her office like I own it.  
“Kofi can wait,” I inform her.  
“What is it, Jethro?” Shepard asks me and I hear her flirtation tone creeping in, that’s why I normally bring Alice with me, she keeps Shepard in line, and she shouldn’t have to.  
“The Finn case.”  
“Yes? You’re lost on this one?”  
“Puzzled. They barely knew Finn, yet they let him move in. loaned him money.”  
“They trusted a man who took advantage of them. If you’re in a relationship and the other person is keeping secrets, how would you know?”  
“You’d know.”  
“I didn’t.”  
“Who lied to you?”  
“You did! Not exactly lied, but you just didn’t tell me the whole truth either.”  
“You’re comparing me to Finn?”  
“I’m just saying that you can be involved with someone without fully knowing them. How could you not tell me about your family?” Shepard demands of me making me get up and begin leaving. I am not going to talk to her about this; it is and never was her business.  
“Finish your email.”  
“You wanted my advice. Just don’t be too hard on the fiancés. Finn duped them. And I shouldn’t have brought up the past. I know you had your reasons for not wanting to talk about it,” Shepard backtracks when I open the door making me close it.  
“We’re talking about it now,” I release sadly. I want my family back, but if I can’t have them at least Alice, either will stop Shepard know.  
“Now is not Paris.”  
“Your priorities were clear in Paris.”  
“I had a job to do in Europe,” Shepard defends herself and the fact that she left me behind with the local LEOs. But it’s my fault because I didn’t tell her about my family.  
“If I had told you about my first wife, would it have made a difference?”  
“We’ll never know, will we?” Shepard asks me but I give her a half smile that tells her it wouldn’t have changed what she did and she knows it. She isn’t pleased with how this conversation went and I don’t care. She is the one who started it and I only pointed out without care, I can know see that she only liked me when it fits her life style or gets her what she wants.  
I walk outside of the office to the top of the stairs where I see Alice leaning, waiting on me.  
“You alright, Jethro?” Alice asks me as she looks at me with her beautiful eye, the other is swollen shut from the bruise.  
“Better know,” I lie.  
“Jethro. Don’t lie to me. What did she do?” Alice asks me as she wraps her hand around my waist, protecting me.  
“She brought up the past.”  
“What pasted? She better not have hurt you,” Alice threatens the director who isn’t here to protect herself.  
“I’ll be fine.”  
“Jethro… what did she say? She doesn’t have a right to hurt you because she’s the director or because she’s your ex.”  
“I know.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
I suck on Gibbs neck as he has me pined against the boat. Gibbs squeezes my ass making me moan against his neck as I slide my hand down his back to grip his belt buckle, holding him still so I can grind onto this hip as I through my leg around it making me moan and drop my head back against the boat, leaving a wet spot on Gibbs neck and a mark to boot.  
“Alice, you’re trying to kill me,” Gibbs complains as he lifts my second foot off the ground and around his hip so I can grind against his budging cock.  
“Nope, you’re no… no good to me dead,” I stutter out when he moves his hip slightly making his cock hit my clitoris through both jeans. Gibbs works his hand under my shirt to grip my breast and gently squeeze it through my bra making me moan louder.  
“Good,” Gibbs mumbles as he sucks on my neck, making me moan and grind harder onto his cock only to fee an unknown vibration which makes me moan. It vibrates again before Gibbs’ pone begins ringing making me groan in disappointment, I was so close. Gibbs reaches into his pocket, bumping his knuckles into my clitoris as he grabs the vibrating, ringing phone.  
“Jethro. Why does your phone always ring when it gets good?” I complain as I lean back in and suck on his neck again.  
“Hope off,” Gibbs orders me as he drops me onto my feet making me pout at him as he answers the phone, “Yeah, Gibbs… I stayed until twenty-one thirty… you called to talk about my work house, Doctor Mallard…? Fibreglass…? Maybe the house wasn’t just a body drop,” Gibbs listens for a moment longer before hanging up.  
“You need to blow that thing up,” I complain to him as I move back over to the book Gibbs distracted me from.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs mumbles as he watches me lean over to pick up the book before leaving the basement, leaving him to work on the boat.  
“Have fun. Don’t stay in the basement all night this time.”  
“Mm-hmm.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“That’s about how it looked three months ago. The living room floor is the last thing we closed up. We ran the AB ducts under this section. The damn impactor was weeks late,” Whitehead, the builder and half owner of the house, informs us once he pulls up the living room floor where the body was found.  
“Do you have security at night here, Bob?” I ask him as look at the flooring that is pulled up.  
“Not on a job this size. We used standard fibreglass insulation, CDX sub floor. So you see something?”  
“Yeah, your joist. Twenty-four inches on centre. I’d have built it at sixteen,” Gibbs comments.  
“Then you wouldn’t have made a profit.”  
“That joist there look discoloured to you?” I ask Gibbs as I point to it, leaning over his shoulder so he can see what I am looking at.  
“Could be mould.”  
“Mould spreads from the bottom up,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Amido Black. On it, boss,” Tony responds as he rushes off to get it.  
“We’ll be there soon,” McGee says into his phone before turning to Gibbs and saying, “Boss, Abby ran the pre-paid phone card we found in Finn’s pocket. It had only one call on it. It was to a self-storage company in Dale City, Virginia.”  
“Good. Call the storage facility,” Gibbs orders him.  
“I did. I was just taking a breath. I called the self-storage place. Finn paid for the unit in cash. Only signed in once. So I figure that Ziva and I should probably go down there and check it out. Sorry about the breath.”  
“Kind of reminds me of Pacific Heights,” Tony tells us as he returns with the black light that he turns on.  
“Don’t tell me. A movie,” Gibbs comments.  
“Yeah, interesting plot. Yuppie couple buys their dream house. And then the tenant from hell tries to destroy it. Michael Deaton’s best work. It looks like organic material. Would a two by six match Finn’s head injury?” Tony asks us as I swab the wood with the not mould on it.  
“Dad thinks a blunt object hit his temple,” I remind Tony calmly.  
“Or maybe his temple hit a blunt object? Which would have landed him nose first in this insulation.”  
“Oh, my god! Bib! Why are you letting them destroy our property?” Jody, the real estate agent slash owner that found the body, demands of Whitehead.  
“They’re cops, Jody,” Whitehead reminds her.  
“What is she doing here? What are you doing here?” I demand of her after asking Tony and Gibbs.  
“I called her. She should know what’s going on.”  
“Well, it’s coming out of your profits, Bob!” Jody exclaims in anger.  
“What a minute, Jody!”   
“That sisal’s expensive!”  
“You need to calm down, Mrs Carvel,” Tony orders her.  
“Calm down? I just found a dead guy in the living room. And I am losing money every day. On, and my father just died of leukaemia, so don’t you tell me to calm down!”  
“Fine, I’ll tell you. Calm down or we will have to arrest you,” I snap at her calmly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Finn’s bag contained one hundred and twenty ounces of gold, worth about seventy0eight thousand, four hundred dollars at today’s conversion rate,” Ziva reports what they found in the storage shed back in the squad room.  
“Mint numbers?” Gibbs asks them.  
“We’ve traced them now. The coins were purchased over the Internet in three batches. I should have the dates here in a moment,” McGee reports.  
“We figured sixty thousand came from the fiancés and Finn must have tossed in the rest,” Ziva reminds us before answering a phone, “Officer David.”  
“Okay, first batch of gold purchased nine months ago, and paid for with a money order. The second batch…”  
“That was Abby. She was searching non-standard databases with the third woman’s DNA. She got a hit on a bone marrow donor bank.”  
“Putt it up,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Please,” I add as they pull them off.  
“That’s not what I expected,” Ziva comments when Jody’s face appears.  
“Her father died of leukaemia. Best match is a family member and she would want to save him.”  
“Pick her up. Take DiNozzo with you,” Gibbs orders them.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“So why didn’t you tell us you knew Lance Corporal Finn,” Gibbs demands of Jody in integration with me.  
“I was afraid my husband would find out,” Jody defends herself.  
“That you killed him?” I ask her in confusion because that’s kind of going to come out.  
“I didn’t kill James. It was an accident. He fell. He hit his head. I did not kill him. I loved him. I swear to God.”  
“Which god? There’s so many to choice from,” I state calmly.  
“Do you have any idea how many murderers ‘swear to god’ they didn’t do it?” Gibbs asks her.  
“I come from a good Catholic family. When we swear to God, we mean it,” Jody defends herself.  
“A good catholic family also swears to god to only have sex with their husband. No boyfriends and no sex until the ring is locked on that finger. Not fucking a guy who dies by accident,” I state calmly.  
“You met in a bar,” Gibbs begins.  
“Yes. How did you know that?” Jody demands while ignoring my comment about being a god catholic family.  
“When?” I ask her as I ignore her question, turnabout’s fair.  
“Nine months ago.”  
“Did you sleep with him that night?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“No.”  
“That’s right. Gibbs you forgot. You’ve from a good catholic family. Did you sleep with him the second night?” I ask her innocently and her guilty face say it all making me add, “You husband never knew.”  
“I would tell him that I had a late showing, and I’d meet James at the house on Larson Lane. I know that that sounds immoral, but it is not what you think!”  
“Well, let me guess. You have a deep, spiritual connection?” Gibbs resights what all the fiancés have said.  
“Exactly. I had already decided I was going to leave my husband. I just had to wait for…”  
“Your father to die. That’s a bitch move,” I state as I cut her off.  
“The way you say it… it sounds horrible.”  
“Oh, yeah. It is!” Gibbs agrees with me.  
“If dad knew I was getting a divorce, he’s have disowned me.”  
“And took you out of the will. That’s what you were really worried about, the money,” I state calmly.  
“How about if you were a murderer?” Gibbs asks Jody who is glaring at me.  
“I didn’t kill James,” Jody snaps at Gibbs, seems we’ve touched a nerve.  
“You buried him,” I state calmly.  
“No. I did not even know that he was dead. I will admit that we had a fight. James wanted to borrow money, and I refused, and he got angry, and he said that we were through. He got up to leave. I just wanted him to stay. I uh… took his cigarettes…”  
.  
“Give them back,” Finn demands as Jody holds the cigarettes in a flashback at the house.  
“No!” Jody responds childishly.  
“Now!”  
“Not unless you promise to,” Jody snaps at Finn who then falls into the open floor with a grunt making Jody exclaim, “James!”  
.  
“I just got in my car and I drove for hours. I came back to check on him, see if he was okay. But,” Jody finishes.  
“You left him there to bleed out as you ‘drove’ around until,” I begin.  
“He was dead, so you buried him,” Gibbs finishes for me.  
“No! James was gone. I thought that he was fine until I went to that house for the other day,” Jody begins before breaking down crying as she continues, “And there he was! And I can only think of one explanation. It was the hand of God!”  
“I don’t believe God would bury a dead body. Not his MO,” I inform her as the door suddenly opens making me jump in surprise.  
“Excuse me. Uh… could I have a word with you?” Ducky asks Gibbs.  
“Working,” Gibbs, the functioning mute, answers his old friend.  
“It’s related and important,” Ducky adds making Gibbs and I get up and follow him out into the hall way. Ducky informs us once the door is shut behind us, “She’s telling the truth.”  
“God put the body there? That’s a bit farfetched dad,” I state in confusion.  
“No. Someone who was playing God. She didn’t bury him.”  
“Is your gut telling you this?” Gibbs asks him.  
“I’ve been watching her. She feels guilt, empathy, remorse. That doesn’t fit the psychological profile.”  
“She’s deceitful, conniving, an adulteress, which does.”  
“I’m trying to give you my professional opinion.”  
“Then tell me after I have finished interrogating the suspect,” Gibbs snaps at Ducky before opening the door to integration.  
“Thank you,” I say to my dad with a node before following Gibbs into integration.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Ducky pov  
.  
“Timothy, do you have a moment?” I call to the agent in the squad room.  
“Well, actually, I’m watching Jody Carvel’s husband,” McGee admits as he walks over to me anyway.  
“Yes, I know. I want to have a word with him.”  
“Sure.”  
“Yeah, and for you to tape it with that new cell phone of yours.”  
“Tape you?”  
“No, no, no, no, no. Not me, him. Surreptitiously, of course.”  
“Of course,” McGee agrees as we walk over to Rick and I sit across the chair as McGee sets his phone up on the desk facing Rick.  
“Here you go, Mister Carvel,” McGee says as he hands him a bottle of water.  
“Thank you,” Rick says to him.  
“Uh, this is out medical examiner, Doctor Mallard.”  
“Call me Ducky. Everyone does,” I correct him happily.  
“Ah, Rick,” Rick says as he shakes my hand.  
“Strange, isn’t it, Rick? Someone committed a murder. Standard. But then they covered it up. Standard. And then they uncovered it. Far from standard.”  
“You think my wife was involved?”  
“No. and that’s the problem.”  
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Alice pov  
.  
“James was a big man. There is no way that I could have picked him up and buried him,” Jody states.  
“Oh, that’s easy. You roll him into the plastic. You drag him out,” Gibbs states calmly.  
“Without running these nails? Look at them. They are so perfect.”  
“It’s been three months. And you know when the body was going to be ‘found’ so that you could have been to the salon since then,” I state as I look at her nails and I don’t know how she can live with nails like that.  
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Ducky pov  
.  
“I tried to convince Agent Gibbs and Todd that your wife was telling the truth. I’m afraid he doesn’t believe me. Tell me, Rick, why does that please you?” I ask Rick who half smirks at me.  
“What?” Rick asks innocently as he wipes the smirk off.  
“Well, you just flashed a slight reflective smile when I said that Gibbs didn’t believe you’re your wife.”  
“I did not!”  
“Timothy?” I ask McGee making him pick up the phone and rewind and show him the half smirk.  
“I’m afraid he doesn’t believe me,” my voice comes from the phone’s speaks before I continue in real life, “I don’t know if God was watching your wife and Finn that night, but you were.”  
“My wife and the dead guy?” Rick asks in fake surprise.  
“Yes. When your wife ran out of the house, you buried the body.”  
“My god, man. Why would I do that?”  
“Because you wanted the money. Well, you had to wait until her father died, before you could implicate her in the murder. But once she got her inheritance, you disinterred the body.”  
“You have a vivid imagination, Ducky. But uh… imagination doesn’t prove anything.”  
“Yeah, you’re quite right there. But evidence does. Ah, good. Abby, have you lifted the DNA from the shovel handle yet? You know, from the sweat we discovered on the handle?” I ask Abby who just returned from lunch.  
Oh, yeah! Right. I’ve got it running. I’m ready to check it. I just need a sample,” Abby exclaims happily.  
“Well then, test it against the saliva on this,” I say as I hand her the bottle Rick just drank out of.  
“You’re right! I tried to cover up her murder, but I didn’t kill him! That cheating bitch did!” Rick exclaims in anger.  
“Boss, Mister Carvel here admitted to Ducky he buried the body,” McGee says to Gibbs who is leading Jody into the squad room with Alice.  
“Oh, my God it was you?” Jody exclaims in surprise and she is handcuffed behind her back and Rick stands up to face his ‘loving’ wife.  
“Who else cleans up your messes? I was watching the two of you from the window,” Rick hisses at her.  
“You wanted us make love?”  
“That’s not what I’d call it.”  
“Then what happened?” Alice asks him.  
“They had a fight. She hit him on the head, and she ran.”  
“Rick. He’s lying,” Jody exclaims.  
“All I was bury him.”  
“Oh, I’m afraid you did a bit more than that,” I state.  
“Right. I unburied him.”  
“Sit down,” McGee orders him making Rick sit back down.  
“A re-examination of the conjunctival and facial tissues reveal petechial haemorrhages suggesting asphyxia. So I looked for atelectasis in his lungs, which results from shallow breathing due to obstruction, such as plastic. And there it was. Lance corporal Finn was buried alive,” I inform them.  
“He was dead! I know he was dead!” Rick exclaims.  
“You bastard! You killed him!” Jody exclaims as he lunges for Rick but Alice grabs her tightly.  
“Sit down, I am not having another chick fight this week,” Alice hisses at her as she slams her into Tony’s desk making her sit on the edge. She looks pissed and in pain at the same time, with that bruise looking quite bad because she hasn’t taken time out to ice it like I ordered her to.  
“Ziva, get her out of here. McGee, handcuff him and get a sworn statement!” Gibbs orders them.  
“I hope you fry!” Jody yells at her husband as Ziva leads her away.  
“Got to hell! Go to hell,” Rick calls out her as he is lead in the other direction.  
“Wow. I’ve got to come up here more often,” Abby exclaims as Alice takes the bottle and throws it in the bin.  
“Nah, you’ll get bored. Tony is only amusing for so long until it becomes prophetic,” Alice happily informs Abby.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“I thought I’d save the courts some paperwork,” Gibbs informs Ziva as he walks into the squad room with her and a coffee.   
“You wouldn’t be getting soft? Of course, not. You shaved your mustache,” Ziva comments.  
“I don’t get what that has to do with his softness?” I admin in confusion.  
“Boss, reception called this morning. They said that someone here with information about… sorry… about a case. I went to meet her and um… this is Jessica Coleman. James Finn’s fiancé,” McGee introduces the latest women who holds out her hand showing us her ring.  
“Hi, um” I say in confusion as I pick up Ugly Tony who is trying to attack this woman.  
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“Jethro, can I ask you a question?” I ask him as I carry Ugly Tony down into the basement where Gibbs is working on his boat tonight.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums as he watches me, waiting for my question.  
“How many fiancés did you have at one time?”   
“One. One to mean some times.”  
“Better be. I can’t have a shit-ton of fiancés coming out when you die. Because I will kill you then,” I state as I walk over to him and sit down next to the boat, brushing my dog’s hair out.  
“Jealous much?”  
“You’re mine and I don’t share well or at all,” I state calmly as I brush out all the knots in Ugly Tony’s fur.  
“Noted.”


	34. Witch Hunt

No one pov  
.  
“Ha! You’re not planning on leaving early, are you?” Tony asks Ziva ask he throws paper balls into McGee’s bin next to the desk at night in the squad room.   
“And if I am?” Ziva asks innocently.  
“I wouldn’t advice it. Do you know what today is?” Tony asks Ziva calmly.  
“Tuesday.”  
“IT’s Halloween, Ziva. It’s an American holiday.”  
“I know. The wearing of silly outfits and begging for treats. I imagine it would be a DiNozzo national holiday.”  
“Well, you imagined wrong. I don’t do Halloween.”  
“I see. Your father again, yes?”   
“I don’t do Halloween because ever since I became a cop weird things happen on October thirty-first.”  
“Define weird.”  
“Grave robberies. Beheadings. Cattle mutilations. And McGee turning fuzzy and blue,” Tony adds as McGee enters the room buttoning his shirt over a blue, fuzzy shirt.  
“What? McGee asks innocently.  
“What’s under your shirt?” Ziva demands of McGee as they make the way over to McGee’s desk.  
“My t-shirt.”  
“Okay, he’s lying.  
“Oh yeah. Oh, yeah! Ha-ha-ha! Ah,” Tony exclaims as he grabs the bag off McGee’s desk that has the rest of the blue fuzzy costume with a laugh he continues, “I knew you played a fairy on that online game, but dressing up as one?”  
“It’s a snow elf, and I’m going to a costume party, okay?” McGee defends himself as Ziva and Tony put on the rest of the costume. Tony is wearing the fuzzy gloves as Ziva puts on the hat and begins looking into a compacted mirror at herself.  
“It’s far from okay, probie. In fact, I’d say that this is taking geek one step beyond,” Tony exclaims.  
“Oh, sadly I have to agree. I instantly felt all the respect leave my body as soon as I put this on,” Ziva exclaims with a laugh.  
“Well, normally you’d be right, but you haven’t met my ice queen,” McGee defends himself.  
“You have to be kidding me,” Tony chuckles at McGee who pulls up her photo. She’s hot.  
“Dale Samechi. She’s a redskin’s cheerleader.”  
“Oh, very impressive,” Ziva states.  
“That’s a very hot woman. How did you find her?” Tony asks him in surprise.  
“I met her at the Armani store. Found out we played on the same gaming server together,” McGee defends himself.  
“Since when can you afford Armani?” Tony demands about the only important thing McGee said.  
“Hear up!” Gibbs orders us as he sweeps into the squad room before McGee can answer Tony. Gibbs freezes when he sees Ziva and Tony, he just stares at them trying to work out what is going on and if he needs to stop it.  
“Oh, god. They’re McGee’s,” Ziva exclaims as she removes the hat and Tony hides the gloves behind his back.  
“Well, I’m going to a costume party later tonight,” McGee explains himself.  
“Not anymore, Elf Lord. General Custer has been shot, and he’s got a dead Skelton in his living room,” Gibbs informs us.  
“What’d I say? Halloween,” Tony exclaims.  
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“No, wait, wait. Sharon,” McGee says to his Ice queen.  
“I can’t believe you’re not coming!” Sharon exclaims over the phone.  
“Well, what about next weekend.  
“It’s not Halloween!”  
“Look, it’s not my fault,” McGee defends himself before the girl hangs up on him in the street outside the crime scene tonight.  
“Oh, my poor little McGee! There’ll be other elf queens online,” Ziva teases McGee.  
“She’s right. Of course, they won’t be Redskins cheerleaders and they’ll probably weigh a few thousand pounds,” Tony also teases McGee.  
“Not to mention there is a chance some of them are actually men. But you play long enough?” Ziva chuckles at McGee.  
“The guy dressed as Custer is Staff Sergeant Erik Niles. LEOs are looking for his wife and daughter. Blood trail leads from his house, to the neighbour’s house who called it in. Tony, Ziva, get her statement. McGee, start processing the Staff Sergeant’s living room. Oh, and there’s a dead John Doe in there dressed like a Skelton,” Gibbs orders them as he walks over to them from talking to the LEOs as Ducky and Jimmy bring their van to a scratching stop, with egg all over their windscreen.  
“What happened to them?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Halloween,” Tony answer as Ducky climbs out.  
“Fine. Sorry we’re late, only we had a minor run-in with some local youths,” Ducky explains to them.  
“Yeah, I can see that, Doctor,” Gibbs says.  
“Did you get a good look at them?” McGee asks Ducky.  
“Oh, we did better than that. Release the captives, Mister Palmer!” Ducky orders Jimmy who opens the back of the van to show them there are two teenagers in the back dressed up as ninjas.  
“Are we in trouble?” the first ninja asks.  
“Ah, where we at?” the second ninja demands.  
“We said we were sorry.”  
“Right. Clean it!” Ducky orders them as he hands them a bucket.  
“Nice work, Palmer!” Tony complements him.  
“It wasn’t me, Tony. Doctor Mallard chased them for three blocks,” Jimmy admits.  
“Oh, please. It’s not that impressive. It’s not as if they were real ninjas,” Ducky shrugs off what he did.  
“It was your idea,” the first ninja hisses at his friend.  
“Shut up and clean!” the second ninja snaps back as we walk away from them.  
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“I thought he was play acting at first. You know, General Custer’s last stand and all that,” Burke, the witness, says to Ziva in the living room next door.  
“You removed his jacket. Why?” Ziva demands of her.  
“TO check for other wounds. There weren’t any. Just a single gunshot wound that nicked his carotid artery. I’m a doctor… paediatrician.”  
“Oh, that explains why he headed over here. You probably saved his life, doctor.”  
“I stabilized him the best I could until the EMTs arrived. And… it’s Leslie.”  
“Did he say anything to you?”  
“He was trying to. I think it was his daughter’s name. Sarah. I’m hoping she was with her mother when this… this happened.”  
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McGee is photographing Niles home, slash crime scene. And he spins around to see that someone took the shell casing.  
“Oh, that’s not creepy,” McGee mumbles before returning to photographing and seeing something at the corner of his eye only to see that the blood has been wiped up. The front door opens and McGee points the gun as the door opens only to see Jimmy.  
“Palmer!” McGee exclaims.  
“Is something wrong?” Jimmy asks him.  
“Are you trying to get shot?”  
“Um, no,” Jimmy answers as he shuts the door and McGee holsters his gun.  
“There’s someone in this room.”  
“You mean besides the dead skeleton guy?”  
“Yes, besides the dead skeleton guy.”  
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“Basement’s clear, boss,” Tony informs them after searching the house for McGee’s mystery person.  
“Look, I know what I saw. Someone policed the brass… tried to wipe up the blood,” McGee defends himself as he points to the empty and knocked over evidence markers as Gibbs flick the lights back on.  
“Who, probie? The crime scene fairies? There’s no one here,” Tony snaps at him.  
“Get Ducky in here. We’re wasting time,” Gibbs orders them.  
“Boss, I’m sorry, but I swear that,” McGee begins.  
“What do you make of this, McGee?” Gibbs cut him off as he walk and look around the crime scene.  
“Well, obvious signs of a struggle. One dead assailant. Not really sure how his head got that way, though,” McGee admits.  
“You’re not? Come on, let me show you. Get on the floor,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
“Well, Tony did tell me about when you demonstrated this technique,” McGee begins but Gibbs forces him onto the ground anyway.  
“Yeah? You guys talk about things like that? You learn by feeling, McGee. This is how Marines silence enemy sentries. Sixty-six pounds of pressure and the… snap!” Gibbs states as he climbs on top of McGee, pinning him onto the ground. He snaps McGee’s head to the side like out victim but stops before snapping his neck.  
“So Staff Sergeant Niles went down fighting.”  
“See? The blood spatter on the wall. He was right about where I am now when he got shot. Bullet impacted it means the shooter was over here somewhere,” Gibbs explains as he gets off of McGee.  
“This is where the brass is… us, was. So two assailants?” McGee states.  
“At least,” Gibbs agrees with him as Ducky enters the room and goes to check their John Doe.  
“Yes, the cause of death is pretty obvious. But you never know. I once had a case where a man who died of heart failure had an ice pick plunged into his skull four hours after the time of death. His wife discovered that she had been left out of his will,” Ducky explains to us.  
“Good news, boss. Kids saw a car leaving the Sergeant’s house around the time of the shooting. Ziva’s getting a description,” Tony reports to Gibbs as he returns.  
“Yes, well, let’s have a look at you,” Ducky says to our victim before Tony shouts in surprise as he jumps up and away from the couch he is standing next to.  
“Something just touched my foot! Something’s under the couch!”  
“Maybe it’s the crime scene fairy, Tony,” McGee repeats teasingly what Tony said before.  
“Shh! I hate Halloween,” Tony hisses at McGee as he lays down on the ground and looks under the couch. He looks for a moment before shouting again as he jumps back up onto his feet as a robot moves out from under the couch.  
“It’s a Roomba. It’s a robot vacuum cleaner. Uses navigational sensors to clean the floor while the owners away,” McGee explains to them what that thing is.  
“Yes, well your Roomba is about to interfere with your crime scene,” Ducky reminds them as the robot goes to eat more of their crime scene, but Gibbs sneaks up behind it and smash it with his bootie overed foot.  
“Damn thing policed the brass,” Gibbs informs them after pulling out the shell casings of the destroyed Roomba.  
“I told you I wasn’t crazy,” McGee exclaims.  
“Bag it.”  
“Come on. Let’s get him home,” Ducky says.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The door slammed and he just drove away,” the boy informs Ziva outside in the street.  
“Thanks a lot,” Ziva says to him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The boy saw a car leaving the scene that looked like a kuruna. I’m not familiar with the model,” Ziva states as she walks into Niles living room.  
“Kuruma is Japanese for car, Ziva,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Your description of the car is car. Nice work, Officer David,” Tony teases her.  
“Kuruma is the name of a car in Grand Theft Auto Three. It’s a Chrysler Sebring sedan,” McGee defends Ziva.  
“McGeek with the save!”   
“I’ll put out a BOLO,” Ziva states.  
“Find the staff sergeant’s wife,” Gibbs begs.  
“Erik! Oh, my god! Is that… is that… is that my… is that my husband in there?” Laurie, the victim’s wife, demands as she runs into the room.  
“Miss, that’s not your husband. That’s not your husband. Okay,” Gibbs promises her as the woman with her steads her before Gibbs, and Tony lead them into the kitchen and away from the body.  
“I’m her sister. We were at the school helping set for the Halloween party when the police came,” Rebecca, the wife’s sister, says.  
“Is her daughter still there?” Gibbs asks them hopefully.  
“Sarah? She was with Erik.”  
“Amber Alert. On it, boss,” Tony exclaims as he rushes off to do it.  
“I’m okay now. When they said Erik was shot and I saw that body, I,” Laura begins to ramble.  
“Mrs. Niles, your husband is at Bethesda Hospital. He’s in surgery. We’ll take you to see him. I just need to ask you a few questions,” Gibbs cuts her off gently.  
“Laurie, Sarah’s missing,” Rebecca explains to his sister.  
“You mean she’s been kidnapped,” Laura snaps at her in fear.  
“They don’t know for that for sure, yet.”  
“Mrs. Niles, your daughter may have just become scared and run off,” McGee offers.  
“Perhaps there’s a friend or relative’s house she’d go to,” Ziva adds.  
“No. no, she… she would have called me on my cell phone. They took my little girl,” Laura exclaims in sadness.  
“They’ll find her, Laurie! We just have to stay positive, okay?” Rebecca promises before a cell phone begins ringing. Rebecca adds, “That could be her right now!”  
“DO you mind putting that on the speaker?” Gibbs asks her making Laura do it.  
“Hello?” Laura answers the phone.  
“Mummy!” Sarah, a little girl’s voice, exclaims over the phone, showing just how young she is.  
“Baby, are you okay?”  
“They hurt daddy! I tried to call the police, but the man…”  
“Listen to me, Sarah. Everything’s going to be all right. You just need to…”  
“We have your daughter. You will see her alive again, you’ll do exactly what I say. I’ll call back with instructions,” Jensen, the kidnapper, says into the phone before hanging up making Laura cry.  
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“I dress up as a skeleton once in my youth. Did you know that the tradition of Halloween was brought over from Scotland, along with the fine sports of gold and curling?” Ducky asks Tony and McGee in autopsy.  
“I wouldn’t call anything using a broom a ‘sport,’ Ducky,” Tony admits.  
“Tony, curling is referred to as chess on ice, because it puts high demands on tactics and foresight.”  
“Relax, Ducky, I love Scotland. Sean Connery, the very best James bond ever.”  
“I thought he was Irish,” McGee says in confusion making Ducky laugh as he adds, “Darby O’Gill and the little people.”  
“He was using a fake Irish accent. It’s called acting.”  
“The preliminary cause of death is blunt force trauma to the neck. However, once I’ve done the,” Ducky begins.  
“This guy’s our only like to the missing girl. I need an I.D.”  
“Well, currently he remains a John Doe. He has no I.D; he has no tattoos, no distinguishing marks. Here.”  
“What about his prints?”   
“Mister Palmer took them up to Abby’s lab. Though, she’s not there and she’s not answering her calls.”  
“Halloween’s a pretty big night for Abby,” McGee admits before asking, “Have you seen Alice? I can’t get a hold of her either.”  
“Every night is Halloween to Abby,” Tony states.  
“Ah, there you are. Is she here yet?” Ducky asks Jimmy as he returns.  
“Oh, she’s here, and Alice and her are in costumes,” a red faced Jimmy explains.  
“Oh, yeah? What’s it like?” Tony asks him.  
“Trust me; you wouldn’t want me to ruin the surprise.”  
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Alice pov  
“Oh, sorry I was late, you guys. I couldn’t hear my cell phone ringing at the party. You’d think a cemetery would be a little quitter,” Abby rambles in the lab as she is working at her computer and dressed like Marilyn Monroe. We were at a Halloween party tonight when we got the call because the team is working a case of an almost dead dad and a missing daughter, and I feel bad that I left early for the party to help with the case, so I am going to help Abby in the lab.  
“It’s awful about that little girl! Getting kidnapped on Halloween. Totally creepy. I’m running my skeleton’s fingerprints through AFIS. I’m starting with the Virginia and Maryland, and then a subset of all know child molesters on the East Coast,” I add as I help Abby. I am dressed like a sexy Skeleton, with a skin tight dress that stops at the top of my thighs and thigh high socks that are attached to my garter under the dress so the bones stay in place and Abby and Mrs Mallard spent hours painting my face like a scull with my hair curled into tightly. They have also pinned my hair up so it only falls to my mid back.  
“I’ve got an Amber Alert running, no hits yet. We’ve got to find her!” Abby orders them as we turn to face the boys who are staring at us.  
“What?” I demand of them tightly.  
“Why are you looking at us like that? Do I have food in my teeth or something?”  
“Guys. Your wasting time… time this child might not have,” I snap at them making them break out of they’re shock.  
“No, uh… I’ll just stick with or something. I need to run our dead guy’s photo against mug shots,” Tony finally says.  
“Give me,” Abby snaps when nothing appends.  
“The camera, McGeek,” Tony exclaims as he head-smacks McGee to get him working again.  
“The camera. Sorry,” McGee exclaims as he hands over the camera.  
“We need to put out a BOLO. See if anyone recognizes our guy.”  
“McGee, what is wrong with you? You look like Ari’s back and if he is, you should have told me,” I state.  
“Or three cans short of a six-pack,” Abby adds as we return to the computers to work on finding this girl.  
“Nothing, it’s just… you both look different,” McGee stutters out.  
“He means the Halloween costume, Marilyn, Skeleton,” Tony explains when we both glare at him.  
“Oh, right! Sweet, huh?” Abby asks them happily.  
“Yeah,” McGee agrees with her.  
“Yeah,” Tony agrees as his phone begin ringing making him answer it, “DiNozzo… Okay, on it. We also got a picture of our skeleton without the makeup… He’s still in surgery. According to the doctors, we won’t be able to interview him until tomorrow… Yeah. Kidnappers call back yet…? If she’s still alive…? Yeah, I was kind of wondering the same thing,” Tony admits before ending the call after a moment.  
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No one pov  
.  
“How long do I have to sit here?” Laura asks Ziva in the kitchen.  
“They’re doing everything they can for us, Laurie,” Rebecca defends Ziva.  
“You must try to stay calm,” Ziva says Laura, rudely.  
“That’s easy for you to say. Do you have children, Officer David?” Laura demands of Ziva, proving she said the wrong thing and she is only going to get worse.  
“No. but I know what it’s like to lose a member of my family,” Ziva says making Laura sob before he adds, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”  
“Nice! Thank you. Sarah will be fine, Laurie. You have to believe that,” Rebecca says to her sister as Ziva leaves the kitchen into the living room to talk to Gibbs.  
“Our skeleton John Doe,” Ziva says as she shows Gibbs the photo.  
“She recognizes him?” Gibbs asks them.  
“I haven’t showed it to her yet. Apparently everything I say makes her cry!”   
“Ziva, her husband is in critical condition. Her daughter’s been kidnapped.”  
“I know! I’m just not very good with the crying and the women and the…”  
“That makes two of us.”  
“I also believe she’s hiding something. She seems conflicted, like… like she’s holding something back.”  
“I’ll show you something,” Gibbs says before leading her to the master bedroom closet making her understand.  
“One shirt. Our staff sergeant wasn’t living here.”  
“Is that a question or a statement?”  
“Actually, more of a… you want me to find out why.”  
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“You saw the Sebring driving that way?” McGee asks the boy dressed as a zombie in the street but all they get is mumbling through the mask.  
“What?! Is that German? Are you speaking German? Is that German?” Tony demands but the mumbling is all they get again.  
“You’re saying two people,” McGee tries again but again mumbling.  
“Two people where?” Tony attempts but there is more mumbling making Tony tries again, “What is that? A manhole cover? They were moving manhole covers? What is that… a rake?”   
“Yeah, I know. He’s just saying you’re bad a charades, you know,” McGee states what he thinks Breen, the zombie’s, mumbling.  
“All right, screw this,” Tony exclaims before ripping the mask off.  
“Youch! Dude! You ruined my costume!” Breen exclaims.  
“Do you want to be charged with obstructing a Federal investigation, huh? Then speak, zombie!”  
“Okay, look. I saw a Sebring, right? And I think there were two people in it.”  
“Which way did it go?”  
“That way. Yeah, it cut the corner so hard it ran over the curb.”  
“All right, show me,” Tony orders him making Breen howl and Tony add, “Don’t be wise guy.”  
“Okay. Okay, look. It crashed into all that stuff, right? And then it drove off that way,” Breen explains as he points to the destroyed pumpkins.  
Did you get a look at the license plate?” McGee begs of him.  
“Dude, I can barely see you two with all this makeup on,” Breen explains as Tony hands him back the mask that he puts it back on and a muffled he says, “Thank you.”  
“You got a time of death on the great pumpkin here, Charlie Brown?” Tony asks McGee when Breen leaves and McGee looks at the wreckage.  
“I might have more than that. The car left an impression on it,” McGee admits.  
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“This is the guy that was fighting with your husband,” Gibbs says to the victim’s wife in the kitchen as he shows the photo to her since Ziva is too scared.  
“Sorry, Agent Gibbs. I don’t recognize him,” Laura says sadly.  
“Think, Laurie. Maybe you saw him at a store or the mall,” Rebecca pushes her sister.  
“I said I don’t know him! Can I talk to Erik?”  
“Sure. He’s still in surgery. When he gets out, we’ll put him on the phone with you,” Gibbs promises.  
“It’s going to be all right. We need to have faith,” Rebecca says to Laura.  
“Stop touching me!” Laura orders her sister before getting up and walking over to the sink to wash her face.  
“I know what you’re going through, Laurie. I know… I know there’s nothing I can say,” Gibbs admits to her as he walks over to her and speaks to her softly without her sister or anyone else hearing it.  
“Have you ever had a daughter kidnapped?”   
“Kidnapped, no. but I promise to do everything I can do to bring your daughter home safe,” Gibbs admits after a moment as he thinks of his lovely daughter, who he still misses every day.  
“I believe you, Agent Gibbs. I just hope it’ll be enough.”  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Dawn of the dead was awesome!” Abby exclaims in lab after Tony and McGee spoke to a boy dressed as a zombie that saw the car.  
“Cinematic blasphemy. Fast zombies? There’s a reason you don’t remake classics,” Tony states.  
“John Carpenter’s the Thing,” I correct him with one.  
“Well, there’s an exception to every rule.”  
“The fly,” Abby adds.  
“Maybe two.”  
“Didn’t you say that Al Pacino in Scarface was the best,” McGee begins.  
“Okay! But my point is zombies should be slow.”  
“Tony, there’s nothing scary about a zombie dragging his butt around. By the time he gets to you, you have drunk your coffee and walked away to the othersider of the world,” I state.  
“Well, a zombie is not a zombie unless it’s dragging his butt around,” Tony corrects me.  
“You liked Twenty Eight Days later. Those zombies were really quick,” McGee reminds Tony.  
“Okay, enough with the zombies already! We find an impression on the vegetable or not?”  
“Technically it’s a fruit.”  
“We’re finished rendering the laser scan on the Great Pumpkin surface. McGee, can you invert the image,” Abby asks him.  
“As soon as you two are done undressing Abby with your eyes,” I state calmly.  
“And bring up the gamma and inverse the contrast. And swap it. Oh, smashing pumpkins! It’s a left hand side of a Virginia license plate!” Abby exclaims.  
“Nice work, Abs! Run it, McGee!” Tony complements Abby as he attempts to be Gibbs again.  
“First four letters, cross referencing against Chrysler Sebring’s. And we got a hit. The car was registered to a rental car company in Catlett, Virginia,” McGee reads off his computer screen as it beeps.  
“Yes! DiNozzo does it again,” Tony laughs.  
“What did you do besides trying to be Jethro?” I demand of him because he is taking the credit for someone else’s work, again.  
“I think you mean Abby and I did it again,” McGee corrects him but Abby slaps his arm making him exclaim, “Ow! What’s that for?”  
“Those days ended the moment you started sexing up the cheerleader,” Abby hisses at him, slightly hurt that he did that.  
“All right, find out who rented that car. I’m about to make Gibbs’ night,” Tony orders us.  
“Uh, wait a second, Tony. There is no name. The car was reported stolen three days ago,” McGee informs Tony as I pull Abby into a side hug.  
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No one pov  
.  
“Our staff sergeant moved into the Quantico Bachelor enlisted quarters three weeks ago,” Ziva informs Gibbs in the living room.  
“Marital problems?” Gibbs asks her without any surprise but he has done it four times.  
“Well, according to someone called scuttle butt, he caught his wife cheating on him.”  
“Scuttlebutt’s not a person, Ziva. Scuttlebutt is what marines call gossip.”  
“And then you wonder why I have a problem with your language,” Ziva complains as the phone rings again.  
“Okay, stay calm. Tell him you want to talk to Sarah. Can you do that for me, Laurie?” Gibbs rushes over to her and asks her.  
“Okay,” Laura agrees as Ziva begins recording the call and answering it, “Sarah?”  
“Try again,” Jansen taunts her.  
“I want to talk to my daughter right now, or I’m… I’m hanging up.”  
“Hang up and she dies, Mrs Niles.”  
“I want to talk to her right now.”  
“Talk is cheap. You want to see her alive again, that’ll cost.”  
“Whatever it is, whatever you want, I’ll do it! I give you my word.”  
“A hundred thousand in small bills. You have until dawn to get it.”  
“Yes, okay. Now… now just please let me talk to my daughter.”  
“Money first, then you can talk,” Jansen orders her before ending the call.  
“The call wasn’t long enough to trace. We’ll get another chance when he calls her back to tell her where to drop the ransom,” Ziva informs them.  
“Laurie, I’d like to talk to you… alone,” Gibbs begs of her.  
“It’s okay, honey. I’ll be tight here if you need me. I’m not going anywhere,” Rebecca says to her sister.  
“Tell DiNozzo I want that John Doe I.D.’s in an hour,” Gibbs orders Ziva as he follows Laura into the bedroom.  
“We don’t have a hundred thousand dollars sitting in the basement, Agent Gibbs. Maybe my parents can get it, but it’s going to take time,” Laura admits sadly.  
“Yeah, we can help you with that, but I need some answers first,” Gibbs states as he shuts the door, giving them some privacy.  
“Anything.”  
“Sit down. So Laurie, why did your husband move out of your house and onto base?” Gibbs asks her as Laura sits on the bed and Gibbs sits on the chair across from her on the foot of the bed.  
“What does that have to do with this?”  
“Maybe nothing, but I need to know.”  
“We were having some problems, Erik wanted a trail separation.”  
“Why?”  
“I made a mistake, a stupid mistake eight years ago.”  
“What kind of mistake?” Gibbs asks but after a moment of silence before adding, “Laurie, look, I’ve been married four times. I’ve made every mistake in the book.”  
“Right before we were married, Erik… he… he broke off our engagement for a few weeks. I saw an old boyfriend. It was a stupid fling. I pretended it never happened.”  
“Erik’s not your daughter’s biological father?”  
“I don’t know! But even if I did, it doesn’t matter!”  
“How did your husband find out?”  
“My ex-boyfriend. Last month he showed up and demanded Sarah take a paternity test. When I refused, he threatened me.”  
“I need his name… address.”  
“Robert Miller. I have no idea what his address is.”  
“He live in Virginia?”  
“Used to.”  
“Age, weight, eye and hair colour. We can run him down through DMV.”  
“He’s twenty-eight years old. Brown hair, green eyes. Maybe a hundred and eighty pounds?”  
“Laurie, what aren’t you telling me?”   
“It’s my fault. I… I,” Laura cries as the door opens and her sister enters.  
“Laurie, you okay in here?” Rebecca asks making Laura sob.  
“No! I destroyed my family.”  
“Don’t you think she’s been through enough already?”  
“Could Miller have done this?” Gibbs asks Laura.  
“Maybe. I… I don’t know. I just want my baby back,” Laura cries out in fear for her family.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“She’s only telling you this now?” Tony demands of Ziva because Gibbs just found out that the wife had an affair before they got married and the child might not be her husband’s, who is still in surgery, fighting for his life.  
“Robert Miller, there’s over three hundred listed in the Tri-State area alone,” McGee informs us.  
“Narrow the search with the criteria, McGee,” I remind him.  
“Still over a hundred Robert Millers listed.”  
“We’ve got her cell phone records, right?” Tony begs of McGee.  
“When we tapped her lines.”  
“So check to see if Robert Miller called in the last month.”  
“Abby’s right. I am three beers short of a six-pack.”  
“I think she was talking about your abs, Mc-Flabby,” Tony teases McGee.  
“Okay, three calls, about a month ago. Called from his home phone.”  
“Called from his home phone… three calls in the last month,” I repeat.  
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No one pov  
.  
“My sister can barely stand, here. Is there any way we can let her get some rest?” Rebecca asks them in the bedroom.  
“Sure,” Gibbs agrees as they leave the room.  
“We’ve got an address,” Ziva reports to Gibbs.  
“Keep an eye on them. If the kidnappers call again, you tell him no more money until we talk to the girl,” Gibbs orders her quietly.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Last time I did Halloween, I went an astronaut. The neighborhood I grew up in, well, it wasn't really a neighborhood. There were these estates with mansions smack dab in the middle of them, with really long driveways. It made Halloween very tricky. It's a lot of walking. God, my feet were tired that night. Dogs were barking,” Tony informs us about his Halloween experience as we get into the car to meet Gibbs at Miller’s home.  
“Yeah, I can imagine it really sucks growing up rich like that,” McGee complains.  
“My costume was fantastic, though. Wicked awesome! I was a space man. No ventilation, though. Burning up, sweating like Roger Federer after a five-set tie breaker, and stinky. Stinky like cheese. But man what a haul! I made off with more candy than I could carry.”  
“God, I imagine this story’s coming to an end soon.”  
“But when I got home, old man made me throw it all away. Even the apples.”  
“He was concerned about your teeth.”  
“Oh, no. I made my astronaut costume out of one of his three thousand dollars designer ski suits.”  
“Ouch.”  
“I don’t think I sat down again until Christmas. Good times, probie. Good times,” Tony says making me pale slightly but you can’t tell because of the makeup I am still wearing, I know what that’s like, not being able to sit down for months for just doing something any child would do.  
“What about you Alice. What was you Halloween experience like?”  
“I went as a ghost. Kate forgot Halloween was coming up and it was the only thing she could think of,” I admit with a small sad smile.  
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Tony pulls up the car and we climb out to meet Gibbs there making me smile because when he clocks my outfit under the jacket and he glares at the boys for getting to be around me.  
“Kuruma,” McGee says as he points to the car out front.  
“Plates match. Its miller’s stolen ride,” Gibbs agrees with him as he grabs my hand, holding me against him and away from the men on his team.  
“This is the building. Second floor, apartment two oh seven. Halloween doesn’t have to suck after all,” Tony exclaims when he sees some young girls dressed up sexily.  
“Please, they’ll call rape the second you get close to them,” I state with a straight face.  
“Something was burned in here recently. It’s still smouldering,” McGee informs us as he checks the front of the car.  
“Pop the trunk, McGee,” Gibbs orders him making McGee follow through and I open it.  
“Let’s get the fucking sonofabitch,” I hiss as I show them an eight-year-old’s Halloween costume that was in the boot. We all begin walking up to the building and into the hallway. Towards the apartment quickly and quietly. A girl screams in the apartment making us rush faster.  
“Federal Agents!” Gibbs shouts as we rush into the room as a camera flashes somewhere.  
“Yeah, all right!” Paragon, a person dressed like a carrot, shouts. “Great group costume, guys, bit you spelled CSI wrong on your hats,” Paragon continues as everyone applauds us.  
“Not again. We’re fucking NCIS,” I snap at him.  
“Robert Miller,” Gibbs calls over me.  
“Somebody’s in a bad mood,” Paragon states. Gibbs grabs him making Paragon exclaims, “Right over there by the blue alien ladies.”  
“IT’s not easy being a root vegetable, is it?” Tony teases him as I follow my stalking boyfriend over to our possible kidnapper.  
“Robert Miller,” I call to the man dressed as a Klingon as I grab Gibbs jacket to hold him back from attacking him around people.  
“Hab sosli’ quch!” Miller says to us in Klingon.  
“Boss, he just said, ‘Your mother has a smooth forehead.’ It’s a Klingon insult!” McGee translates.  
“You speak Klingon?” Tony asks in surprise.  
“Not fluently, but yes.”  
“Grow up, both you,” I snap at McGee and Miller.  
“Federal Agents,” Gibbs snaps at him as he flashes his badge.  
“Jeghbe thlinganpu!”  
“Now he’s saying Klingons don’t surrender,” McGee translates again making me release Gibbs who shoves Miller into the wall.  
“Are you Robert Miller?” Gibbs hisses at him.  
“I’ll answer him, he’s a fully trained marine to kill without coffee,” I warn him.  
“Who are you people?” Miller demands of us but Gibbs shoves him tighter against the wall making him add, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”  
“Sarah Niles! Where is she?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“That bitch sent you here! My lawyer says I have a right to know if she’s my child. I’m just trying to do the right thing. If she’s my daughter, I just want to be a part of her life! She looks exactly like me!” Miller hiss but I give him a disbelieving look, if this girl looks exactly like him; she is a victim of genetics and kidnapping. He adds, “Well, except for the fake teeth and the bumps on the forehead.”  
“IS that why you kidnapped her?” I ask him tightly, I wouldn’t let another family get hurt like Gibbs is.  
“I didn’t kidnap anybody.”  
“The car that was used is parked outside downstairs,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Well, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. I’ve been here all day with my friends getting ready for this party. You can ask them.”  
“Boss, no sign of Sarah,” McGee reports as he returns from searching.  
“See? I told you!”   
“The only think I hate worse than Halloween are Klingons,” Tony complains.  
“Look, ask them, okay? Ask the guy with the cheese head hat. Ask the vampire, David Lee Roth, Carrot Man. Ask him!”   
“This has gone far enough. I happen to be a lawyer,” Paragon snaps at us.  
“Good! The only thing I hate worse than Klingons are lawyers,” Tony and I say together.  
“I didn’t do anything, all right? Laurie’s the one who threatened me. She told me that her husband… her husband was going to kill me if I didn’t leave her alone. Ask her,” Miller explains.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs calls Tony to inform Ziva as I cuff Miller, accidently to tight.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
“Ziva,” Ziva answers her ringing phone.  
“Boss wants to talk to the mum,” Tony informs her. Ziva walks into the bedroom door and knocks on it before walling out.  
“Mrs Niles? Agent Gibbs needs to talk to you,” Ziva calls out as she knocks on the door again. “Mrs. Niles?” Ziva knocks on the door one more time before entering the empty room. She quickly searches the room but can’t find the mother anymore.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Hey, Abby. How you going?” I ask her as I walk into the lab, alone. Gibbs is integrating Miller, McGee si watching, Tony is looking into the alibi while Ziva disappeared.  
“Slowly. What are you doing down here?” Abby answers me as she works on the computer.  
“Hiding from Tony and McGee. If I catch them eye fucking my one more time, I am going to fucking shot them.”  
“That bad?”   
“Worst I have ever experience and I used to come from a catholic school to here, and Tony worked here at that time.”  
“That’s unfortunate. That it’s not Gibbs.”  
“I agree. Just hope Gibbs hasn’t noticed or I may have to visit prison to see him,” I joke with her as I hand her the caf-pow I brought for her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“You know, we’re wasting time here. Right now there’s someone out there with my daughter doing God knows what,” Miller breaks the silence after over three quarters of an hour in integration. He is still in the costume but for the fake hair. I have been doing nothing but staring at him and planning Tony and McGee’s death. Their not allowed staring or touching my girl but they’re pushing it tonight.  
“Alleged,” I correct him tightly.  
“What?”  
“Alleged daughter, Miller.”  
“Whether I’m her father or not, she’s still Laurie’s daughter. I still care about what happens to her.”  
“I believe you.”  
“Then why are we just sitting here?”  
“You’re sitting. I’m waiting,” I correct him again.  
“Waiting for what?” Miller asks in confusion right as my phone begins ringing. I get up and leave the room as I answer it.  
“Talk to me, Abs,” I answer the phone as McGee and Tony join my walking down the hall towards the elevator.  
“I’ve got everything for you, Gibbs,” Abby exclaims happily and hyper meaning that Alice has given her a caf-pow.  
“On my way,” Gibbs promise her before hanging up.  
“Checked Miller’s alibi,” Tony informs me.  
“He didn’t do it. I know.”  
“You mind tell us how?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Spent forty minutes with him.”  
“Well, all you really did was stare at him.”  
“Have you ever tried reading a Klingon’s dace, McGee? It’s ain’t exactly easy.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We’ve I.D.ed our skeleton,” Alice informs us in the lab as she stands next to Abby at the computer working on it.  
“Our dead John is no longer a Doe. I got a hit on him from the DMV database. Lee Varon. He’s thirty-eight years old, from Fredericksburg, Virginia. No criminal record,” Abby reports to them.  
“I want everything on this guy from birth until Ducky cracked his sternum,” I order Tony and McGee but they don’t move because they’re too busy looking at Alice and Abby in their costumes making me hit them, Alice is MINE. Their not allowed to look at her. Only I’m allowed to look at her. I shout what I want to hear, “Yeah! On it, boss!”  
“Right,” Tony and McGee say together before leaving the lab.  
“Not bad for a blonde,” I complement her as I stand in front of her, looking down on her but watch MY Alice out of the corner of my eye.  
“You know, there’s not statistical evidence that say blondes have lower I.Q.s than any other hair colour,” Abby informs me.  
I’ll take your work for it, Abs,” I say as I place a kiss on her cheek and turn to leave, fully expecting Alice to come and help me with the case.  
“There’s more, if you’re interested,” Alice calls once I’m out of the room making me stick my head back in.  
“Mister Presidents. I ran some tests on the piece of burnt paper found inside the kidnapper’s car. There were no finger prints, but I did find traces of chemicals,” Abby continues for her. I never released how well they can work together; best Abby has worked with anyone including Kate.  
“Ink?” I ask them as I make my way back over to them, standing behind my girl. All mine.  
“Yes, when I applied my own special and unique brand of chemical, ran it through the laser scanner a few times, we get… this.”  
“The miracle that separates us from all other primates. Really bad penmanship,” Alice informs me as she leans back against my chest, in her tiny dress as Abby types at the Keyboard showing us what is written.  
“Miller’s home address. Probably given to the kidnapper by the staff sergeant’s wife,” Ziva states as she walks into the lab, she’s on thin ice and she blaming the mother of a missing eight year old.  
“She didn’t kidnap her daughter,” I snap at her tightly, she is pissing my off now.  
“Then where is Laurie Niles, Gibbs?”  
“Last time I saw her, with you,” I overlap her angrily.  
“Okay, I admit I screwed that one up. But why did she run?”  
“She was hiding something.”  
“So you do agree with me?”  
“Oh, yeah… you definitely screwed up,” I snap at her before I storm away, leaving Alice behind knowing she would talk to Ziva and Abby.  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
“Is there something I should know?” Abby asks Ziva.  
“I think he’s planning on devouring me.”  
“Why did you say eat? I would have said something worthwhile,” I complain to Ziva.  
“I think he’s planning on eating me.”  
“Well, he is really good at it. But I’ll shoot you when I find out,” I state making both Ziva and Abby laugh and I quickly join them.  
“And they say blondes have all the fun,” Abby complains when we get the laughter under control.  
“Thanks Abby,” I say to her before I leave with Ziva.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Our dead skeleton served in the air force. Received an other-than-honourable discharge in two thousand three. Did one year of community college,” McGee reports as Gibbs walks into the squad room the next morning with coffee. I have washed my face but am still wearing my dress, much to Gibbs charging and he keeps ordering me to change.  
“He was a security guard, boss. Worked for a law firm, Kapp and Associates, in Annandale, Virginia,” Tony adds what he found.  
“Laurie Niles also works for Kapp and Associates, Gibbs. She’s their chief financial officer,” Ziva informs us.  
“So she knew him.”  
“Oh yeah,” Gibbs states angrily.  
“She hired him to abduct her daughter. I mean, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”  
“There’s another reason. They kidnapped her because they wanted Mrs Niles to do something for them. The best way to get something done is to hold something they value,” I explain to as I demonstrate by taking Gibbs coffee and holding it until he tries to snatch it but I don’t return it to him.  
“Like what?” Ziva asks us in confusion.  
“Oooh. Got a hit on a BOLO here,” McGee reports when his computer beeps without anyone answering Ziva and I hand Gibbs his coffee back before his vain in his forehead pops.  
“Yeah, and, McGee?” Gibbs demands, he’s having a bad couple of days.  
“This is strange because I just entered it into the system. It’s Varon’s vehicle and it’s been moving…”  
“There’s a cop following it?” I ask him in surprise, what are the chances of that.  
“No, the hit were generated electronically. It’s his E-Z pass for high speed toll lanes.”  
“He’s doing a lot of driving for a dead guy,” Tony comments as McGee puts up a map and a line where Varon’s deriving since he died.  
“He left Woodbridge right after Laurie Niles and her sister disappeared,” Ziva informs us.  
“Made a little run up to Manassas, not too far from Miller’s apartment.”  
“The last hit was five minutes ago,” McGee informs us.  
“Annandale. One exit from Kapp and Associates Law Firm,” Ziva finishes.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We’re in. That’s from Sarah’s costume. Clear!” Ziva whispers as we sneak into the law firm.  
“Plates match our skeleton’s car in the parking lot,” Tony adds.  
“You two… find the girl,” Gibbs orders Ziva and Tony. McGee, Gibbs and I sneak up to the office to find Laura Niles and her sister if possible.  
“In the last office. Far room! Far room! I have visual contact on the sister. There’s one male Caucasian, approximately thirty-five years old, holding them hostage with a semi-automatic weapon,” McGee reports to us as we get close to the room.  
“You got a positive I.D. on the little girl?” I beg of him as we get closure.  
“That’s a negative. I can only see the left side of the room, Alice.”  
“I’m in. The insurance money is here. All three million,” Laura says in the room.  
“Now all you have to do is transfer it to those accounts and we call it a day,” Jansen, the kidnapper, snaps at her.  
“I want my daughter first!”  
“You’ll get her once you transfer the cash. You’ve been smart so far, Mrs Niles. You played along to protect your little princess. Hate to see you blow it now.”  
“You shot my husband!”  
“I didn’t have a choice. We were supposed to kidnap him and the girl, but he chose to fight back. Don’t make the same mistake.”  
“How… how do I know you’re not going to just kill us when I transfer this?”  
“I’ll kill you if you don’t.”  
“We’ve come this far, Laurie! Just do it and let’s end this. Please,” Rebecca begs of her.  
“NCIS is going to figure this out,” Laura warns him.  
“I’ve had those Navy cops running around all night. They’re clueless. Now transfer the damn money!” Jansen orders her.  
“Federal Agents!” Gibbs shouts as we rush into the room.  
“NCIS,” I overlap him as we all aim our guns out Jansen.  
“Drop your weapon!” McGee orders him but Jansen fires at us and we return fire, killing him.  
“They still have Sarah,” Rebecca reminds us.  
“If she’s in the building, we’ll find her.”  
“And if not. We’ll find her,” I add calmly.  
“Laurie!” Rebecca says to the scared woman as she leads them out as we check the body of the kidnapper making sure he’s dead.  
“We have the little girl,” Tony informs us over the radio.  
“Hey, hold up! Hold up! We’ve got Sarah,” Gibbs calls after the sisters and run after them.  
“Once we secure the building you and your sister can see her,” McGee adds making Laura punch Rebecca in the face. Once Rebecca is on the ground Laura begins kicking the crap out of her.  
“I’m not getting involved this time. Bitch fights aren’t my forte anymore,” I state as I step away from the fight with the boys.  
“She’s not my sister! She’s one of them! Told me if I didn’t lie to you, they’d kill my baby!” Laura hisses as Gibbs physically removes her from her not sister.  
“Stop!” Gibbs orders her.  
“All they wanted was the stupid money!”  
“Ma’am. Please stop, is this how you want your daughter to see you? Her mother beating up someone? Because I’ve seen that I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, let alone your innocent, beautiful daughter,” I say to the woman making her stop trying to attack the not sister.  
“Gun!” McGee shouts before grabbing the purse with the gun in it.  
“Sarah!” Laura yells when she sees her daughter making Gibbs release her as eh rushes towards her beautiful daughter.  
“Mummy!” Sarah exclaims as Laura picks her up with a sob.  
“Oh, baby! I missed you so much! Are you okay?”  
“Apparently she doesn’t have sister,” I explain to Tony who is arresting Rebecca.  
“Halloween, Ziva. Be glad it only happens once a year,” Tony complains.  
“Tony, I thought you would have loved it. All the skin tight dresses on the women and no problem fucking you because they can’t see your face,” I whisper to Tony so the Sarah doesn’t hear me making Tony fake laugh at me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The sky is blue, the grass is green. May we have our Halloween! That’s how we used to say trick-or-treat in Scotland,” Ducky attempts to remember what was said in Scotland when he was a child before it came to America as he hands Sarah some candy, Abby and I taking her desk to desk in the squad room dressed up still.  
“Thank you,” Sarah says happily.  
“We have a lot of desks to get to,” Abby reminds us.  
“Thank you dad,” I say before leaving off to the next desk.  
“Look at this!” Sarah shows her mother all the candy she got.  
“You know. No one gives me this amount of candy,” I complain to Sarah.  
“Why?”  
“They don’t like me. I think it’s because I’m not as pretty as you.”  
“Really?”  
“Yep. Now go with you mother and be good. Or I’ll come and steal all your candy,” I whisper to her as I pock her tummy making her giggle as she runs off. I stand up with a smirk before walking over to the stairs and up to the runway outside the director’s officer where Gibbs is leaning with his coffee. I lean down next to him and ask, “You alright there smiley?”  
“Yeah. Yeah I am, now,” Gibbs answers me as he watches everything.  
“Sarah wants me to give you this,” I state as I hand him a chocolate bar making him laugh.  
“Thanks.”  
“No problem… doesn’t Abby look great?”   
“She’s not the only one. Where did you find that dress? And better yet why haven’t you shown me before?”   
“Because if I did. I would have missed the party and would have to get dressed in the middle to get back to work for the case.”  
“Yeah, but with you looking like that. No one can last long,” Gibbs states as he pulls me into a one armed hug, holding it so anyone looking at me will know I am his. He shrugs off his coat to drape it over my shoulders, covering my body to the best he can. And he adds, “But only I’m allowed to look. Next time you come to work dressed like that, I try you over my leg and I don’t care where we are or who is there.”


	35. Sandblast

Note: I apologizes that I am late posting this week. I went to town on Friday night to celebrating my 21st birthday that was Tuesday.  
You would not have wanted me to put it up then because it’s half-finished and no one will understand my drunk typing.  
I’m sorry.   
Thank you for your understanding and I hope I didn’t disappoint you faithful readers.  
.  
“One and a half teaspoons is not sweet, McGee. I’ve seen my people pour three ounces of sugar into a one ounce espresso,” Tony explains to McGee in the squad room today.   
“Your people being Long Islanders?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Romans. Inventors of the grain harvester, the arch, modern plumbing.”  
“Plumbing? Oh, every time I flush I will think of you, Tony. You and your people.”  
“Don’t you already? I do,” I ask McGee making Tony glare at me.  
“I would ask you to explain that, but I really don’t want to know. And I definitely don’t want to know what you’re doing,” Ziva states as she enters the squad room with this conversation.  
“Making cappuccino, Ziva. And educating Probie as to what Italy has contributed to the world. Oration, Italian chima, sports cars,” Tony defends his people and the conversation.  
“Gold chains and chest hairs.”  
“And paster, in all its sexy shapes and sizes.”  
“The Chinese invented pasta.”  
“Communist-era propaganda.”  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“I assume Homeland Security has been informed… will they be raising the threat level…? You have my direct line,” Shepard says into her phone before hanging up and informing me, “Orange.”  
“Army-Navy club is a high value target,” I state as I look out her window over the navy yard. I am wearing a black shirt under a dark brown jacket.  
“High value target? It’s a terrorist dream. You can’t slice a tee shot without hitting a congressmen or a general.”  
“Or a colonel.”  
“He was set to deploy tomorrow. At least he got to spend the last day with his son.”  
“That’s one way of looking at it.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Looks like we’re late for the party,” Tony comments as we exit our cars and see our crime scene at the golf course is covered in CID.  
“Assume a hundred-meter blast radius from the sand trap,” I order them as I stand next to my Alice.  
“It’s called a bunker, boss, not a sand trap. Blast radius a hundred meters! Got it, boss! Probie, you got the woods. I’ve got the far side,” Tony orders McGee before leaving to do it.  
“Ah,” McGee begins as he looks at the woods.  
“What’s wrong, McGee?” Alice asks McGee in worry.  
“Poison ivy, Alice. I just… I look at the stuff and I break out.”  
“Don’t look,” I state sending him off with those two words.  
“BE careful. Don’t take a leak,” Alice warns him making me hide a smirk.  
“The ZAKA would be busy today,” Ziva comments.  
“ZAKA?” I ask in confusion.  
“Orthodox Jews who volunteer to collect body parts from terror attacks.”  
“Don’t tell Abby, show would change religions so she can pick the body parts,” Alice comments as a blonde hair girl done in a French braid with an US Army uniform comes marching over to us with her hands clasped behind her back making Alice add, “Here we go. This is going to be good.”  
“Agent Gibbs? Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann, Army CID. I believe your director called,” Mann, the blonde, greets me as she shakes my hand coolly before clasping her hands behind her back again. Is that her natural resting position or is she trying to prove something?  
“She did. Officer Ziva David. Agent Alice Todd,” I introduce my two girls that are with me.  
“Ziva David. Yes, I know. You I don’t, the director never mentioned you. Army criminal investigative division has excellent intel,” Mann says to Alice making her smirk, she’s not even surprised anymore or annoyed just content with the director’s hatred for our relationship.  
“Good. You can use it to support our investigation,” I state as we begin walking toward the sand trap.  
“Our joint investigation, with the army in the lead. This isn’t the Navy-Army Club; it’s the Army-Navy Club.”  
“Yeah? That is a dead Marine at the Army-Navy club. If you wanted lead, you should have stopped the marine from dying in the first place,” Alice states. The CID is searching the grass for more bombs, bomb parts and body parts.  
“I had EOD sweep the rest of the sand traps,” Mann informs us as we walk into the bunker.  
“Bunker,” Alice corrects her.  
“Excuse me?”  
“They’re called bunkers, not sand traps. You’re trying to so important but to do that you have to have the correct terminology, which you didn’t but you do have now. Us it and you might impress the FBI when you complain about NCIS to them.”  
“The Colonel’s son said he saw what he thought was a spider web in the bunker,” Mann reports to me as she ignores Alice’s dig at her but still uses the right terminology that Alice corrected her on.  
“Trip wire?” Ziva asks around her smirk at Alice, she’s gotten used to Alice way of pissing people off to work out how they reacted. She did it to her, me and Tony when we first met.  
“Possibly. There’s not much to go on with this one. Of course, we’ve got a lot of land to cover.”  
“Eighteen holes on a golf course,” I state.  
“Yeah. You want to divide them up?”   
“Sure. We’ll take the crime scene. You and your people can take the other seventeen holes.”  
“You’re not taking away my crime scene. End of story. But if you ask nicely, I might just give just give you the body.”  
“I think if the FBI gives us the body, you’ll have to give it to us too,” Alice states coolly, oh she is going to be in one of her moods today, she’s too cute.  
“Well, I don’t really have to ask seeing as my M.E. got here first,” I agree with Alice who is smirking at Mann.  
“Okay. If this is going to be a pissing match, you’d better bring an umbrella,” Mann warns us.  
“You don’t need an umbrella when you’re the one doing the pissing, love,” Alice informs her as Tony bounces over and Mann glares at Alice.  
“Oh-ho! I’ve got some good news, boss. Did I miss something?” Tony asks in confusion when he sees Mann.  
“Gibbs just found his fourth ex-wife or the FBI’s next victim for coming after this team,” Ziva explains to him making Alice snort in amusement.  
“What do you got, DiNozzo?” I demand of him.  
“I found this off the next tee. It was outside the blast radius. The wind must have carried it. Looks like part of a detonator,” Tony explains as Alice takes the bag with it in off him to look at.  
“I checked the neighbouring tees myself,” Mann complains.  
“What can we say? We know who to do our job without screwing up,” Alice says to her, pushing every button she can find making me want to silence her before she destroys this joint case but at the same time I want to let her go on and defend our crime scene.  
“Well, maybe you should have checked in the trash cans. Looks like a hole in one, boss!” Tony reports.  
“Looks like one-nil to NCIS. How’s that feel?”   
“Nice work,” I complement Tony.  
“Thanks,” Tony says happily.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“IS he talking to himself?” Mann asks us as we walk into autopsy to hear Ducky’s rambling but not the words.  
“The colonel,” Alice corrects her as she walks over to the victim on the autopsy bed.  
“Ah, Colonel, your C.O. just called. Requested copies of my autopsy reports. Gibbs, Alice,” Ducky informs us.  
“The report?” I ask him as we all come to a stop beside the autopsy bed. Ducky on one side with Alice and me side by side on the other side and Mann at the head of the table.  
“Yeah, well, the cause of death appears to be just want you see here. Explosive dismemberment.”  
“Yeah, got that part.”  
“What we don’t have are traceable fragments from that explosion,” Mann adds.  
“Yes, Abby was complaining about the dearth of physical evidence from the crime scene. Present company excepted, of course,” Ducky says to the poor victim.  
“Yeah, well present company is no good for Abby. She doesn’t do dead people in the lab. Bomb shell was plastic,” Alice informs Ducky.  
“Which means the fragments disintegrated,” Mann adds again.  
“Yes, but luckily for you, not all of them. As the ancients soon discovered, fire and water do not mix. The human body is over two thirds water. Some of the burning fragments were cooled by the interstitial liquid in the colonel’s tissue before they could disintegrate,” Ducky informs us as he removes it from the dead colonel’s body.  
“Get that to Abby,” I order him.  
“Thank you.”  
“Thank you,” Mann says to Ducky as we begin leaving.  
“Thanks see you later,” Alice says to her dad before she bounces out to the elevator. In the elevator, Alice mumbles, “Maybe now I can drink a coffee without Alice calling me.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“There it is,” McGee comments after working on his computer on a video of a car.  
“Oh, good. Punch in on that,” Mann orders McGee like she’s the boss, as I eat my cold, old Chinese and read the reports the victim’s co-workers wrote about him.  
“You can read the entire license plate.”  
“I’ll update the BOLO,” Ziva says as he moves back to her desk to do it.  
“BOLO for what?” Tony asks us.  
“You’re playboy, wanna be sexy personality. Been missing since Shepard started sticking her noise into your personal life when Jethro quite,” I state as he tries to steal my food but I threaten to bite him by biting thin air.  
“Well, we cleared the course. We vetted everyone as they left. But we don’t have any record of this ninety-nine Toyota leaving. The owner’s a green keeper at the club,” Mann corrects me, not understanding I am teasing my friend and not talking about this case.  
“He must have used an old service entrance. Snuck out before we covered them all,” McGee adds.  
“Nice catch, McGee,” Tony complements him.  
“Uh, no, it’s my catch,” Mann corrects him.  
“It doesn’t matter whose catch it is, it matters that we catch the fucking bomber,” I correct her tightly.  
“Let’s see if we can get an address on this.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Is it just me, or did the SECDEF seem nervous?” Shepard asks me about the MTAC call we just hand on the balcony watching my team in the squad room.  
“Probably has a tee time tomorrow,” I shrug it off as I lean onto the railing.  
“What’s she like?” Shepard asks me as we watch Alice and Mann get into another verbal fight but I just give her a look making her add, “I just meant is she up to the job?”  
“I’ll let you know,” I state as I look back down in time to see Alice flick Mann off and pick up her mobile phone right before mine begin ringing. I answer it, “Yeah, Gibbs.”  
“Hey, boss. DiNozzo, here,” Tony says to me, I thought it was going to be Alice that rang to tell me what they found.  
“Hey DiNozzo!” I hang up on him and call their attention to me on the balcony making Alice and Tony laugh.  
“Oh. Hey! That’s weird because I… I thought you were still in MTAC,” Tony says as I walk down the stairs and into the squad room.  
“What do you want?”  
“Um… we…”  
“Just found an ‘unaccounted for’ vehicle from the Army-Navy club,” Mann cuts of Tony.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs calls him as we get out of the car to see this street crawling with CID soldiers.  
“HE’s already in CID custody, Agent Gibbs. My people can handle the interrogation,” Mann boosts to us.  
“What are you doing?” Gibbs demands as Tony walks away.  
“Divorced, right?” Mann questions Gibbs making me roll my eyes at her.  
“Three times,” Gibbs answers her as a dog barks.  
“Only three. Well, I’ sure to let my superiors know how you assisted.”  
“Stand clear… Opening… all clear! Marijuana,” a soldier informs us.  
“Oh, you can tell your superiors that we helped you apprehends a druggy. I’m sure they’ll love that you spent vital time hunting him instead of the bomber,” I tease her tightly.  
“Okay. Drugs. That doesn’t mean he didn’t plant the bomb,” Man hisses at might, coolly but I just raise my eyebrows at her.  
“You can have that interrogation. I’ll look for who did,” Gibbs says to her before we leave her with her druggy.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Agent Gibbs? I… I’ve been ringing your bell for the last three minutes,” Mann says to Gibbs as she walks down the stairs into his basement where the complete boat is tonight. He’s varnished it and is now painting her name on, the Kelly.  
“Yeah. Been meaning to fix that,” Gibbs mumbles as she comes around the boat and I see that her jacket is off, leaving her in a tight shirt and her hair is hanging around her shoulders.  
“Well, the door was unlocked, so…”  
“So this would be trespassing, not breaking and entering,” I inform her, making her look at me where I am brushing my dog; he is still dyed red from Halloween.  
“Uh-huh. Kelly?” Mann asks Gibbs who is painting the name at the moment. He just glares at her without saying anything, he is touchy about that name and the way she asked it, if I hand my dog food I might just shove it down her throat.  
“There a reason you broke into my house?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“This is a joint investigation. I thought maybe we could share some information.”  
“Beer?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Beer? Uh… sure,” Mann mumbles making Gibbs stand up off his esky and pull out three beers, handing one to her and me and keeping the last one for himself.  
“Thanks,” I say to him as I open it and take a sip of the beer.  
“I got the results on the swabs from the Toyota. There were traces of diesel fuel and uh… fertilizer. Same thing that McVeigh used to… blow up the Federal building in Oklahoma,” Mann resights to Gibbs as she leans against the shiny boat.  
“Yeah. Guy driving the Toyota was a greens keeper. If there wasn’t fertilizer and diesel I would be worried. What do you think Ugly Tony the Second, does that make sense to you?” I ask my dog making him bark in a yes type of the way.  
“I know. He’s around fertilizer and diesel fuel all day. It was a bad lead. Anything you’d like to share?”  
“I’ve got some sardines upstairs,” Gibbs answers her making me laugh; he is not making this easy for her.  
“I meant about the case. But then you knew that. Girlfriend. Is Kelly your girlfriend?” Mann asks Gibbs who shakes his head no without saying anything else. She adds, “Okay, look CID intel did a profile on you for me. I know you flaunt authority, especially in front of a female.”  
“A female right that, too?”   
“Are you trying to get fucked or catch the bomber?” I ask her in confusion, why is she wasting resources on Gibbs instead of the bomber?  
“Yeah. She also wrote you were a sniper, a good one, but your eyesight’s shot. You’re injury-prone, if not in a state of near death-wish fulfilment. And though you’re pressured and impatient, you’re also passionate and loyal, in spite of the fact you don’t trust anyone… you are going to have to trust me,” Mann continues.  
“He doesn’t have to do anything. You just want him to have to trust you,” I correct her tightly.  
“Is there anything I should know about you before we get involved?” Gibbs demands of her tightly, she’s really pissed him off with all her comments about Kelly.  
“Involved?” Mann asks hopefully.  
“In the case.”  
“You can have NCIS do a profile on me if you’d like.”  
“Oh, I could.”  
“But NCIS doesn’t waste our resource on useless things. We use them to catch the criminals,” I inform her tightly.  
“You’re father lets you talk like that?” Mann demands of me.  
“My father talks to dead bodies, I don’t think he cares how I talk to you. How did your boss like your big busted? The one we helped you with,” I state making her look unconfutable that I’m not Gibbs daughter.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ah, and to think people once questioned the need for a video camera in a cell phone,” Tony asks as he shows Ziva and I recording McGee scratching himself on Abby’s desk in the lab now we are in the squad room the next morning. Today Gibbs is wearing a pretty purple button up shirt, that makes him look really good.  
“Tony!” McGee complains.  
“Ha-ha! He’s definitely not making cappuccino,” Ziva comments.  
“There’s no way he’s get an STD.”  
“I was itching. Its poison ivy and it’s spreading, okay?” McGee defends himself.  
“I told you not to take a leak,” I remind him making Tony laugh at me.  
“This is your second tango with the vicious weed, McGee,” Tony begins.  
“This is the second time you got the vicious oil on your um… wiener.”  
“Maybe you ought to learn what that stuff looks like.”  
“And avoid it,” Ziva agrees.  
“At least this time it’s not on his face. He doesn’t look like he’s burnt to a crisp,” I state making Tony node in agreement.  
“Yeah, I thought I did. Ooh, this si killing me. When Gibbs told me to check out the forest, I should have just told him,” McGee begins as Gibbs sneaks in.  
“Tell me what, McGee?” Gibbs demands making us all jump in surprise.  
“No!”  
“Well, that probably would have been a good idea. Baking soda and vinegar. You make a paste. Slap it on,” Gibbs informs him how to fixes it.  
“Okay, thank you. You thank you, boss,” McGee exclaims almost running off to get it.  
“Not now, McGee. After we catch the terrorist.”  
“Oh, that could be a while. All the club guests check out. Local LEOs report on unusual activity in the area.”  
“DiNozzo!”  
“I’ve gone through the last month of the Club’s video surveillance. If a terrorist cell was casing the joint, they hid their tracks well,” Tony reports to Gibbs.  
“Your contacts at Interpol,” I ask Ziva hopefully.  
“Oh, said there was almost no uptick in chatter prior to the explosion,” Ziva informs us.  
“Could be home grown bad boys, boss,” Tony adds.  
“Well, still, there should be some chatter, no matter who it is,” McGee corrects Tony.  
“However this cell operating. They found a way to do so without a shred of evidence,” Ziva informs us.  
“Other than a dead Marine,” Gibbs reminds them.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Change the lock on me?” Gibbs asks Shepard when the MTAC door opens after denying him three times.  
“Threat leave orange, remember? We’re one lock down. Unless you have some good news for me,” Shepard begs of Gibbs.  
“All I’ve got is three hundred wasted man-hours. We’re looking in the wrong direction.”  
“Well, I might be able to point you in the right one. Danielle? This just came from the CIA regarding the golf course bombing.”  
“A suspected home grown terrorist cell? Suspected by who?” I read off her report.  
“A CIA informant.”  
“Why are we just hearing about this now?” Gibbs demands of her angrily.  
“Unfortunately, probably the same reason why we didn’t hear about those flying lessons until after Nine Eleven. I’ve informed Army CID as well. Colonel Mann will meet you one site.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“CID beat us to the punch again. That’s twice in one week!” Tony complains when we arrive at the alley way next to the warehouse we have to search.  
“I didn’t know this was a race, DiNozzo,” Gibbs comments as we get out of the car.  
“Oh, no. it’s not. I’m just not to these joint efforts.”  
“Oh, it is. Their pissing me off. They could have waited for us. Joint investigation means we have to do it together, not the CID does everything as we find all the leads,” I inform Gibbs calmly making him node at my thought process.  
“Glad to see you finally made it,” Mann says to us when I’m finished bitching her out.  
“We’ll we can’t possible take your drug busted off you. Then your boss would be really mad.”  
“All right, let’s move!” a soldier calls out.  
“To be honest, I thought you’d beat me here and headed in without me,” Mann says to Gibbs.  
“I thought you said I was the one with trust issues,” Gibbs comments.  
“You can’t be. You’re not the one wasting time and money on profiling someone besides Ari,” I remind him as we walk into the warehouse.  
“Clear! Clear here!” the soldier calls out as we search the building.  
“Oh, that’s original,” Gibbs comments as we look at a wall covered in maps and other blueprints in possible target.  
“Metro subway maps, national monuments, bridge blueprints,” Mann comments.  
“Yeah, we can see that. Unfortunately. I never thought I would say this, but can we have Ari back? He’s easy to guess what he’s going to do, take Kate and refuse to give her back,” I beg of Gibbs as I stare at the maps.  
“Potential targets,” Ziva comments.  
“They sure as hell weren’t sightseeing,” Gibbs states.  
“I think I know who their target is, boss,” Tony calls out making us walk over to where he si looking into the bare beam roof where there is a huge bomb, Tony adds, “Us.” Gibbs grabs my hand and pulls my hand as he orders out of the room, we run out of the warehouse until the bomb blows up.  
“All right, secure the building, now!” Mann orders her people as I look around to see Tony and Ziva missing.  
“Jethro, where is Tony and my bitch?” I ask him in fear.  
“Ziva, Tony, out the back door. No one in until EOD gets here,” Gibbs orders his team over the radio but they don’t leave.  
“Tony, bitch. Get out, please,” I beg of them tightly over the radio.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Bomb was set to go off when the cell was called,” Tony reports back at the squad room that night with Mann, after Ziva disarmed the bomb, against orders again.  
“It’s prepaid and disposable. Never been used,” Ziva adds her own report.  
“So there’s no call log,” I ask them disappointed in the reality.  
“Thanks to our bomb disposal expert, we still have plenty to work with,” Tony says as he fails to answer my question.  
“Looks like two or three people were staying here,” Ziva comments on the clothing, bedding and food in the warehouse that saved because of her.  
“Abby’s processing it.”  
“Nice job, Ziva. You do anything like that ever again, I’ll kick your ass back to Israel,” Gibbs informs Ziva.  
“You can have the same body bag we used for Ari. I’ll have to have it cleaned because I have it hung up in the attic. But it seems far,” I promise her too making Ziva node at me because I’m not saying the threat she is hearing.  
“CIA refuses to let us talk to their source directly,” Mann complains.  
“Protected,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“The right hand still isn’t talking to the left hand, and we have no idea what this source said.”  
“Oh, McGee!” I call out sweetly.  
“Yeah, almost there, Alice,” McGee answers me as he quickly types away at his computer.  
“You’re not hacking the CIA?” Mann demands of him in almost disgust, fear thing as she walks over to McGee’s desk.  
“No, no, no. homeland security. They host a redundant CIA archive.”  
“All right, my superiors are not going to like this.”  
“Well, don’t tell them,” Gibbs and I inform her together, how hand is it to work that out? Not to tell them if they don’t need to know.  
“Smart and devious. That’s a dangerous combination,” Mann flirts with Gibbs.  
“Not to forget charming and cheesy,” I add as I sign to Gibbs, ‘or sexy.’  
“I’m in,” McGee informs us as Gibbs smirks at me.  
“No I didn’t,” Mann snaps at me as she looks Gibbs over like he is a piece of meat for sale, ooh, another person who doesn’t like me and wants my man. Well she can suck Ari’s dick because he’s mine, and I don’t share with anything but for coffee and the boat in the basement.  
“Yeah, well. Love I don’t share,” I inform her as I look at McGee and ask, “What do we have? Besides a lack of coffee and an abundant of bitches.”  
“Okay, informant’s name is Mamoun Sharif. Native of Lebanon. Arrested in Beirut for extortion. Cooperated with Interpol,” McGee reports to us as he ignores my second comment as we all walk over and read over his shoulder. I can feel Gibbs standing behind me with his hand on my hip, stopping me from killing the CID in a federal building.  
“Helped break a stolen weapons ring on one of our bases in Turkey,” Mann informs us as she stops glaring at me for informing her Gibbs isn’t for sale.  
“CIA moved him to the States. Been on retainer ever since. Has a small convenient store in Roslyn, Virginia. Address.”  
“You bring anything other than ACUs?” Gibbs asks McGee.  
“Would you like me to wear a dress?” Mann flirts with my man again making me glare at her this time. I’m going to kill her, deader than Ari.  
“I don’t like her,” I whisper to Gibbs as I move away from the problem making Gibbs chuckle.  
“You don’t have to like her, just don’t kill her,” Gibbs responds to me just as softly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“So don’t let me catch you,” Mamoun Sharif says to the homeless man that was stealing food at the convenience store tonight.  
“Thank you,” the homeless man, Abraham, says before leaving with the food.  
“IT still comes out of your pocket, doesn’t it?” I ask him in confusion, he’s bitching about losing money over stealing and then tells him not to let him catch him.  
“Yes. But where I was born, it is a sin to turn away a hungry man. Now, what can I help you?” Mamoun Sharif asks us, Mann, Gibbs and myself.  
“Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann, Army CID,” Mann says as she flashes her badge at Mamoun Sharif.  
“Put that away!”  
“We have a couple questions for you about a recent tip you gave the CIA,” Mann informs him as she puts he badge away.  
“Are you trying to get me killed? You can’t contact me here!”  
“We understand the need for confidentiality,” Mann lies.  
“Just want to know how you heard about the warehouse,” Gibbs adds.  
“Who am I talking to?” Mamoun Sharif asks in confusion as he looks between the two competing bosses.  
“Me,” Mann and Gibbs answer together.  
“It really doesn’t matter. Someone killed a marine and tried to kill us, we need help. Please, before another innocent person dies,” I beg of him as I move away from Gibbs and closure to Mamoun Sharif.  
“Okay. I hear thing, okay? In the mosque, in the store, on the street,” Mamoun Sharif reports to us making me node.  
“Names?” Gibbs demands.  
“Forget it. I hear things from people who hear things. Innocent people. Like you say. Names I will not give. I know what happens nowadays. I am taking a big enough risk myself talking to your CIA.”  
“Which you’re well-compensated for,” Mann says rudely.  
“We all have to make a living,” Mamoun Sharif says defensively.  
“We know. She’s just pissed because she lost a pissing contested,” I stage whisper to him making Mann glare at me but I don’t care. We don’t need this man clamming up because she’s a bitch.  
“Thirty-eight, super auto colt,” Gibbs comments on the gun he has just found.  
“IT’s a bad neighbourhood,” Mamoun Sharif informs us.  
“You got a license?”  
“Okay, your country has been to me. The man I heard talking in my store about the golf course… two days ago buying ring dings. I’m not so sure he is one of those innocent people.”  
“Why?” Mann demands.  
“Because of what he calls the golf course… ‘The beginning,’” Mamoun Sharif informs us as he hands us the VHS video surveillance recording.  
“Thank you,” I say to him as I talk it off his hands.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Ziva pov  
.  
“Look quick! Look! Did you see that?” McGee asks me in the squad room tonight making me get up and look over the divider to the elevator but I don’t see anything unusual.  
“See what?” I ask him in confusion.  
“Gibbs let her go first. He never lets anyone go first.”  
“Gibbs always let Alice go first. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her have to exit second,” I correct him as they walk into the squad room.  
“Give this to Abby. I.D. on anyone buying a Slurpee,” Gibbs orders McGee as he hands the VHS recording tape.  
“Where’s Tony?” Alice asks us.  
“Ag, he had a doctor’s appointment,” McGee reports.  
“I want him on that grocery store!” Gibbs snaps at us.  
“He said he’ll be back ASAP,” McGee reports making Gibbs glare at him and McGee picks up his phone to call Tony, “You’re not really with a doctor, are you, Tony… Well, Gibbs keeps looking at your desk and his watch… are you okay?”  
Mann is glaring at Alice again, I don’t get it, Alice made it very obvious she is dating Gibbs but Mann still wants him. Alice is ignoring Mann and staying closure to Gibbs then she has for as long as I have worked here. She is sitting on the ledge behind Gibbs desk, leaning on Gibbs shoulders, whispering into his ear making him smirk at her. I hope Mann backs off before Alice does something stupid.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“When did you leave?” Mann asks Gibbs sweetly when he returns with a bag of food for diner but he just glares at her as he moves behind his desk and sits down. She adds, “Well, I’m a cheap date.”  
“This is a date?” Gibbs torments her as he hands me the food before handing her food second. Chinese. I roll my chair over to his desk so I am sitting behind the desk with him and I place my food on the corner.  
“IT’s a figure of speech, agent Gibbs.”  
“It is a date… with my baby, you’re the third wheel.”  
“Better be,” I snap at her tightly, Gibbs better not be fucking or having a date with her or I’ll shot them both.  
“So, I’ve got the food. Did you solve the case?” Gibbs teases her more as he places his hand on my leg and gently squeezes it.  
“No, I was about to when you broke my concentration,” Mann defends herself as she flirts with MY man again.  
“That easy to break, huh?” I question her in disbelief; I can work with a gun to my head, and still save someone’s life. I spent almost a whole day in autopsy protecting Ducky and Gerald, later Kate without missing a beat and pissing Ari off but she can’t concentrate over Chinese.  
“When I’m hungry. I thought I was close to a break, but now I’ve got more questions than answers. And Colonel Cooper was he specifically targeted?” Mann questions us as we eat the food.  
“No way to know who’d be in the bunker,” Gibbs states around a mouth full of food.  
“Okay, so the target is random, which says terrorist attack. Except the explosive was not designed to kill.”  
“Why did you say that before? I’ll just go and tell the guy in autopsy he’s not dead, the bomb wasn’t designed that way,” I exclaim as I snap my fingers in a damn it type of way.  
“No, I mean, if the terrorists had packed the bomb full of shrapnel, like they usually do, then the son would be dead, too,” Mann snaps at me through her teeth making me smirk, good she deserves to be pissed for flirting with my man.  
“It would make the bomb easier to detect,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“Which means the terrorists’ priority is clearly to avoid detection.”  
“Explains the lack of chatter,” Gibbs and I state together in thought.  
“So if you’re that busy covering your tacks, why do you write ‘death to America’ all over your hideout?”  
“Because no one was supposed to live to tell the story. Or did you not get that memo with the bomb?” I remind her.  
“Sorry,” Mann apologizes to Gibbs who gives her a look for all her unanswered questions.  
“Don’t apologize,” Gibbs orders her around the food.  
“More questions than answers.”  
“It’s a sign of weakness.”  
“I thought it took strength to apologize.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Thank you,” Ziva says into her phone before reporting to Gibbs, “Homeland security says there’s an uptick in chatter. Something is definitely going on.”  
“You better have a fatal disease, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps at Tony who is sneaking into the squad room late this morning.  
“Josh’s mum called. He’s looking for payback. Wants to skip Princeton and join the marines. I went to talk him out of it,” Tony reports to him.  
“Did you?” I ask him softly, I don’t think anyone can do that.  
“I don’t know, Alice.”  
“If you don’t know, he didn’t.”  
“McGee, turn this up. Gibbs!” Mann orders Gibbs team before calling over my man making me follow him over to the TV.  
“Fiery explosion that completely engulfed a Roslyn convenience store. The store’s owner is believed to have been inside at the time of the blast,” the ZNN reporter reports on the TV as she stands outside of Mamoun Sharif’s shop.  
“That’s Sharif’s place.”  
“That’s Mamoun Sharif. And it’s our fault. If we hadn’t been there looking so professional, he’ll still be alive,” I correct her in sadness and anger. This is our doing and I hate it, she didn’t need to throw her badge around but know we can’t go back and save him. He risks everything for this country and we just destroyed it.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“First the friendly links, now the neighbourhood convenience store. Its suck tragedies as yours, Mister Sharif, that make my mother afraid to leave the house, which does not bode well for me, I’m afraid. Now your visit is premature. I’m still waiting for the rest of him to delivered,” Ducky rambles to Mamoun Sharif on his autopsy bed.  
“Until then, you have?” Gibbs demands of him as we enter the room.  
“Well, the obvious. Same as before. Except this time the dismemberment was caused by some form of high impact explosive.”  
“His dismemberment, but not his death?” Mann demands of him.  
“Correct, colonel. Yes, as you can see he was in the pugilist-at-rest posture at the time of his demise. This praying mantis posture is one of man’s oldest defensive positions. Almost always assumed when battling intense heat and flame.”  
“So Sharif was burned alive.”  
“The place was torched before the bomb went off?” I ask Ducky in surprise.  
“That kind of overkill means they were either sending a message…”  
“Or there was something there they didn’t want us to find,” Gibbs offers the other option.  
“We may have beaten them to it,” Mann mumbles before we leave autopsy and step back into the elevator to head up to Abby’s lab.  
“Oh, come on! Down in front, man!” Abby calls to the people on the security video making me laugh as we walk into the lab.  
“Abs, they can’t hear you. Just like Tony,” I remind her making her smirk at me.  
“Do all your people talk to themselves?” Mann demands of Gibbs, standing too close to MY man making me glare at her before turning back to Abby.  
“Don’t yours?” Gibbs asks her innocently before walking over to me, standing behind me.  
“Have you any idea how many Ring Dings are sold each day in your average convenience store?” Abby asks us with a grin.  
“Abs? The customers?”  
“Or no caf-pow for a week,” I add when she hesitates.  
“The customers! They’re talking about everything from the weather, to haemorrhoid cream,” Abby exclaims, suddenly afraid of her ‘boyfriend’ being taken away.  
“There’s no audio. How do you know what they’re talking about?” Mann demands of Abby.  
“You do not talk to her like that,” I snap at Mann, she is pissing me off. First flirting with my man, then ordering around my friends and know demanding and degrading Abby, she doesn’t live to tell the story if she keeps going.  
“Aha. You read lips,” Mann releases making Abby sign to Gibbs, insulting Mann and Gibbs responds before I join in on the bitch fest without her knowing what I think about her. After watching us Mann snaps, “Okay, you guys what to keep talking about me, or get back to the case.”  
“I don’t know. You give us so much to talk about. This case is going cold, maybe if the CID doesn’t keep trying to bust people before CIS gets there, we might have more to work with.”  
“Um, after watching seven hours of the most boring reality show ever made, I have narrowed it down to one final contestant. He refers to himself as Abraham. He didn’t say the name of the golf course, but he did say that the day of judgement was approaching,” Abby explains as she rewinds the video to the man in question.  
“Thanks Abs,” I say to her as I hand her the caf-pow I was hiding from her making her smirk as she snatches her ‘boyfriend’ off my hands.  
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“According to Maryland DMV records, his full name is Abraham Moussalah. Born in nineteen seventy-four, serve three years for robbing a convenience store in Baltimore. Almost got away with eighty-six dollars and some Ding Dongs,” Ziva reports in the squad room.  
“Spent some time in a psych ward. Converted to a radical sect of Islam,” McGee adds his report to Ziva’s.  
“Got a last known for him?” Mann demands of Gibbs team.  
“His probation officer hasn’t heard from him in over a year,” Ziva reports.  
“There are no credit cards, no car registrations. Boss, this guy’s gone off the grid,” McGee adds again.  
“Check the BOLO. See if there’s any hit, please,” I beg of them.  
“CID should have Intel on Abraham’s sect. I’ll make a few calls,” Mann says to Gibbs as she picks up her phone.  
“I’m going to coordinate with local LEOs and highway patrol. Where’s Tony?” McGee asks.  
“Don’t worry about Tony. Tony is fine,” I dismiss McGee worry because I know Tony’s gone to talk to Josh, the son, again.  
“Yeah, Gibbs. On my way, Abs,” Gibbs says into his phone.  
“I’ll wait,” Mann says into her phone.  
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“Remember the cell phone that was never used? Well, it was used, only all the data was hard-erased,” Abby informs us in the lab.  
“Hard-erased?” Mann pirates her.  
“What part of hard-erased do you not understand?”  
“All of it.”  
“Well, then you’ve come to the right place. A cell phone is very much like a computer. You can delete data off of it, but then if someone knows where to look, it’s…”  
“The bottom line, Abby,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Um, the cell phone was used once. It was an incoming call, probably to test the detonator. And then it was rest to factory defaults.”  
“You got a number? Or just teasing us,” I ask her.  
“I thought you’d never ask,” Abby exclaims as she hands me the number.  
“Thanks.”  
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“The incoming call came from the warehouse Sharif gave the CIA. Must be where Abraham was testing the detonator,” McGee reports in the squad room.  
“He’s not there now,” Gibbs reminds them.  
“The place has been crawling with EOD since yesterday,” Mann reports to them.  
“Can you trace that call?” I ask them as I sip my coffee that Gibbs brought.  
“If it’s on. Ziva!” McGee answers me before turning to Ziva who is helping him.  
“Almost done,” Ziva informs him as she sets the computer up.  
“I’m having Ziva scan the cell-tower control-track frequencies, looking for the cell’s registration request.”  
“McGee, it just powered up!”   
“Tell me he’s not making a call!” Gibbs begs of them.  
“Nope, not yet. Ah, I’ve got his location. M street and Wisconsin,” McGee reports.  
“Georgetown Promenade,” Gibbs and I say together.  
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“You guys weren’t planning on starting without me, were you?” Tony teases us as we arrive at Georgetown promenade.  
“Who’s that?” Ziva asks as we watch a man sitting on the bench, alone.  
“Flanking positions on the promenade. East and west,” Mann orders her officers.  
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer answers her as they get to work.  
“Clear the civilians. Quietly. DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Princeton,” Tony mumbles.  
“There. Abraham on the bench,” Mann points to the lonely looking man with the bag.  
“If he sees us clear the Promenade, he may detonate,” Ziva reminds us.  
“If it’s a trip ire, any of these people my detonate it.”  
“On the second bomb he used a cell phone.”  
“The cell phone’s not connected to the back pack?” Tony comments as he nodes to the phone in Abraham’s hand.  
“Trip wire, cell phones?” I begin.  
“How knows how he armed this one,” Gibbs finishes for me.  
“He looks lonely,” I mumble making Mann glare at me.  
“He’s a bomber that killed someone,” Mann snaps at me.  
“Where’s your prof that he made the bombs?”  
“A dead-man switch?” Tony offers before seeing both his hands open, not holding anything making him add, “Or not.”  
“DiNozzo, you keep your ears on me. Alice, stay here, don’t do anything stupid this time,” Gibbs order us before walking over to Abraham.  
“What the hell is he doing?” Mann demands of us.  
“What he always does,” Tony answers her.  
“Protect the innocent people. Stop the terrorist and wanna be terrorist,” I add making Tony node, he stopped Ari.  
“Everybody move back! We need to clear this area,” the officer informs the bystanders.  
“Hey, my hat!” one of the male bystanders exclaim when Gibbs steals his hat making me laugh.  
“Four marriages. Negotiating is probably not his thing,” Mann says snottily.  
“Negotiation isn’t what fucked his marriages, love. It’s work. But if I was you, I’d stop having your girl wasting her time, because dear, I’ll shoot you before you get to fuck my man. Mine and I will be six feet down before you get to touch a single strand of his beautiful hair,” I inform her tightly.  
“You’d be surprised,” Tony overlaps me.  
“Oh, I have been so far,” Mann informs Tony, while ignoring me, besides a heated glare.  
“The cell’s not the detonator,” Gibbs informs us over the radio before sitting on the bench with Abraham and talking to him.  
“Be careful Jethro,” I say to him over the radio.  
“MY son, Tony, he plays that same game. What’s your name?” Gibbs asks Abraham when he sees he’s playing a game on the phone.  
“Abraham,” Abraham answers Gibbs, innocently.  
“Hey, Abraham. Jethro,” Gibbs shakes Abraham’s hand.  
“Jethro?”  
“That’s the name they gave me.”  
“Everybody please stay calm. Stay back,” an officer orders the innocent bystanders.  
“That means friend of God. The father-in-law of Moses. He walked with the Israelites when God parted the Red Sea. You know why God parted the Red Sea?” Abraham asks Gibbs sweetly.  
“No,” Gibbs answers him honestly.  
“TO show the people that sea creatures were totally dependent on God’s will.”  
“What is he talking about?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“I’d say this guy’s a few puppies short of a pet shop,” Tony comments.  
“Most suicide bombers are,” Ziva reminds us.  
“This guy doesn’t have the same vibe as Ari. I think he’s a bit slow, maybe crazy but not suicidal,” I state as I hold my necklace tightly, the one Gibbs made out of his last bomb running.  
“Abraham, can I ask you a question? Do you think it’s all right for someone to hurt innocent people?” Gibbs asks Abraham, and we listen in over the radio.  
“No, Jethro!” Abraham answers in, disgusted at the very thought.  
“I didn’t think so. What are you doing here, Abraham?”  
“I’m waiting for my friend. He’s going to take me to dinner.”  
“Did your friend give you the backpack?”  
“Mm-hmm. About an hour ago. He said so I don’t lose it.”  
“What’s this friend’s name?”  
“Sharif.”  
“So who’s laying in Autopsy then?” Tony asks what we’re all thinking.  
“He was supposed to meet me here at three o’clock,” Abraham informs Gibbs.  
“I’ll take him to dinner,” I offer Gibbs as we walk closure to Gibbs.  
“Ziva,” Gibbs calls us.  
“Right behind you!” Ziva informs him making them look at us.  
“Abraham, is it all right if we take a look in your backpack?” Gibbs asks him softly.  
“EOD’s still on their way, boss,” Tony reports when Gibbs opens the bag to see a bomb with a timer.  
“We’re running out of time. You want me to diffuse it, because before you said you’d kick my ass if,” Ziva offers.  
“Do it! The rest of you go! Go on! Get out of here!” Gibbs orders us but we don’t move, just duck behind the metal bench.   
“Thirty seconds,” McGee reminds us.  
“Tony, army knife,” Ziva orders him making Tony hand over his knife.  
“What is your name?” Abraham asks McGee.  
“Um… Tim,” McGee answers him.  
“It means ‘he who is about to wet his pants,’” Tony jokes.  
“Why is he going to wet his pants?” Abraham asks in innocent confusion.  
“Don’t worry about Tony. He’s a big meanie. Tim really means, ‘honouring God.’ My name is Alice, which means ‘nobility’ in German,” I inform Abraham as I shake his hand right before Ziva laughs when she disables the bomb.  
“HE’s here,” Gibbs comments as he looks for Mamoun Sharif in the crowd watching us.  
“No, not anymore,” Mann corrects him.  
“Hey, Abraham, you want something to eat?” I ask him softly.  
“Yeah, Sharif promised me some food,” Abraham exclaims.  
“Come on, I know a good coffee shop with great food. On me,” I say to him as I lead him away after signing to Gibbs ‘are you alright?’  
‘Yeah. Take him. Make a new friend,’ Gibbs signs back to me.


	36. Once a hero

“Good morning, Gibbs. McGee… Todd,” Shepard greets us as we walk over to her at the dining area of a party that a jumper just crashed, with his dead body. Ziva had to physically pushed Shepard out of the way, because Tony and Ziva were here protecting Shepard. It’s sunny outside today so I have my sunglasses on, making Shepard unable to see the look I just gave her for hesitating on my name.  
“Director Shepard,” Gibbs greets her.  
“Our gate-crasher was a marine. Sergeant Brian Wright. The hotel was in lockdown and he wasn’t a registered guest. He took a dive from up there somewhere. Sec-Def staff are worried that it was an attempt on the life of their boss.”  
“Are you worried?” I ask her.  
“IF it was an assassination attempt, he’s a lousy assassin. He used his body as a weapon and missed by seventy-five feet. Ducky’s doing the preliminaries. I’ve got Tony liaising between Metro and hotel management. And we have a witness. Andy Nelson. Ziva’s with him. He’s an aide to a congressman. Nelson claims he was attacked by the deceased on the sixth floor before the incident.”  
“DO you believe him?” Gibbs asks.  
“HE works for a politician. What do you think? I’m officially handing over. I’ve got my own fires to put out. This happened in our backyard. It’s making a lot of people nervous. I’d appreciate a quick result on this one,” Shepard demands of us to rush the case before storming off.  
“The question is, did he jump or was he pushed? Guess that’s what we’re here to find out,” McGee asks us.  
“Go,” Gibbs orders him.  
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“Enough. It’s okay,” Nelson waves the paramedics away as we walk up to them, I push my sunnies up onto the top of my head.  
“Mister Nelson has been explaining how he got injured,” Ziva explains to us as we walk over to the inside the hotel.  
“HE just came at me. He hit me. I fell down and he ran away.”  
“Did you see him fall?” I ask him.  
“I just got out here. I was down in the lobby to report it when he fell.”  
“Why were you on the sixth floor?” Ziva asks him.  
“I was delivering a briefing paper to a defence contractor in one of the suites. Norforce systems. I was walking towards the elevator.”  
“Did you see him before?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Every day. Congressmen Getz,” another man introduces himself. We just look at him as Gibbs shakes his hand and he adds, “Well not the deceased, just sad souls like him. The homeless.”  
“Unconfirmed,” Ziva reminds him.  
“And a war veteran or we’d be talking to Metro Police and not NCIS, agent…”  
“Special Agent Gibbs and he was a marine,” Gibbs introduces himself.  
“We need to do more to help the ones who come back broken,” Getz says attempting to make a big man of himself.  
“Yeah, you do. Before we have to,” I agree with him making him give me a look.  
“Let’s get that x-rayed, Andy. Unless Agent Gibbs has more questions about this unfortunate incident,” Getz says to Gibbs before leading Nelson away to go get his head x-rayed.  
“Did I miss something?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“The congressman thinks our marine was crazy and jumped,” Gibbs explains to her before we make our way out of the hotel to the crime scene where Tony is eating the food turned evidence.  
“Um,” I mumble as I watch him.  
“DiNozzo…”  
“Boss?” Tony asks him, cringing up, knowing he is doing something wrong.  
“Stop eating the evidence.”  
“Right, boss.”  
“Got preliminaries?” I ask Ducky.  
“I find the one who fall are the saddest. Such a long last moment to contemplate one’s end. And no chance to change one’s mind. Well, the injuries are consistent with a fall. But scraped knuckles, possibly in a fight before he went over the edge. Missing a show, no wallet, although he had some dollars in his pocket. And a begging note asking for help. The only real surprise is this… a bronze star for valour,” Ducky explains as he shows us the medals.  
“And a purple heart,” Gibbs adds.  
“Two Marine stars, that means he was wounded three times in battle. I can’t tell you why he died, but I can tell you how he lived. The man was a hero,” Ducky informs us as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, Gibbs… Okay,” Gibbs answers his phone before hanging up.  
“Nelson said he was back downstairs when Wright fell. The question is, what was Sergeant Wright doing?” Ziva asks us as Gibbs puts his phone away.  
“Deciding whether to jump,” Tony answers her.  
“Photographs?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“Got it.”  
“DiNozzo. The stairs.”  
“Maybe the congressman was right. Maybe Sergeant Wright was crazy and jumped,” Ziva offers.  
“OR everyone else is right. Politicians lie,” I states.  
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“And we will need a copy of his medical records,” McGee says into his phone in the squad room.  
“You’re disgusting. How can you eat that?” Ziva complains to Tony who is eating a fatty, greasy burger.  
“He’s attempting suicide,” I explain to her without looking up from my chips and chicken burger.  
“No I’m not. Alice. You see, Ziva, the human body is a finely tuned engine. None more finely tuned than mine. Even the best engine needs oil,” Tony explains to her as he gives me a look.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps as he walks into the squad room.  
“Boss?”   
“Anything from the hotel registry?”  
“Seven hundred and two names. None of them Sergeant Wright.”  
“Ziva, the congressman’s aide…”  
“Single. No criminal record. He worked for the congressman for the past seven years, and according to Norforce Systems, a briefing paper from the congressman’s office was delivered to their suite, but they can’t put a time on it,” Ziva informs him.  
“Boss, I just got off the phone with Wright’s doctor in Bethesda. He did two tours in Iraq. He was wounded three times. Last time was the worst. His Humvee was hit by an IUD. Suffered shrapnel wounds to the head. He’s been on medical leave for four months, but according to the hospital records, he’s missed his last three weekly appointments,” McGee reports.  
“No one noticed? How can no one notice?” I demand of him.  
“Said he fell through the cracks.”  
“Family?” Gibbs requests of him.  
“Divorced. No kids. His doctor said he stayed with friends, at hotels. Sometimes on the street.”  
“What kind of doctor?” Ziva asks him in confusion.  
“Psychiatrist.”  
“Treated for?” Tony asks of him.  
“Depression.”  
“Some way to treat a war hero.”  
“I thought marines looked after their own?”  
“How does a homeless man get past the security agents, local cops, hotel staff, into a locked-down building?” Ziva asks us in confusion.  
“Well, maybe he was already there,” Gibbs reminds them a possibility.  
“Or another marine let him in,” I offer to Gibbs before adding, “If you fall on hard times. Who would you call? No family, no wife, no girlfriend. Just your brotherhood, the Marine Corps. The marines train them to look after each other, no matter what is at stake.”  
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“Luis Romero,” Gibbs calls to a man working in the hotel hallway.  
“Yeah,” Romero asks us.  
“Special Agent Gibbs. McGee. Todd, NCIS,” I introduce us as Gibbs flashes him his badge.  
“IS this about the jumper?”  
“So you saw the jumper?” Gibbs asks him.  
“No.”  
“But you saw him,” I state.  
“No.”  
“Corporal Luis Romero United States Marine Corps. One tour, Afghanistan. Honourable discharge eighteen months ago. Since them, hotel maintenance supervisor,” McGee reads off Romero’s life in a few seconds. Another marine, working at the hotel of the jumper.  
“So I’m a former marine. Lot of guys are.”  
“Not at this hotel.”  
“We look after our own, don’t we, Luis?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Oh, we always got a couple rooms down for maintenance. Didn’t see any harm in it,” Romero admits.  
“How long had he been here?” McGee requests.  
“A couple times a week for the last months. Didn’t cause any trouble. Semper fi, you know?”  
“Can you show us the room, please?” I beg of him making him node before he leads us to the room. He swipes his card and opens the door to the hotel room.  
“Wait at the door, please. Anyone else been in here?” McGee asks Romero as we walk into the room and put on a set of gloves.  
“No, just him,” Romero answers us as his radio goes off as we begin looking through the room but nothing seems unusual at first look.  
“Luis! Luis!” Maria, another worker, calls him.  
“Yeah,” Romero says into the radio.  
“Something’s happened! You need to come here quickly!” Maria says in Spanish.  
“Um… something happened!” Romero explains to us before walking away and we follow him.  
“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! Luis, there! There in the room. In the bed. Mother of God,” Maria rambles in Spanish outside a room, just down the hall from Wright’s room. We look into the room to see a dead, chinses woman laying in the bed. I wrap my arm around the scared Maria.  
“Shh, it’s going to be okay,” I whisper to her as I turn her face into my shoulder, hiding her eyes from the body.  
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“There’s something on her cheek. Looks like saliva. Kiss and kill,” Ziva comments as we process the new crime scene, that might be apart of the old crime scene.  
“No bag. Maybe the killer took it,” McGee offers.  
“Maybe she just didn’t have a bag.”  
“Every woman has a bag.”  
“Do I have a bag, McGee?”   
“Do I have a bag? Did Kate have a bag?” I overlap Ziva.  
“No, but you’re not a… well, I mean, you’re a woman. You’re just… you’re not… not a normal,” McGee stutters at as Ziva and I glare at him making him freeze before he adds, “You are ring. Every woman does not have a bag.”  
“Howe old?” Gibbs asks us as he returns to the room after talking to Shepard.  
“No I.D. No pocketbook. And no bag, either,” Ziva reports to Gibbs as I continue to glare at McGee, I am normal-ish.  
“The room was booked to Michael Lo. Sounds Asian. Single occupancy. Room was paid for in cash in advance,” Tony reports as he steps into the room.  
“Sounds fake,” McGee comments.  
“They’re going to review the security tapes, and send us what they’ve got.”  
“Boss?”  
“Mister Romero, recognize this?” Gibbs asks as he holds up a key-card he found in the room.  
“It’s um… the key-card I gave Sergeant Wright. It’s a master key. It opens up every room in the hotel,” Romero admits, sadly.  
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“What am I looking at?” Gibbs asks Abby in the lab, as we stare at the evidence she is working.  
“Nothing,” Abby answers happily.  
“Nothing? Nothing’s good, right?” I beg of her.  
“Oh, yeah. Nothing is very good,” McGee agrees with me.  
“If this was Wright’s hair, it would be looking into a window of his drug history. But all this shows is,” Abby begs.  
“Unknown trace elements,” Gibbs finishes for her.  
“Too minute to be picked up by the mass spec equipment. So it’s probably not Wright’s.”  
“Oh, we can’t be sure they’re not there, unless we get a better microscope,” McGee adds.  
“We’re talking nano-particles, here. Gibbs. We need a…”  
“An infrared micro spectroscopy unit. It’s the only thing that gets down to the nano level.”  
“Okay, get one,” Gibbs orders them.  
“They cost about a hundred grand.”  
“Yeah, so?” I ask them in confusion.  
“So it’s not in the budget maybe next year,” Shepard informs me.  
“She needs one now!” Gibbs reminds her.  
“Oh, okay. We’ll just take a break on this case, until we get the machine,” I say calmly making Shepard give me a glare so I add, “You wanted us to solve the case but you won’t find the way to buy the devices we need? We need it. You find it.”  
“Sorry,” Shepard says unapologetically.  
“Unbelievable. You want everything done but you never help it be done.”  
“I could haggle. My uncle Horace, he was a great haggler. They used to call him Horace-the haggler,” Abby rambles but stops when Shepard turns the glare from em and Gibbs to Abby making an unconfutable silence cover the lab. After a long while Abby adds, “OR I could borrow one.”  
“Who would let you borrow their Micro-whatever? I wouldn’t let you borrow my pen, and I stole that,” I ask Abby making her think for a moment before talking again.  
“I’ll try and borrow one,” Abby promise, nervously as her computer beeps and she pulls up the fingerprint match. Our victim, the marine and Abby says, “It’s the fingerprint from the key card.”  
“Oh, that’s not good. It puts him in the dead girl’s rom,” McGee says sadly.  
“Sorry, Jethro,” Shepard apologizes tot the man glaring at her.  
“Why don’t you apologize to this girl’s family? Explaining that her killer is getting away because you can’t afford to solve it,” I snap at her, what if this was Kate. That’s right; she wanted Kate’s death to go un-solved and Ari to live.  
“Find out who owns that,” Gibbs orders Abby as he points to hair before turning to Shepard and exclaiming, “Come on.”  
“Don’t start. Do you know how many people want money for things?” Shepard snaps at Gibbs.  
“Did I say anything?” Gibbs demands of her as he leads us away from the lab.  
“She shouldn’t have to wait a year for you to find the money to solve her case. You might want to let innocent people die but I’m not going to let criminal’s walk because your uncompensated,” I snap at her making Gibbs wrap his arm around my shoulder, tucking me into his chest.  
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“It can’t be much fun for a hands-on type like you,” Ducky says as we enter autopsy making him turn around, facing Gibbs making em hide my laughter behind my hand the next morning.  
“You think?” Gibbs asks Ducky as he raises his eyebrows at the confused Ducky.  
“Done?” I ask him as I node at the dead girl on the autopsy table.  
“Done indeed. Intrigue, mystery, and a surprise or two. Yes, I’ve estimated our victim’s age at about fourteen. Death was due to strangulation. She had bleeding in her throat, and the hyoid bone was fractured. There’s some bruising on the sternum that has me a bit puzzled. Possibly post-mortem,” Ducky rambles as he slides the girl into an autopsy fridge.  
“Conscious?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Well, superficial scratching and ante mortem bruising suggests that she put up a struggle of sorts. But toxicology indicates that she was drugged… and for some time.”  
“Hours?” I ask him.  
“Well, possible days. There are traces of sedatives, and Rohypnol, the drug of choice for date rapists. And before you ask the question… yes. She was. But he must have worn a condom. The really good news is that I’ve identified her.”  
“By name?” Gibbs asks hopefully.  
“No, by country. She’s Chinese. Yes, you’re less than impressed. But what if I told you that four weeks ago she was working on the family farm in a coastal region of southern china? Province, to be precise.”  
“Well, now you have my attention, doctor.”  
“It was her extremities that gave her away. The Chinese dentistry is quite distinctive. Her dental work is very new… five or maybe six weeks ago. And her feet are calloused, indicates that she was a farm worker. We also found traces of chromium six in her digestive tract. It’s a bi-product of chlorate. It causes cancer and respiratory problems. Guess where the biggest chlorate factory is in Asia?”  
“Fujian Province,” I parrot what he said before.  
“Well, there you have it. The body was road map.”  
“Anything else?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Thank you, dad. She needs help identifying her because Shepard isn’t helping. She’s being a stone wall,” I inform him.  
“Yes. Her likely killer Sergeant Brian Wright. We had a positive DNA match from the saliva we swabbed from her. I’m afraid our hero is more than a little tarnished,” Ducky rambles as we leave him with his unfortunate guests.  
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“Ducky thinks our victim is a Chinese National, probably in the country less than a few weeks,” Gibbs informs Ziva and Tony as we enter the squad room.  
“Well, her fingerprints drew a negative on the immigration database. So she’s here illegally,” Tony comments.  
“Smuggled in. maybe for the sex trade. Asian, cute, underage,” Ziva lists off.  
“It’s a goldmine! Pimp pays cash, sets her up in a room during a nice big convention, feeds her clients.”  
“And then one of them kills her.”  
“Sergeant Wright doesn’t fit the profile. Are we sure Ari’s dead and not just playing possum?” I ask them because Ziva might have shot him in the head but he hand nothing there to kill him with. No brains mean headshot won’t kill him.  
“Yes, Air’s dead. Wright didn’t need to pay to get into the room. He had a magic key. He saw an opportunity. He took it. Perhaps because of his mental state he lost control. And afterwards, regret, and he took his own life.”  
“Fit the facts, boss,” Tony adds.  
“Only the facts we know, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Any word from Abby yet?” I ask them.  
“Not a peep,” Tony answers me.  
“Tony, can I talk to you for a moment?” I ask him and when he nodes I walk him over to behind the stairs.  
“What’s wrong Alice?”   
“Are you alright? I haven’t seen you this run down since we had the plague.”  
“I’m fine Alice.”  
“Tony, please. You can lie to Gibbs, Ziva, McGee, yourself but your my friend, sometimes a brother, don’t lie to me or I bite you when I find the truth out.”  
“Alice…”  
‘What’s her name this time?”  
“What makes you think there’s a girl involved?”  
“One, this is you we’re talking to and about. Two, this is you. Three, I’ve seen you like this before. With Ari’s assistant, what was her name, never mind not important, Arianna, and I can think of a hundred other girls but I can’t name them. Neither can you,” I state as I count it off on my finger.  
“Alice…”  
“Tony, you’re my family. One of the few I have. I don’t have my mother, or sisters, or brothers. They don’t talk to me. I have you, Ziva, McGee, dad, Abby and Jethro, that’s it. For the longest time the only person I had was Kate. Please,” I beg of him as the tears collect in my eyes, I need them and he’s lying to me.  
“Alice… don’t cry, please don’t cry,” Tony exclaims in fear.  
“I’m sorry. It hurts, I need you but… but I guess you done need me… or see me the same way I see you,” I say before I turn around to leave, I’m not going to stand around here if he doesn’t want to talk it’s on him. I tried and he doesn’t ‘need’ me, so I don’t need him.  
“Jeanne, her name is Jeanne,” Tony informs me, stopping me from walking away from him. I turn around, waiting for him to talk; I’m not dragging it out of him this time. He continues softly, “Jeanne Benoit, she’s a doctor. I’ve been dating her for a couple of months.”  
“Since before Jethro came back. How did you meet her?”  
“Yeah. The director… I’m dating her undercover.”  
“Do you have feelings for her?”  
“I think I might.”  
“Tony… Tony… Tony, be careful, when she finds out, you’re going to need a doctor. Or an M.E.”  
“I know… how did you work this out? Who else knows?”  
“Just me… maybe Jethro. I’ve known you for over four years; it doesn’t take long to work it out.”  
“Thank you.”  
“You know you can tell or talk to me about anything,” I remind him as I pull him into a hug.  
“I know. I just… rule 4.”  
“If you have a secret, the best this is to keep it to yourself. The second-best is to tell one other person if you must. There is no third best,” Tony and I recite together.  
“Yeah, well, rules are made to be broken. Not living if you don’t break the rules,” I remind him.  
“Yeah look at you. Dating the boss, stealing his coffee without dying. I guess you have lived by that,” Tony agrees with me as he releases me and we make our way back to the squad room.  
“The difference between dating the boss and stealing his coffee is that I don’t mess with his coffee. Just steal it so he can’t kill me under that rule,” I correct him making us both burst out laughing; I used that line before, not messing with the coffee, just teasing someone. Ziva and Gibbs give us a confused look because we’re laughing it so much. But we just don’t care and move to our desks, laughing about the things we have done.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Boss, hey,” McGee gasps out as he returns to the squad room, panting for air.  
“Sergeant Wright’s autopsy report?” Gibbs asks him as he nodes to the file in his hand.  
“Yeah. I was checking something. Something didn’t fit. It’s just a theory. But it’s about what Wright ate.”  
“What did he eat?” I ask him hopefully.  
“Nothing. Not since the night before. I asked Ducky. But the room service tray on the bed was half-finished. Which raises another question. How did he get room service if he wasn’t supposed to be in a room in the first place?”  
“Yeah, go on,” Gibbs waves him on.  
“McGee can I guess?” I ask him making him node at me, “People always leaves the room service plates outside their door so the cleaners can pick them up without ordering it. Sorry, didn’t mean to jump on your moment.”  
“Right Alice. I think that he found one that was half finished. He took it back to his room. Something must have happened before he could eat it. Wright’s begging note,” McGee explain as he shows us a note that is begging for help.  
“Or somebody else’s that he found and rushed to help the person in need. Once a marine always a marine.”  
“Hidden under a plate on the tray. And he found it. Must be why he went back to the room. Once a hero, always a hero,” McGee agrees with me as his phone begins ringing and he answers it, “McGee… once second. I got it. What do you need…? Let’s see. It’s negative… I’ll tell him. Thank you,” McGee says before hanging up the phone and informing us, “Boss, the hair found on the victim indicates the killer had an anthrax vaccination. Wright never had one.”  
“Well, I didn’t killer her. Wright didn’t killer her, if we’re not careful our lovely Agent Sacks will be back trying to arrest McGee because he is the next one on the list who was vaccinated,” I complain making McGee node to me as Gibbs give me a look before informing me.  
“Alice, the FBI isn’t coming after this team this week,” Gibbs promises me.  
“Better not, or I’m releasing Ugly Tony the Second in the director’s office and she hates the director like the rest of us.”  
“SO the hair wasn’t Wright’s, but the saliva definitely was. DNA matches. He was kissing the girl,” Ziva reminds us.  
“There’s more than one reason to kiss a girl,” Gibbs states.  
“There is?” Tony asks Gibbs in confusion.  
“Won’t you ever taught CPR, first aid?” I ask him before adding, “If not. I don’t want to be anywhere near you, I’ll stick with Jethro. I know he knows CPR.”  
“I’ve got a question for you… the bruising on the girl’s sternum. Could it be from CPR…? Let me know when you get a confirmation,” Gibbs orders Ducky over his desk phone that he used to call Ducky.  
“So we’re looking for someone with an anthrax vaccine,” Tony release.  
“Instead of one suspect, we now have half a million – all of them military,” Ziva complains.  
“Maintenance guy?” I ask them.  
“Fixing a leak in the kitchen. Chefs ware tripping over him all day,” McGee answers me.  
“Scratch Romero,” Tony complains.  
“After nine eleven, anthrax was sent through the mail. Most people at risk were vaccinated, pentagon officials, senators, congressmen.”  
“Everybody at the reception.”  
“And people who open their mail,” Gibbs and I add together.  
“Too bad you and I never took it. Hey, Tony,” I complain making them laugh because I haven’t forgiven Tony for almost killing me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yes, I had an anthrax vaccination. Along with most everyone on the hill, agent Gibbs. They were troubling times,” Nelson says to Gibbs, Ziva and I in integration. Ziva and I am sitting across from him as Gibbs stands at the head of the table, leaning on it, glaring at Nelson.  
“They still are,” I correct him tightly.  
“After you delivered the briefing paper to Norforce Systems, what did you do?” Ziva demands of him.  
“I walked down the hallway toward the elevator, and that’s where Wright attacked me,” Nelson exclaims.  
“Norforce Systems’ suite was right next to the elevator. Do you want to try this again?”  
“Do I need a lawyer?”   
“Only if you’re feeling guilty,” Gibbs states.  
“You were talking towards the elevator because you were not coming from Norforce System, you were coming from a room down the hallway,” Ziva states.  
“No!” Nelson exclaims in anger.  
“Yes! A room where an underage girl was killed!”  
“And you think I’m responsible?”  
“If you’re not, then you won’t mind giving us a hair sample,” I state.  
“The killer left a calling card and we think your name is on it,” Ziva adds.”  
“This is outrageous! I was attacked by violent, unstable, man! If you’re looking for a murderer, you should be looking at him, and not me!” Nelson orders us.  
“Are you refusing to voluntarily give us a hair sample, Mister Nelson? Because if you are, we can just get a court order.”  
“I didn’t kill anyone!” Nelson snaps at us as the door opens making us look over to see Tony.  
“Boss,” Tony exclaims making Gibbs storm out of the room and I follow him with Ziva, back into the squad room where Tony was watching the security footage. “Eight seven teen. They’re all reacting to the same thing,” tony points out on the security footage.  
“Wright dropping in for breakfast?” Ziva jokes.  
“Nelson might have killed the girl, but there’s no way he killed Wright, boss,” Tony informs us before Gibbs storms back to the integration room.  
“I want to make a phone call,” Nelson demands of us as we enter the room.  
“Lawyer?” Gibbs asks him as I sit back down on my chair and Gibbs sits on Ziva’s because she didn’t return with us.  
“Someone much more powerful.”  
“Your boss? Underage. Kidnapped. Raped. Drugged. Illegal. Dead. You really think your boss wants to talk to you? Did you kill her before or after you pushed Sergeant Wright?” I demand of him.  
“I didn’t kill her. I didn’t push Sergeant Wright. I was on the ground floor when he jumped!”   
“You went to the room. Try to save her, you attacked him,” Gibbs explains.  
“No.”  
“You raped her,” I state calmly and he doesn’t deny it.  
“You killed her. You threw Sergeant Wright off the balcony,” Gibbs adds.  
“I never saw Sergeant Wright!” Nelson yells out us.  
“How could he attack you if you never saw him?” I ask him innocently.  
“She hit me with the lamp. I was just trying… just trying to stop her. I had to explain this somehow, so I said Wright attacked me.”  
“Who took you up to her room?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“No one. I um… I met him outside the hotel. Paid him. And he gave me the key card.”  
“A regular client? Different girls every time?” I ask him.  
“Different girls. I ran into him down stair… at the elevator. And I told him she was dead. He went up.”  
“Name.”  
“NAME,” Gibbs yells out him when he ignores me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Davey Chen Importing Company,” Tony reports on the name of the guy running the sex slaves.  
“Kept himself pretty clean. A couple of misdemeanours. No felonies. Nothing to suggest he was involved in the sex trade of underage girls,” Ziva reports next.  
“Got enough to arrest him for murder?” McGee begs.  
“No physical evidence. His word against Nelson’s.”  
“Well, let’s go kick his door down and find some evidence,” Tony offers.  
“We do that, Tony, we lose those girls,” Gibbs reminds them.  
“Could have lost them already. Slave traders move their girls all the time. They could be on their way to Vegas now. Or dead,” Ziva says to us.  
“Send someone in undercover,” Tony offers a way to find out.  
“I’ll do it.”  
“No. We need someone closer to home. You’ll stand out,” I state and if she goes undercover, I can’t make sure she’s safe-ish.  
“DiNozzo!” Gibbs calls to him.  
“Boss,” Tony looks to his boss to look after him.  
“Get me twenty-five thousand dollars.”  
“Check or plastic?”  
“Cash,” I correct him.  
“On it.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s just that she’s never been undercover, boss,” Tony says as he tries to talk us out of Gibbs plan in the squad room after we dress our agent.  
“She’s a highly trained NCIS Special Agent,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“She’s more probie than even probie.”  
“She’s got excellent backup.”  
“Me?”  
“Ziva,” I correct him before adding, “You don’t even know CPR.”  
“You are causing quite a stir on the hill. Underage dead girl and congressional aide make people nervous,” Shepard informs us as she walks up to us.  
“Good,” Gibbs states.  
“So it’s okay to rape a drugged girl but it’s not okay as long as she is underage and dead?” I ask her in disbelief.  
“Well, she looks the part, just like a,” McGee comments as we look at Agent Lee, she is wearing a low-cut shirt and a headband with a camera.  
“Whore?” Ziva offers the word McGee might be looking for.  
“Courtesan.”  
“Oh.”  
“Are you sure you’re ready this?” I ask her.  
“I saw the girl in autopsy. Yeah, I’m ready,” Lee promises.  
“Okay, McGee,” Gibbs promises.  
“Separate radio transmitter and GPS built into the lining. Pressure switch on the handle turns it off if they sweep for bugs. Turns it back on when they’re finished,” McGee informs him.  
“Chen’s going to be suspicious of everyone. Particularly if someone like Agent Lee shows up. We need something else, McGee.”  
“Got just the thing, boss,” McGee promises as we walk over to the elevator where Jimmy walks to us and his mouth drops open at the look of Lee.  
“Those two are fucking,” I whisper into Tony’s ear making him node, I don’t have to tell Gibbs he’s the one who told me. But Gibbs does pull me away from Tony, and against his chest.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“DiNozzo?” Gibbs calls to Tony and I, he is sitting in the car with Ziva as I am Tony’s backup.  
“In position, boss,” Tony informs him over the radio.  
“Target has entered the building.”  
“Watch carefully. Let’s not loose Lee,” I say into the radio.  
“GPS locked on,” McGee informs us from his spot in MTAC.  
“MTAC is standing by, Agent Gibbs. It’s your call,” Shepard informs us.  
“We are in play,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Excuse me!” Lee says over the radio as she walking into the warehouse.  
“We’re closed,” Chen say to her.  
“Even for a cash customer, Mister Chen?”  
“What do you want?”  
“MY sister,” Lee answers him in mandarin.  
“Who are you? I don’t know you or your sister?”  
“Maybe this will help you remember.”  
“She’s killed the transmission. They’re sweeping her for bugs. She’ll resume the transmission when it’s clear,” McGee informs us when the radio cuts off.  
“Stand by Tony. No contact, in thirty seconds we’re going in,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Gotcha boss,” Tony agrees with him.  
“Fifteen seconds… twenty second… twenty-five seconds,” McGee calls out the time for us.  
“Come on, Lee. Turn us back on,” Shepard begs, it’s the first time I’ve heard her worried about someone besides Gibbs.  
“Twenty-five thousand dollars. Another twenty-five when I get my sister back,” Lee cuts back in making me sigh in relief.  
“And what makes you think I have your sister?” Chen demands of him.  
“It must be another Davey Chen I’m looking for.”  
“What’s her name?”  
“She’s fourteen years old from Fujian Province. I don’t know what you call her, but my family calls her Xiu Mei.”  
“You’re a long way from home.”  
“So is she. But I wasn’t abducted off my parents’ farm.”  
“Too old. That’s a lot of money for the daughter of a farmer.”  
“I work in Shanghai. I’m good at what I do. American businessmen show their appreciation. Do we have a dead?”  
“Come with me,” Chen orders Lee before walking away into another room.  
“Game on,” McGee informs us. After a moment the signal cuts out again making him add, “We’ve lost the signal.”  
“She turned it off?” Shepard demands of him.  
“I can’t tell.”  
“Talk to us, McGee. Please,” I beg of him over the radio.  
“Yeah, working on it, Alice,” McGee informs us as I grip my gun, ready to draw it and run into that building.  
“Gibbs, we’ve got a problem,” Shepard informs us.  
“DiNozzo, Alice, cover the back door! We’re going in!” Gibbs orders him as they get out of the car and rush to the front door.  
“Got it,” Tony promises as we get into procession and pull our guns.  
“She’s moving. Exiting a door,” McGee informs us.  
“Clear!” Gibbs calls over the radio as Ziva and he search the warehouse.  
“Clear!” Ziva agrees with him.  
“Clear!” DiNozzo, they’re gone. Anything?”   
“Nothing, Jethro. They didn’t come out this way,” I report to him.  
“We’re only getting intermittent video signals,” Shepard informs us.  
“Aerial surveillance is negative. They’re definitely on the move,” McGee adds.  
“Gibbs, check for a basement entrance. They’ve gone underground,” Shepard adds.  
“Jethro, twenty-five seventy third street, northwest,” Shepard informs us.  
“Tony, Alice, go! Go! We’ve got the tunnel,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Be careful. Both of you,” I order them in return.  
“Okay!” Tony agrees with Gibbs as we holster our guns and runs of over to the road and down to the address.  
“Two minutes, boss.”  
“Federal agents!” Tony orders them as we run into the new warehouse without guns aimed at them.  
“Freeze!” Gibbs calls out as he and Ziva comes out of another doorway. Lee suddenly flips the bodyguard over and onto the ground.  
“Stay down,” Tony orders the bodyguard.  
“Put the weapon down,” I order Chen how puts the gun down.  
“Nice work, probie,” Tony complements Lee as he arrest the two men.  
“They’re in the truck,” Lee informs us making me holster the gun and pull the door open. The container is completely full of little girls.  
“Unbelievable,” Gibbs gasp out in surprise.  
“Lee, tell them their safe. Their going to go home, to their loved ones,” I say to Lee making her repeat it in mandarin.  
“The bum tried to be a hero,” Chen exclaims in mandarin.  
“The bum tried to be a hero,” Lee translates.  
“Brain Wright. Sergeant Brain Wright. Bronze stat. purple heart. United States Marine Corps. He was a hero,” Gibbs corrects him as I slowly get the girls to leave the container, repeating that their safe in mandarin; just copying how Lee said it.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Jethro,” I mumble as I walk down the stairs where he is ‘working’ on his boat tonight in the basement. I am wearing my dress from when we went to the movies together but I’m not wearing any makeup.  
“Hey, baby. Going out tonight?” Gibbs asks me as he looks at my dress I am wearing.  
“Yeah. Team and Lee’s going out to get drinks. You want to come,” I answer him as I walk over to him before adding, “You going to come?”   
“What’s in it for me?” Gibbs asks me as he looks over my dress.  
“You get to see me dancing in this tiny dress, and to make sure no one touches your women,” I offer as he cleans the dust of his hand before grabbing my hips, pulling me against his chest.  
“Or you could stay home with me and I’ll watch you do more than dancing,” Gibbs smirks at me.  
“Jethro, please. The team hasn’t gone out together in months. Please, please, please,” I beg of him.  
“Fine, but you’re going to make it up to me late,” Gibbs finally gives in making me smirk before kissing him on the lips in thank you. He quickly takes control of the kiss, placing his big hand on the back of my head, holding my head in place so he can control the kiss.  
“We have to go before I change my mind,” I say as I break the kiss and walk away from him making him follow me quickly, right behind me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey,” I greet the team at the bar.  
“Hey, I didn’t think you’d get him out,” Tony exclaim as he hands me five bucks I won by getting Gibbs to come to the bar, which he normally doesn’t.  
“You wound me; I’m great at getting what I want.”  
“If that was true, I wouldn’t be here,” Ziva reminds me.  
“Wait, you’re here? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I ask her in fake shock before sitting down next to Gibbs and Ducky, enjoying the cruiser (their very yummy and I love them in real life) Gibbs just brought me.  
We all settle into a great night of drinking and laughing with our friends and family. After a few drinks I hit the dance floor with Abby and Ziva, just having fun.


	37. Twisted Sister

“McGee’s not answering his cell phone, pager, or My-Space IM,” Ziva informs us in the squad room when McGee’s late today.  
“McGee on My-Space. I’ve got to see that,” Tony laughs at McGee and he’s not even here to defend himself.  
“Keep calling,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Still trying to get into his calendar, boss.”  
“You know, I’m not sure what the problem is. When I was framed by the Iranians for murder, I was late for many hours before anyone noticed,” Ziva reminds us.  
“You’re not McGee, bitch. He’s been early since before he worked here, but you’ve been late every day since you started. That’s why were worried about him and not you,” I explain to her as I work on finding McGee from my desk.  
“Mc-Timex’s brain is hard-wired for punctuality. And sadly, scaring away potential mates. There we go! No doctors’ appointments. He does have a personal trainer four times a week! And tomorrow, an eight a.m. appointment at a Harley Davidson dealership? Either McGee’s won the lottery or he’s got a sugar daddy,” Tony teases McGee again.  
“Yeah, Gibbs… Where?” Gibbs answers his phone before hanging up after a moment.  
“Dead?” Tony asks and my heart stops, this body better not be McGee or so help me god, I’ll kill him myself.  
“Sailor. Waverly campus. Gear up,” Gibbs answers making me sigh in relief only to feel bad. I’m glad it’s not McGee but I feel bad that I’m glad it’s someone else’s friend who is dead.  
“What about McGee? We haven’t found him yet.”  
“I did. Or rather he found me. Sent me an email. ‘Woke up sick. Laryngitis. Won’t be coming into work today.’ You know, I bet he sent you one, too,” Shepard informs us making Gibbs and I check my email to see we both got the same email from McGee.  
“Are you still here?” Gibbs demands of us as I quickly respond to McGee’s email, checking his okay and remind him he can text me if he needs anything. Soup, coffee, medicine, anything. After a moment Gibbs places a hand on my back to lead me past Shepard as he says to her, “Hmm.”  
“I can’t believe I forgot to check your emails. Of course McGee emailed in,” I complain feeling like an idiot.  
“He emailed you too. And any of us could have checked our email, including Jen,” Gibbs reminds me, making me feel better about myself.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Well, that was quick,” Tony comments at the crime scene in Quad, while looking at his camera in surprise.  
“You solve this case already, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of him tightly.  
“No. it’s my hundredth body. Hey, listen, you wouldn’t mind taking,” Tony exclaims as he holds the camera out to Gibbs to take the photo of Tony with the poor victim. Gibbs glares at Tony making him change it to, “Sorry. It’s a bad idea. It seemed less disgusting in my head.”  
“Tony, every idea you have is a bad idea,” I inform him.  
“BY comparison with what else is in there, I’m sure it was,” Ziva agrees with me.  
“Anything useful from the jogger, Ziva?” Gibbs demands a report.  
“If ‘I saw the body and I called the police’ is useful, then yes. Otherwise, no. he can’t tell how long the body’s been here.”  
“Luckily, of course, I can. I must apologize for our tardiness. We had trouble parking the van. Homecoming. I would have thought McGee would have beaten me up here,” Ducky rambles.  
“Dad, McGee’s off sick today. Something about losing his voice,” I explain to him.  
“McGee’s not here,” Gibbs overlaps me.  
“Really? I could have sworn I saw him in the parking lot,” Ducky exclaims.  
“Well, we’re at a college. Pencil-neck geeks are dime a dozen,” Tony attempts to explain it away.  
“Now, let me see. Preliminary time of death between ten and twelve hours ago,” Ducky chuckles as we look around for McGee but I’m, too short to see him but by the look on Gibbs’ face he can’t see him either.  
“We have another body!” Ziva calls from where she is processing the crime scene behind some bushes.  
“I thought you said you had another body,” Tony exclaims as we walk over to see her only to see dead fish.  
“I do. Actually, ten of them.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Dental records confirm the body is Seaman Jeff Petty, currently serving on the U.S.S Enterprise. Docked at Norfolk last night,” Ziva informs us in autopsy about our unknown human body, not the fish.  
“Navy notifying the family?” Gibbs asks her.  
“As we speak.”  
“A duty I do not envy. Yes, when I was an officer with the Regiment, I was twice called upon to render such services. I prefer combat to telling a family that one of their loved ones shall never be returning. Luckily, in this case, we car spared such a duty,” Ducky rambles.  
“Do you have a time of death of those poor gold fish?” I ask Ducky.  
“No time, but a cause.”  
“Asphyxiation? Suffocation? Over feeding?” Ziva guesses.  
“Nicotine poising. I just got the test results from Abby. There was enough nicotine in their blood to kill, well, kill a goldfish. That much is certain,” Ducky corrects him.  
“How did that get there?” Gibbs asks Ducky in confusion.  
‘Your guess is as good as mine. Yeah, the cause of death of Seaman Petty is more explicable. Sharp force trauma to the thoracic area. Punctured the aorta, so death was almost instantaneous. The shape and depth of the wound suggests a combat…”  
“Combat knife,” Gibbs overlaps Ducky.  
“We didn’t find a knife. All we bagged was trash,” Ziva reminds us.  
“Tell DiNozzo to keep looking,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Well, Tony went home.”  
“He went home?” I ask her in confusion, that’s not like Tony.  
“He wasn’t feeling well. Thought McGee might have gotten him sick.”  
“So he went… home?”  
“Well, actually, the director told him he could go,” Ziva informs us making me roll my eyes at the director as Gibbs turn to storm out of autopsy.  
“I’m not done, Gibbs,” Ducky calls out.  
“Make it fast, Doctor Mallard,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Post mortem lividity suggests that Seaman Petty was killed on scene. Toc screen came back negative, no drugs in his system.”  
“His C.O. said he was a model sailor,” Ziva informs Ducky.  
“There was very little trauma beyond the entry wound. No scratches, no DNA under fingernails.”  
“He was surprised.”  
“Or he knew his killer and didn’t precede them as a threat,” I offer to her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, I’ve been looking all over the building for you,” Gibbs exclaims as eh storms into the lab where Shepard is ‘helping’ Abby.  
“Ah, since we were low on agents, I thought I’d give Abby a hand,” Shepard defends herself.  
“The only reason we’re low on agents, is because you sent Tony home when we were already short staffed,” I snap at her.  
“Well, there’s no sense in getting us all sick.”  
“Next time you send one of my team home, you clear it with me first, Director! Oh, I didn’t know I needed your permission to manage my own personnel, agent Gibbs. Your personnel? Last time I checked, it said director on my door, not yours! The kids don’t like it when Mummy and Daddy fight,” Abby exclaims after impersonating Gibbs and Shepard who are glaring at each other.  
“Have you got the call log off the cell phone we found on Seaman Petty?” I ask Abby as I walk over to her, ignoring Shepard, she doesn’t deserve my time.  
“There was damage on the DC run to the SIM chip. Probably from the fall,” Abby exclaims as s0he looks at the phone that continues to chime making her add, “Okay. Wow, fifteen missed next messages. Someone’s really trying to get a hold off.” Abby stops talking when the phone begins ringing in her hand making her asks in fear, “Oh no. what do I do? Do I answer it?”   
“Put it on speaker,” Gibbs orders making her answer the phone and put it on the speaker.  
“Hello!”  
“Finally! Where the hell are you?” McGee demands of Abby, or the owner of the phone.  
“Where the hell are we? Where the hell are you? You’re supposed to be sick,” I snap at him over the phone.  
“McGee?” Gibbs asks in surprise, overlapping with me.  
“Boss? Why do you have my sister’s cell phone?” McGee demands of us.  
“I’ve got a better question. What is your sister’s cell phone doing on our dead body? And why the hell are you suddenly able to speak but you couldn’t call in sick?” I demand of him angrily. Don’t lie to me, ever. I don’t care what’s your reasoning is but don’t lie to me, not if you’re my friend.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Oh, and I thought being sent to the principal’s office was bad,” Tony begins in the squad room as McGee waits in the elevator for Gibbs.  
“He’s still in the elevator?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“Per Jethro’s orders. He shouldn’t have lied because he’s a fucking moron,” I state as I glare at the elevator doors.  
“Awaiting El Jefe’s arrival,” Tony adds making Ziva whistles.  
“How mad is he?” Ziva demands of us.  
“Well, considering he’s been covering for his sister who is implicated in the death of a Navy sailor,” Tony begins as Gibbs storms over to the elevator where people leave, leaving just McGee in there.  
“He’s handling it better than me. If I enter that elevator, the FBI agent Sacks will finally arrest the guilty person,” I inform them tightly.  
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“What were you thinking, McGee?” I demand of McGee as we’re standing in the elevator, alone.   
“I would apologize, but I know how you feel about that,’ McGee says smartly making me stop the elevator by hitting the emergency stop like normal.  
“You got your voice back,” I snap at him angrily as I glare at him.  
“I never lost it.”  
“No kidding!”  
“I know withholding evidence is a violation of NCIS policy.”  
“And a crime! One that I don’t really care about. Why didn’t you come to me? Or Alice?”  
“I was going to. When I saw the body, I knew I had to bring Sarah in.”  
“No before that.”  
“I couldn’t take the chance. I don’t know what my sister did or didn’t do. But I know what it looked like. And we say ‘better ten guilty men go free than one innocent gets punished,’ but I know from experience it doesn’t always work out like that. I couldn’t take that chance with Sarah, not with the police, not with NCIS, not even with you… she’s my sister.”  
“Apology accepted… by me at least,” I state as I start the elevator again and sigh in annoyance, this is not going to end well. Alice is going to kill McGee and I don’t know if I can stop her this time.  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
“Cute girl. Hey, this is the one I found on McGee’s IPod. I knew there was no way she could be his girlfriend. Poor McGee got the shallow end of the gene pool,” Tony exclaims as we look at the photo of McGee’s sister on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“There here,” Ziva warns us a second before the door of the elevator opens and McGee and Gibbs walk out and over to us.  
“I thought for sure Probie would be limping,” Tony comments.  
“He would be if I was in that elevator,” I inform Tony as Gibbs and McGee enter the squad room.  
“Getting soft in your old age there, boss?” Tony teases Gibbs making him stop walking and glare at Tony making Tony add, “Prime of your youth, sir?”  
“We needed it for the BOLO,” Ziva informs McGee as I pointedly ignore McGee.  
“Please tell me that’s not for,” McGee begins to beg.  
“Citing a bench warrant for grand theft auto,” Tony cuts him off.  
“Guess that’s better than a BOLO for murder.”  
“How about a BOLO for being a laying asshole?” I snap at him because he lied to us all making Gibbs pull me away from McGee before I kill him.  
“We need to find her, McGee. Right now, she’s our main suspect,” Ziva informs McGee.  
“Witness,” McGee corrects her.  
“Spoke to the take driver who picked your sister up. He places her at the crime scene,” I snap at McGee.  
“And Abby confirmed the blood type on your sister’s clothes matches Seaman Petty. That’s more than witness, probie,” Tony adds as Gibbs rubs my arm in an attempt to calm me down.  
“And there are the emails,” Ziva adds next.  
“Like the one that starts ‘dear man-whore,’ and ends with ‘if I ever see you again, I will kill you. Love, Sarah?’ I got them off Seaman Petty’s email. Throw them on the pile and they add up too…”  
“Motive and opportunity.”  
“Why is she running?” Gibbs demands of McGee.  
“She’s mad. She’s scared. Says she has nothing to do with the murder, thinks I don’t believe her,” McGee reports to us.  
“Do you?” Ziva demands of him.  
“Sarah is not a killer.”  
“But?” I demand of him, he’s not telling us everything.  
“But an accident’s another story. If she was drugged…”  
“She wasn’t. Abby ran the urine sample you took, and it was clean,” Ziva reports to McGee.  
“Any other suspects?” Gibbs demands of us.  
“Ari?” I offer to Gibbs without hesitation, after all this time and he’s still the first one I think of when looking for any suspect.  
“Navy Seaman Petty’s cheerleader girlfriend,” Tony answers Gibbs as he smirks at me.  
“At least your sister’s not the only one writing threatening emails,” Ziva says to McGee.  
“Cheerleader was worried Popeye was getting his spinach somewhere else.”  
“Address?” I beg of them making Tony hand it to me.  
“Ziva, I want that taxi impounded. DiNozzo, you’re on McGee’s sister,” Gibbs orders his team making Tony grin happily.  
“Ah, a great pleasure, boss,” Tony exclaims.  
“She’s a maybe suspected, maybe witness, you can’t touch her with your sip stick or you’ll lose your job,” I remind Tony making him loose his smile slightly.  
“Boss, maybe Tony would be better on the,” McGee overlaps in an attempt to protect his sister from the pervert we work with.  
“McGee?”   
“Yeah?”  
“Go home. You’re not allowed to work this case. You’re too close to the witness.”  
“If I go home, how do you know I won’t keep working on it? You didn’t stop when it was Kate,” McGee reminds me but I glare at him.  
“You’re damn right I didn’t stop McGee. He was trying to KILL me next, I couldn’t stop but this time there’s only a threat of your sister being arrested, not murdered by someone who held you hostage overnight, at gun point with a threat to your very fucking life,” I snap at McGee, I worked Kate’s case because I had to. Ari was threatening me, Gerald, Dad, Abby, and every female on Gibbs’ team but McGee can’t see the difference. But I add, “Besides, when Kate died, I didn’t fucking protect the murder, that’s Shepard your thinking about. I told everyone everything I know from the start, I didn’t lie. That’s the difference between this case and Kate, she was murdered. Your sister might be going to prison but I’ll never get mine back. SHE’S GONE, NEVER COMING BACK. So don’t compare Kate to this, you don’t get to speak about Kate. She’s not a part of this anymore and she never can be… I can’t go and see her; you will be able to see your sister. I didn’t… I couldn’t protect my sister from Air or death so I had to work that case. Ari killed her because I couldn’t kill him first. You… you think… that…”  
“Oh, Alice,” Gibbs exclaims when I trail off in tears, I want Kate back and McGee can’t see the problem anymore. Gibbs turns me around and pulls me into a hug, holding me so I don’t have to see anyone as I cry because I can’t have Kate back or just go and visit her in prison or at home or protect her. Gibbs holds me tightly as he stares at McGee before saying to the idiot, “Come on! I’ll keep an eye on you,” Gibbs orders him before walking away with me and McGee. He leads me into the elevator without removing his arm from around me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This is Jeff in Bahrain,” Carolyn, the victim’s latest girlfriend, informs us as she shows us a photo of the victim in the dorm room.  
“Handsome guy,” I state as I look at him in his uniform.  
“He loved wearing that uniform. Almost as much as I loved seeing him in it. He was supposed to meet me at the food court. We were having freshman cheerleader initiations later that night, but I wanted to make time to surprise Jeff with… a surprise.”  
“He never showed,” Gibbs states.  
“I just figured his ship was late.”  
.  
McGee pov  
.  
“If we can’t get this thing working, I’m going to have to find some geek who can,” Madison, a girl in the dorm room common area, says as I state at the gun in her hand because Alice wouldn’t let me in the room with Sarah’s ex-boyfriends’ girlfriend.  
“Don’t worry. We can do it,” another student promises her.  
“Huh! Seen enough?” Madison demands of me when she sees me.  
“No, no, no. no, actually, um… I was checking the water gun here. The check valve is on backwards. If you flip this,” I inform them as I fix it.  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
“IT sounds like you and Jeff had a perfect relationship,” I state.  
“We did. We were going to get married. You better make her pay for this,” Carolyn exclaims angrily.  
“Who?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“That jealous bitch, Sarah McGee. She couldn’t deal with the fact that Jeff wanted me instead of her. She sent him threatening emails. She trashed me in her blog.”  
“What’s a blog?”  
“It’s a… blog, you know.”  
“No, I don’t know.”  
“It’s something loser put online so that everyone can read. Are you going to arrest her or not? I saw her at the food court with her geek friends. When she found out that Jeff was coming to meet me, she left to find him,” Carolyn explains to us as McGee enters the room.  
“How do you know she didn’t just leave?” McGee demands of her.  
“Because she killed him!”  
“What did you see that happen? Or are you just assuming that?” I demand of her, I might not like being lied to by McGee but I’m not convicting Sarah without concrete evidence.  
“Boss,” McGee begins as Gibbs force him back into the hallway as I follow them when Carolyn doesn’t answer me, just glare because she releases I am not going to arrest Sarah without evidence.  
“Hey! I told you to wait outside,” Gibbs snaps at McGee.  
“Why didn’t you ask her about the emails?”  
“Maybe I don’t want her to know that I know about the emails, McGee. There’s a reason I told you to stay outside.”  
“And there’s a reason I came in. look,” McGee explains as he shows us an empty fish tank.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Where have you been?” McGee demands of Sarah when we return to the squad room to see Sarah who Tony and Ziva picked up from the library on her college.  
“The library. I told you I had to study. You know, tony is much cuter than Tommy,” Sarah informs McGee making em laugh.  
“Tommy?” McGee asks innocently.  
“Hmm. You know, if you rearrange these letters, you get,” Tony begins as he hold up McGee’s book.  
“Timothy McGee!” Ziva finishes for him.  
You should have to me this was a secret!” Sarah exclaims.  
“I can’t wait to read about your swashbuckling, socially repugnant Special Agent Tommy,” Tony exclaims as he reads from the book description.  
“And Lisa, the sultry and emotionally distant Mossad Officer,” Ziva giggles.  
“Or their boss, L.J. Tibbs, who ‘drinks to alleviate the burden of his messianic complex.’ And the beautiful Alicia, ‘L.J. Tibbs partner who no-one lies to, or else. Rude and protective of her friends and family, always ready to protect them.’ Where is L.J., dead agent walking, Alicia?” Tony teases McGee.  
“Evidence garage,” McGee asks Tony making Tony chuckle at him. “Tony! Tony!” McGee yells before turning to Sarah and grabbing her elbow as he says, “I’m going to kill you!”  
“Oh yeah, that’s what you do threaten your sister. My sister isn’t coming back because of this job but I’m a bad sibling. Well, I’m not going to stand by and watch you threaten your sister, McGee. Treasurer her. You do not threaten your sister because you didn’t tell her the how story, McGee,” I say to him angrily as I remove his hands off of Sarah, it’s his own fault.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey boss,” Tony greets Gibbs as we all walk into the evidence garage room.  
“You didn’t find that in the taxi, did you?” McGee begs us Abby as we look at the knife Abby found, the murder weapon.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“McGee! Hey!” Gibbs calls to McGee who is sulking out of the director’s office but he doesn’t stop making Gibbs and I to run to catch up with him.  
“Boss, don’t try and talk me out of this,” McGee exclaims.  
“Never let someone manipulate you like that again. Not even the director!” Gibbs states as he hands back the badge that McGee handed into the director and head slaps him.  
“She wanted me to quit?”   
“It’s her job to protect NCIS. She might never do it unless it’s to get rid of someone, but still her job,” I remind him.  
“Come here. Sit down,” Gibbs orders McGee as he makes him sit at McGee’s desk.  
“Boss, you don’t think that,” McGee begins.  
“You sit here until we get back,” I order McGee as I point at him.  
“Boss, Alice, you don’t think Sarah did it, do you?”  
“I don’t know, McGee. I’ll know after I interrogate her,” Gibbs answers him.  
“Can I watch from…?”  
“No!” I cut him off.  
“Please, from observation?!”   
“No!” Gibbs snaps overlapping McGee.  
“Boss, I can’t just sit here.”  
“Here. Read a book,” Gibbs orders McGee as he hands him a copy of McGee’s book off Gibbs’ bookshelf from behind his desk, before leading me away from him to the integration room.  
“What’s your major?” I ask Sarah as I walk into the interrogation room to see Sarah studying.  
“English Lit,” Sarah answers me, and she sounds proud but scared for her future.  
“You intend to be a writer like your bother?” Gibbs demands of her as we sit across from her at the table.  
“I intend to on being a writer.”  
“Why the smartass answer?”  
“What?!”  
“You put your bother down. The very bother that just put his job on the line to protect you and you put him down like that’s nothing,” I state, she better not think she’s better than McGee or I’ll arrest her for murderer right know.  
“No, I didn’t,” Sarah snaps at me.  
“Yeah, you did.”  
“He just reigned because of you,” Gibbs adds.  
“No! But Tim loves NCIS,” Sarah exclaims.  
“Evidently he loves you more,” I state making Sarah suddenly begin crying.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Fake tears don’t bother me,” Gibbs states.  
“I don’t fake tears!”  
“Just lapses in memory.”  
“I don’t remember… I just get… quick film cuts.”  
“Hold onto them,” Gibbs orders her making me place my hand on Gibbs leg, he’s been there and this must be as hard for him as her.  
“I can’t.”  
“Because you don’t want to.”  
“I do.”  
“If you did, you’d remember.”  
“I’ve been there.”  
“I stabbed him… I stabbed Jeff!” Sarah begins crying making em break, I can’t do this. I quickly get out of my chair, pulling this young girl into a hug, letting her cry into my shoulder as I look at Gibbs over her shoulder, something doesn’t feel right. That was too easy.  
“Sarah doesn’t know what she’s saying,” McGee exclaims as he rushes into the integration room making me give him a look, he’s supposed to be reading his own book.  
“McGee,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Boss, she was drugged. Abby has proof.”  
“Stay with her,” I order McGee as I hand him his crying sister before leaving with Gibbs. We all walk down to Abby’s lab without McGee who is helping his sister.  
“I was pouring over all the forensic evidence. The trash from the crime scene, and every inch of the taxi, and I realized that the floor mat smells like Nilosorb,” Abby informs us as we walk into the lab.  
“Nilosorb?” Tony asks in confusion before couching at the smell Abby shoves under his noise.  
“Industrial vomit cleaner,” Gibbs and I inform him.  
“So I took what was left down there. I ran it through the mass spec, and found what McGee has confirmed to be Sarah’s favourite late night snack. Cheese-less pizza with Tabasco, pickles, and peanut butter,” Abby informs us.  
“Yuck!” Ziva comments.  
“But I also found traces of sodium oxybate – a.k.a. GHB. It didn’t show up in her urine sample because it metabolizes so quickly. Which is probably what makes it such a popular date-rape drug.”  
“You think Seaman Petty tried to rape her?” Tony asks her.  
“Her ex-boyfriend?” Ziva asks him in surprise.  
“There’s nothing like a death threat from an ex-girlfriend to get your dander up,” Tony comments.  
“Are you talking from experience, Tony?”  
“So the levels of GHB allowed me to triangulate a window of exposure. She was dosed at the food court,” Abby informs us.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs calls on his agent.  
“Pull the security tapes from the food court. On it, boss!” Tony exclaims before walking off to do it.  
“Ziva!”  
“Names of food workers, janitors, and anyone working that night,” Ziva jumps in before walking off to do it as well.  
“What was I going to tell you?” Gibbs teases Abby because everyone else seems to know what he wants them to do.  
“I don’t know. What were you going to tell me, II Magnifico?” Abby asks him.  
“Good job,” Gibbs says to her as he kisses her on the top of her head.  
“But I have more! I solved the mystery of the smoking goldfish. At first I couldn’t figure out how they were lighting the cigarettes underwater. And then I found this. They were trying to kick the habit. Our little Nemo’s were swimming in a bag that sprung a leak. Sprang a leak. Sprung, sprang, sprung – so their little lives flashed before their eyes in a nicotine buzz. Hey, do you think since s\goldfish only have three seconds of memory…”  
“Abby, get dad on that please,” I beg of her, cutting off her rambling while pointing to her new video phone that sits in the middle of her desk.  
“I don’t know, Alice. That is a very complicated piece of equipment. Probably have to go get the manual out and…”  
“Abs!” Gibbs cuts her off making Abby grin before hitting one button, calling Ducky.  
“Ducky?”  
“Yes, my little lotus blossom,” Ducky says over the video call.  
“Gibbs wants you!”  
“You know when the goldfish died?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Well, I was just determining the time they expired,” Ducky informs us.  
“Are you using a little teeny tiny liver probe?” Abby asks him.  
“Being cold-blooded, temperature is useless in determining the time of dead.”  
“So you don’t know yet?” I ask him.  
“Au contraire. They died about the same time as our victim.”  
“Now how did you calculate that?” Abby demands of him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Track Sarah McGee from the time she enters until she leaves,” Gibbs orders Tony in the squad room, looking at the plasma, between McGee and Tony’s desk, with the security video on it. Tony is sitting at his desk as Ziva, and Gibbs stand side-by-side, Ziva on Gibbs right, in front of the plasma screen as I stand in front of Gibbs with his hand on my left hip.  
“Uh… okay. Uh… oops. Uh… that was the wrong way. I’m sorry. Sorry, boss. Once second,” Tony exclaims as he tries to work the video but ends up playing it backwards.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps making Tony hit another button and freeze the video making Ziva laugh at him.  
“It froze. This is sort of a McGeek thing,” Tony exclaims as he tries to fix it but making it worse.  
“Get him!” Gibbs orders him making Tony get up and run off. Gibbs asks Ziva, “Do you know what a clog is?”  
“A shoe or a block to drain?” Ziva answers him.  
“On the internet.”  
“I thought that was a blog, but my English is often wrong.”  
“IT’s a personalized newspaper online, that everyone can write their own views on the news and world without checking their writing is correct… actually, that’s not different than the newspaper,” I explain to him before releasing I just described all the reports in the world.  
“Sarah McGee wrote a blog trashing her and the cheerleaders. You think you can find it?” Gibbs asks Ziva.  
“Probably on Myspace. Who is she?” Ziva informs him as she makes her way over to her computer to find it.  
“Seaman Petty’s girlfriend. Sarah’s ex-roommate,” I inform her.  
“Ha!” Ziva exclaims happily when she finds it before beginning to read it back, “’These preppy little girls, all skanked up to the nines in their adorable cheerleading uniforms, which had been mistakenly ordered in children’s sizes, were engaged in strangely homoerotic, Adderol-fueled spastic movements that they called dance routines.’”  
“Where’s that from?” Tony asks as he, Sarah and McGee enter squad room.  
“IT’s my blog,” Sarah says sadly.  
“Ha-ha. You should let your sister ghost-write for you, probie.”  
“Find your sister entering the food court,” Gibbs orders him making McGee move over to Tony’s computer to do it.  
“How do you get a ready-made cheese-less pizza with Tabasco sauce, pickles, and peanut butter?” I ask Sarah.  
“Oh, I make it myself. The food court has everything but peanut butter, so I carry a jar in my backpack,” Sarah explains to me.  
“McGee, isolate her table,” Gibbs orders him, making McGee do it and we watch a familiar face messing with Sarah’s peanut butter.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ready? One, two, down, up! Steady! Hold it, Heather! Oh, take five,” Madison orders the other cheerleaders in the quad area, they were doing the human pyramid but they fell over.  
“What happened to quitting?” Carolyn asks Madison who is taking off a nicotine patch.  
“After football season. Why don’t you go home?”  
“I’d rather be here.”  
“Seen enough of my ass?” Madison demands of us when Tony and McGee stare at her ass as she bends over.  
“What do you think, Tony?” McGee asks Tony.  
“I don’t know. There’s a lot to see,” Tony comments making me hid a smirk.  
“Stay the hell away from me, jerk!” Madison gasps at Tony.  
“It’s amazing what a college education does for a girl’s vocabulary, don’t you think?” I tease her as I show her a page of Sarah’s blog.  
“Astonishing. I believe you know my sister,” McGee comments before turning Madison around to face Sarah who slaps her.  
“That was for spiking my peanut butter!” Sarah yells at her before slapping her again and saying, “And that was for setting me up to be raped.”  
“This is for being an accessory to murder,” Tony adds as McGee cuffs Madison.  
“What?” Madison demands of him.  
“Madison!” Carolyn exclaims in pain.  
“They’re framing me! I didn’t do anything!”   
“We’ve hot you starring in the food court show,” McGee comments as we show her a still of her messing with Sarah’s peanut butter.  
“Spiking Sarah’s peanut butter with GHB,” Tony adds again.  
“Oh, yeah. Try and prove that from a security camera!” Madison exclaim angrily.  
“Your greasy par prints are all over my peanut butter jar,” Sarah informs her.  
“And we have you leaving the food court with Officer Tate,” McGee adds to his sister.  
“You murdered Jeff?” Carolyn asks in surprise and pain.  
“No! I was just using Tate to get even for this bitch’s blog, and Jeff saw Tate grappling with her and tried to play hero. Tate stabbed him. I dropped everything and run!” Madison admits angrily.  
“You stabbed him! Put the knife in her hand, put the cell phone in his pocket,” Tate corrects her as Ziva and Gibbs leads an arrested Tate over to us.  
“You lying bastard!”  
“Lying bitch.”  
“Get them out of here,” Gibbs orders them.  
“I didn’t do anything.”  
“You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to do the splits,” Tony overlaps him as he reads her, their rights as they force him away leaving McGee, Gibbs, Sarah, Carolyn and my alone.  
“Let go of me! I didn’t do anything!” Madison yells.  
“Yes, you did! Madison did it!” Tate yells.  
“Oh, shut up.”  
“I’m sorry. Jeff was a great guy, and he really loved you,” Sarah says to Madison.  
“How would you know?” Carolyn demands of Sarah.  
“He emailed me. He said he was sorry, but he’d met his soul mate. It was you,” Says explains before pulling a crying Carolyn into a hug.  
“Sometimes, McGee… a little lie – it’s good for the soul,” Gibbs explains to the confused McGee, Jeff never sent that email.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey,” I say to Gibbs as I walk down the stairs to see him watching an old black and white movie on his old TV. He is half laying on the couch with his feet on the table in front of him, and a beer hanging from his hand. He is wearing an old NIS sweet shirt, and a pair of sweet pants, that’s all.  
“Hey, I thought you went to be,” Gibbs mumbles as I sit down next to him, and cuddle up into his side.  
“The bed was cold. What’re you watching?”  
“John Wayne.”  
“Should have guessed that,” I mumble as I happily hide my face in his NIS sweet shirt he is wearing.  
“Shh,” Gibbs shushes me as he wraps his hand around my waist, holding me against his body.  
“Jethro… you’re not going to leave me for my roommate, are you?”   
“What? Um… how? I am your roommate,” Gibbs exclaims as he stops pretending to watch the movie.  
“Don’t pick apart my problem, just answer me. Please?”  
“I wouldn’t cheat on you… with myself.”  
“Or Ugly Tony the Second?”  
“I’m not touching your dog. I don’t even feed the thing,” Gibbs reminds me as he runs his hand over my back.  
“Promise? Even if I dye your hair red?”  
“Well… maybe then,” Gibbs teases me.  
“Jethro…”  
“I’m not going to cheat on you. I promise,” Gibbs whispers to me before kissing my head. He adds, “Now be quiet and watch John Wayne.”


	38. Smoked

“Finished McGee’s book yet?” Tony asks Ziva in the squad room today as they read at their desk instead of working, which I am doing. I am wearing a pair of tight jeans and a peak-a-boo shirt that hints at cleavage without being slutty, like Shepard.  
“Half way. You?” Ziva answers him.  
“I’m on… chapter seven, page on oh three. ‘Maybe someday Lisa would find the courage to tell Agent Tommy about her dream… the two of them together, their bodes covered in sweat as they made love on the crystal white sands of her homeland,’” Tony reads of his copy off the book.  
“I’m going to kill him.”  
“Kill who?” Gibbs asks as he walks into the squad room and over to his desk.  
“McGee.”  
“You know, Kate and McGee are going to kill Tony. You’re going to kill McGee. FBI kills you. We’re going to have no one in no time,” I comment.  
“Have you read this book?”   
“Apparently McGee thinks Ziva’s in love with me,” Tony explains.  
“You’re not very far in yet. It changes over time,” I dismiss Tony’s belief on the book, being so close to the beginning.  
“There’s a reason they call it faction, DiNozzo,” Gibbs reminds him without caring about the book, which I personally read to him when the book first came out.  
“Boss just got a call from dispatch. Construction crew found a dead body,” McGee explains to Gibbs as he walks into the squad room.  
“Where?” I ask him as we gear up.  
“Chesty Puller High School in Quantico.”  
“Student?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Uh… not sure.”  
“Take the truck. We’ll met you there,” Gibbs orders him before leading me out of the squad room to the elevator, leaving McGee to Ziva and Tony’s anger.  
“Why are you torturing McGee now?” I ask Gibbs as the elevator closes.  
“Because.”  
“Jethro… why are you torturing McGee?”  
“He has to deal with Tony, sooner or later. I’m just not staying around to watch and listen to it.”  
“OR to stop it when Tony goes to far in his teasing of McGee’s book. Hurting McGee’s feelings,” I remind him.  
“Baby, he’s a big boy. He doesn’t need you to look after him. He got himself into this mess, he can get himself out. Payback for lying about the book and withholding information on the case.”  
“Okay, he can be torturing for that. But I feel like you’re lying to me.”  
“Plus, this way we’re not all cramped into one car. It’s too tight and you always call shotgun leaving me with Tony against my side,” Gibbs complains making me laugh at him before placing a kiss on his lips quickly before the doors open and I walk out, making Gibbs follow me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You know, in chapter eight of McGee’s book, your character does the exact same thing to Agent Tommy. It turns out she has this whole secret photo album of him,” Tony exclaims in the basement of the school as Ziva takes a photo of ‘him.’  
“Fascinating, Tony, but I wasn’t taking a picture of you. I’m more interested in the wild life,” Ziva comments making him turn around to see a mouse behind him.  
“Euugh!”  
“We’ve pulled rats, cats, and birds out of chimneys before, agent Gibbs. Hell, one time even a saint Bernard. But this is my first mummy. reminds me of that urban legend,” Larson, the person who found our mummy, informs us.  
“Which one’s that?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Guy dresses up like Santa, you know, for Christmas Eve to surprise his girlfriend. But he never shows. She’s convinced that the bastard dumped her. Badmouths him all over town.”  
“Until they find the poor soul’s body months later… still clutching the little box with her shiny new engagement ring. And the moral, of course, is,” Ducky finishes the story for him, but Gibbs cuts him off next.  
“It’s never a good idea to get married. And we have example A to prove it,” I state.  
“No, it’s best not to judge someone until all the facts are in.”  
“I like mine better.”  
“Any of your crew touch or move Kris Kringle?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Oh, most of them were half way to Manassas before the dust even settled,” Larson informs us.  
“There’s no I.D. on him. Judging by what’s left of the mullet, I think it’s safe to say he wasn’t in the military,” Tony comments.  
“You think, Tony?” I ask him in disbelief, even Fornell can tell him that.  
“Hey, I need a T.O.D, Doctor,” Gibbs calls to Ducky making me hit him, stop calling him doctor. It’s not helping their friendship.  
“Considering we’ve been working together for over ten years, I am well-aware of that, Agent Gibbs!” Ducky snaps back.  
“DiNozzo, when he gets one, run it through missing person over the same time period,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“Where are you going, boss?” Tony demands of Gibbs.  
“To the roof to figure out how he ended p there int eh first place,” Gibbs informs him before a dishevel McGee walks into the room.  
“McGee, what happened to you?” I demand of McGee as I rush over to him, checking him out.  
“Uh… creative difference with my co-workers, Alice. I’m fine,” McGee answers as I check his head which has a bump on the back making me give them a look.   
“A lot of that going around these days,” Gibbs says dismissably before walking off.  
“Don’t you think it’s about time you and Gibbs made up, Ducky?” Ziva asks what we’re all thinking.  
“Made up? I wasn’t aware we were fighting, Ziva,” Ducky exclaims in confusion.  
“Come on, ever since he retired,” Tony begins.  
“Tony, Jethro didn’t retire. He fucking quit, just like Mike,” I cut Tony off calmly as I check the crime scene fore anything that might be helpful.  
“Okay, so he quit. But he’s back now.”  
“You need to cut the man some sack, Ducky,” Ziva adds.  
“I agree. Alice forgave him and she’s dating him. Except the term is slack,” Tony corrects Ziva like normal.  
“Judging by the decay and the condition of his skin, I tentatively place the time of death at two of four months ago,” Ducky explains to us.  
“Works for me.”  
“Time of death was four months ago, Jethro!” I call up the chimney where the body was.  
“Bag and tag the ashes, probie. We’ll pick you up after we coordinate with the MPs,” Tony orders McGee before we leave him behind making me glare at them because they’re not going to come back.  
“Tony, you are coming back for him or I’m going to make your life hell. Worse than Kate did,” I threaten Tony making me galp in fear, Kate and I could and would make his life hell for the hell of it.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you two done playing grab-ass?” Gibbs demands of Tony and Ziva as we enter the squad room. Ziva is behind Tony’s desk, leaning over him, flirting with him or threatening to kill him, either why is possible with her.  
“Oh, he started it,” Ziva defends herself as she moves back over to her desk.  
“I’m ending it.”  
“Oh, I,” Tony begins.  
“The next person who mentions this book will be deep-sixed by me,” Gibbs threatens them, final listening to what I have been saying for days, and only when I threatened to cut off his sex life.  
“I can completely live with that, boss.”  
“My point exactly, DiNozzo.”  
“You ID our victim yet?” I ask them hopefully, we need to give this poor man a name, or I’ll name him like I named my dog.  
“We’re running him against missing person cases reported over the last six months,” Ziva reports.  
“No hits yet,” Tony adds.  
“I’m afraid that’s my fault it seems my initial time of death wasn’t completely accurate,” Ducky informs us as eh walks into the squad room before leading us back down to autopsy. The body is on the autopsy table, looking like something I’d buy Ugly Tony the second to eat. Ducky continues, “As you will see, his body is almost perfectly preserved. Perfectly reserved for a rotted corpse, that is.”  
“The guy looks like a piece of beef jerky, Duck,” Tony comments.  
“Gum tissue rots faster than the outer flesh due to the high degree of bacteria inside the mouth. As you can see, his gums are almost intact.”  
“Maybe he was just a good flosser?” Tony comments making Gibbs hit him and Tony adds, “Shutting it, boss.”  
“How’d he die?” Gibbs demands of my father.  
“Well, the how I’m still working on. It’s made particularly difficult by the means by which his body was preserved. He was quite literally smoked inside that chimney,” Ducky informs us.  
“Smoked?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“Yeah, like a fine cut of meat.”  
“So, he really is a beef jerky,” Tony teases Ducky.  
“In a manner of speaking, yes, Tony. It’s also the reason why my time of death was so far off.”  
“More than two to four months, Ducky?” Ziva asks getting him back onto the topic we came down here for.  
“It would seem so,” Ducky answers with a chuckle.  
“How many?” I ask him.  
“I would say we’re looking at closer to five to six.”  
“Ah, don’t be so rough on yourself, Doctor. We’re already running the past six months,” Gibbs says, dismissing the mistake of his old friend.  
“Not months! Years!” Ducky exclaims making us all freeze. Damn it, that’s a long time.  
“Damn, cursed mummies,” I exclaim glaring at the mummies, they always make the cases harder.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What the hell is this?” McGee demands in the lab as he tries to help Abby stop her computer from misbehaving.  
“I was wondering that myself,” Gibbs admits as we walk into the lab.  
“We’ve got two matching fingerprints from the victim, and AFIS just kicked us out. And now they’re deleting the file!” Abby explains to us without looking away from her computer.  
“How?” I ask her in confusion, who is that possible.  
“Working on it,” McGee explains.  
“It looks like some agency doesn’t want us to know who the mummy is, Gibbs,” Abby informs us.  
“I bet it’s the FBI. They’re always annoying us,” I state making Abby smile at her computer as she works and fails to give us the name. I add, “I guess we’re going to see Fornell sooner rather than later now. And I was having such a good week. Five bucks says it’s Fornell.”  
“I’ll take that bet,” Abby exclaims as she shakes my hand on the bet.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How long’s Tony been doing errands for the director?” Gibbs asks us in the squad room when Tony’s been missing for over two hours. I didn’t know Gibbs was aware of Tony’s second job besides being his agents.  
“Pretty much since you retired. She trusts him,” Ziva answers him.  
“To do what?”  
“You’d have to ask Tony that.”  
“Fuck up someone else’s life for her personal revenge,” I inform Gibbs as Abby enters the room making Gibbs give me a look for my answer.  
“Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! I did it!” Abby exclaims as she bounces on the spot.  
“What? You mean we!” McGee begs of her.  
“There’s no ‘we’ in McGee! I traced the connection back to the system that deleted the fingerprint patch.”  
“It’s a government server in Arlington, Virginia.”  
“Routed into AFIS, directly at the source.”  
“Our mystery hacker is…”  
“The F.B.I,” Gibbs and I cut him off, staring at the elevator.  
“Uh… yeah. Sounds a little anti-climactic when you say it,” Abby says sadly.  
“How did you know that?” McGee demands in confusion.  
“Who else would piss us off and delete something we need? Fornell,” I answer them as I turn to the elevator as Fornell enters the room.  
“I’m looking at them,” Gibbs overlaps me as he stares at one of his ‘friends.’  
“You’ve got something that belongs to me, Gibbs,” Fornell snaps at us.  
“How have you been? It’s been a while bowling ball,” I tease Fornell making him give me a look.  
“You have something that belongs to me, Alice,” Fornell says as he turns to me.  
“Fine. How’ll you been Shit? Who are you going to arrest this time?” I demand of Sacks, the man who keeps trying to arrest my friends.  
“It’s Sacks,” Sacks snaps at me.  
“That’s what I said. Princess,” I state as Gibbs leads us to the back elevator.  
“Do you have to be annoying?” Fornell asks me.  
“Only for our lovely FBI agents,” I answer him making McGee and Ziva laugh from the squad room.  
“Your pants are going to catch fire,” Sacks informs me.  
“Your head’s going to blow up from all the lies and false imprisonments in your life. But I wasn’t going to mention it.”  
“You didn’t even have any letters right in my name besides the beginning. Not even the right number of letters.”  
“I got it right. Your mother just didn’t have the heart to tell you, your spelling and saying it wrong,” I dismiss him as we leave the elevator into autopsy where Ducky is bagging a human toe. Why? What did we miss know?  
“A human toe,” Ducky says to Jimmy as we enter the room.  
“HE was a cannibal, Ducky,” Fornell informs Fornell.  
“And a serial killer,” Sacks adds.  
“I’ve been hunting this bastard for over twelve years, Gibbs.”  
“What’s his name?” Gibbs demands.  
“You don’t know. Who can you hunt someone for twelve years and not know his name? we know Ari’s name within the first year. I’m embarrassed for you two. More than normal and that’s saying something,” I exclaim in annoyance. Twelve years and not knowing his name, that’s embarrassing. Gibbs begins laughing at Fornell not knowing as I smirk, we’re the cowboys and the FBI doesn’t know after twelve years.  
“We know the prints you ran through AFIS matched two of the prints from his crime scenes,” Sacks explains to us as he ignores me, while defending their ‘investigation.’  
“Fourteen kills. All women. Drugged, strangled and left to rot in your rural interstate highway,” Fornell informs us while ignoring me too.  
“Every one of them missing the toes on their left foot. They were gnawed off.”  
“How’d he die?”  
“We’ll tell you when you get us a name. a real name not one I’m going to make up,” I answer Fornell calmly making Gibbs smack my ass for misbehaving and annoying the FBI.  
“We were still working on that,” Ducky inform Fornell, being helpful to the FBI and not stone walling them like they are to us.  
“I can tell you when. Sixty-six months ago,” Fornell informs us something useful.  
“Five and a half years is a pretty accurate guess.”  
“IT wasn’t a guess. It was the last time he killed,” Fornell informs Ducky before we leave autopsy and Fornell continues when we leave Sacks behind, “You want to know why I restricted access to his prints?”  
“For starters,” Gibbs agrees with him.  
“We didn’t want local LEOs trying to bring him down on their own.”  
“That sounds like the FBI. Are you sure this is the right guy or is Sacks back to his old tricks with a new target?” I ask Fornell.  
“This guy was a ghost, Jethro, Alice. Fourteen murders. All we ever got from him was two partials, and a single strand of hair. We never even got close,” Fornell informs us.  
“I am more interested in what he was doing on my marine base, Tobias,” Gibbs informs him.  
“As soon as I find out, you’ll be the first to know. We got a deal? I’ll have my M.E. swing by and pick up the body.”  
“You trust us to give you the right body? Still? How many times have we not done that,” I ask Fornell.  
“After I find out who he is and how he died,” Gibbs adds.  
“I spent twelve years working this case,” Fornell informs us.  
Well, then waiting a few extra days shouldn’t be a problem. Besides he’s not going anywhere. He can’t move anymore,” I state.  
“IS there anything else I can do for you, while you’re grinding the knife in?” Fornell asks us sarcastically.  
“I’m going to need a sample of hair,” Gibbs begins.  
“Jethro look at him. He’s got none left to give,” I exclaim as I point at Fornell’s hair.  
“AND copies of your file. A few bottles of bourbon would be a nice gesture.”  
“What do I get besides a headache?” Fornell asks us.  
“Tobias, I am going to show you what your serial killer looks like,” Gibbs informs him as the elevator arrives at the lab where McGee is working with Abby to give our serial killer turned victim turned beef jerky a face.  
“Abs you got anything. Besides my money,” I ask her making Abby hand me a five dollar note as we pace her and stand on the other side of the desk in the middle of the room.  
“I’ve been rehydrating Smokey-the-bear’s head since yesterday. It makes it easier for identification,” Abby begins.  
“And I’ve uploaded every local missing person’s sketch and photo into the comparison field since the killing stopped,” McGee continues.  
“As soon as their rendering algorithm is complete, we should have a fairly accurate likeness of what Slim Jim looked like when he was still alive.”  
“As long as the quadrant system and scales are within the program’s prescribed…”  
“McGee, less talk. More the computer chip doo-da,” Gibbs orders him making me laugh at his technical term.  
“Making with the doo-da, boss.”  
“Doo-da?” Fornell asks in confusion.  
“Yeah, it’s a technical term, Tobias. You wouldn’t understand,” Gibbs informs his friend.  
“He’s pretty cute for a serial-killer cannibal,” Abby comments.  
“Like that’d stop you. You’d probably like it more,” I comment making her grin at me.  
“Oh, I’ve got an eighty-six percent match on a Charles Bright, reported missing from Dale City, five years, even months ago,” McGee informs us.  
“Our profiler was convinced he’s have at least one body buried near his home,” Fornell informs us.  
“Why?” Abby asks in confusion.  
“Something for him to gloat over, Abs. relive the rush any time he wanted to,” I inform her.  
“That’s good, Alice. We need an address,” Fornell orders us making McGee and Abby him doo-da and find an address.  
“Is that address still good?” Gibbs asks them.  
“Uh, wife still lives there. Karen Bright. She’s the one who reported him missing,” McGee answers us.  
“There you go, Fornell,” I say to him.  
“You’re turning the case over?” Fornell asks me in surprise.  
“No, we just wanted to get our search warrant for us,” I answer him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Serial killer? Io missed like two hours,” Tony exclaims as we walk into the squad room we’re he finally returned.  
“You snooze, you lose, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him as we walk past, and Gibbs smacks him on the back of his head. Gibbs continues, “Grab your hear!”  
“I already have my gear!” Tony reminds us.  
“I’ll fill you in on my way. Let’s go,” Ziva says as she follows us, leaving Tony behind.  
“Today, Tony,” I call back to him.  
“Geez!” Lee mumbles.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do we tell her?” Fornell asks us at the victim’s wife’s house as we walk up to the front door.  
“The truth. We found her husband,” Gibbs answers him like it’s normal.  
“And the whole serial killing-cannibalism thing?” Fornell asks us as I knock on the door.  
“Nit until we have to. How would you like if I told you that your husband was a serial killing-cannibal?” I ask Fornell making him give me a look, he is a man and he doesn’t have or can have a husband.  
“His. Is your mum home?” Fornell asks as the door opens to a pretty little girl.  
“Who is it, Amy?” her mother, Karen the victim’s wife, calls out from inside the house.  
“It’s the police, mum,” Amy, the pretty little girl, calls back to her mother making Karen make her way to the door.  
“Mrs Bright, I’m,” Fornell begins but freezes when he sees the wife because she looks just like her husband’s victims.  
“HE’s F.B.I Agent Fornell. I’m NCIS Special agent Gibbs and this is Agent Todd from NCIS,” Gibbs introduces us.  
“You… you found him, didn’t you? You found my husband Charlie?” Karen demands of us but there is so much pain in her voice.  
“I’m sorry. His body was discovered yesterday in Quantico,” I inform her sadly.  
“IT was an accident, wasn’t it? He was a building inspector.”  
“The cause of death is still undetermined,” Gibbs informs her.  
“He would have never abandoned us. Everyone else thought it, but I always knew it couldn’t be true,” Karen explains before turning to her kids and informing them, “They found daddy. They finally found him.”  
“We’re so sorry ma’am,” I inform her as she begins crying making me pull her into a hug. That hurts. Once she stops crying we head out to the back yard, leaving her with her family.  
“Sorry about that, Jethro. She could have been a twin to some of his victims,” Fornell says when he finally finds his mouth.  
“The loving husband murdering and eating women who look like his wife. It’ll probably be McGee’s next best seller,” Gibbs comments.  
“It amazes me how the truly sic ones are always the best liked, the pillars of the community.  
“They’re successful because they blend in, Fornell. They go to church, they coach little league baseball. They don’t have to deal with the FBI, I wish I could say,” I comment.  
“I was on the team that nailed Bundy, Alice. And I’m familiar with sick, charming bastards.”  
“That’s probably why we get along so well,” Gibbs comments making me snort, that’s sounds like something Tony or I would say to piss each other off.  
“Oh, I found something, boss! Found some bone fragments,” Tony calls out to us in the back yard making us move over to him to find a body.  
“Poor girl,” I mumble as I look at the bones, no skin left anymore.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Our serial killer spent the last five years getting smoked and tenderized in the Puller High School chimney, only to fall out during the installation of the new furnace,” Tony rambles what we already know back into the squad room.  
“I want to know how he ended up that way, DiNozzo!” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“Boss, he was a building inspector for the D.O.D when he disappeared in April two thousand one, he was checking structures at Quantico and little creek. Puller high school was on his list,” McGee adds.  
“It could have been an accident. He could have fallen to his death while inspecting the school,” Ziva continues.  
“How? Think about it. He couldn’t just walk onto a military base. If he drove, they would have found his car. If the wife dropped him off, she would have been able to say were he was last on the missing person report. Same if someone else dropped him off,” I state.  
“Two thousand Honda Accord disappeared with him,” McGee informs us.  
“Fourteen victims spread out from nineteen ninety-three until his death,” Ziva adds.  
“All of them looking pretty much like his wife,” Gibbs informs them.  
“Number fifteen found his own back yard by yours truly, with the F.B.I. digging for more. Why exactly are we letting the F.B.I. dig for more?” Tony asks in confusion.  
“They’re earning their pay this week by doing our manual labour,” I inform them with a smirk.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Everything’s going to be okay. This is all a big mistake,” Karen exclaims back in the living room of her house when the F.B.I. found more victims. Ducky is out back with the reads of the team.  
“Mrs Bright, I need to know how your husband ended up in Quantico,” Gibbs asks her.  
“He worked at all the bases. Don’t you people understand you have him confused with someone else? Some kind of monster! Sweetheart, go get your brother, okay? We’re going to go to grandma’s house. Go!” Karen orders her daughter.  
“Can’t they just leave?” Amy demands before walking away.  
“My husband was one of the most loving men on the planet, Agent Gibbs. He treated everyone with kindness and decency. Ask anyone who knew him, Agent Gibbs! Anyone!”  
“They’re removing four bodies from your backyard. And we’re not done searching yet,” I remind her.  
“Do you know how many old, unmarked graveyards are in Virginia?” Karen demands of me like that dismisses the problem.  
“When was the last time you saw him?” Gibbs demands of Karen.  
“He was driving to little creek. He was… supposed to call when he got to his hotel.”  
“That’s a long way from Quantico where he ended up. And you never mentioned that in the missing person report. Which if that’s true, it would have helped find him faster,” I state.  
“I knew. I knew something was wrong when he didn’t call. You ever have one of those feelings? When you know something terrible has just happened?”   
“Once,” Gibbs answers her making me place my hand on his arm, she shouldn’t be the one asking questions.  
“And did it?” Karen demands but Gibbs didn’t answer her this time. After a moment making her continue, “He didn’t do these things, Agent Gibbs, Todd. And I’m sorry, but there’s nothing you people can do or say to ever make me believe this!”   
“Stashing four bodies in the yard… that’s more than just gloating, Gibbs,” Fornell reminds us as we walk over to him, leaving Karen crying.  
“Well, they could be his first kills,” Gibbs remind s Fornell as I make my way back over to the victim’s wife and pull her into a hug.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“I thought you might be needing a refill,” Ducky says to me as he walks into the squad room and handing me a coffee tonight. We are the only ones in the squad room, so we have some privacy for a change.  
“Thanks,” I say to him as I take the coffee off his hand.  
“Oh, today certainly brought back a lot of memories.”  
“Yeah.”  
“It also made me realize that since your return, I’ve been acting a little like a…”  
“An ass?”  
“Well, something like that.”  
“I didn’t notice.”  
“Yeah, you and I have been through a lot over the years. Look, I hate to use marriage as an analogy…”  
“Then don’t. just tell me what I did to piss you off,” I order him.  
“The night you retired, you asked e to drive you home. You didn’t say a single work the entire trip. No explanation. Not even a goodbye.”  
“I was kind of still recovering from the coma, doctor.”  
“And Kelly? And Shannon? All those years of friendship together, and somehow you failed to mention that you have a family.”  
“Had. Had a family. You know how I feel about apologies, right?” I correct him before asking as I stand up and make my way around the desk to stand in front of Ducky.  
“They’re a sign of weakness,” Ducky answers me.  
“Not between friends. I am sorry, Ducky. I should have told you.”  
“Well, I should have told you something months ago. Welcome home,” Ducky says before shaking my hand, but I use it to pull him into a hug.  
“Thanks,” I whisper to him.  
“Besides, if I keep being distant, I’m afraid of Alice taking it into her own hands. We don’t need her to tape us together,” Ducky adds as he releases me.  
“Yeah, that too,” I laugh as I think of the time she taped Kate to Tony because they we’re fighting over Tony’s right to eat Kate’s lunch.  
“You two made up now?” Alice asks as she walks into the squad room, carrying a bag of Chinese takeout. That’s where she went, to get food.   
“Yeah,” I answer her as she grins at that before placing the food on my desk and pulling food at for all of us. She gives Ducky her chair and steals Ziva’s chair, so we can all eat together. Talking and laughing like before I retired, quit, back to normal.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Are you on medication?” Ziva asks Tony in the morning when he walks into the squad room whistling.  
“Tony’s back,” I exclaim as I throw my hands into the air, finally.  
“Just had a good night last night,” Tony answers her.  
“Only a good night. Not great?” I tease him.  
“Doing what?” Ziva asks him innocently, how can she be innocent when she’s a murdering, torturing Mossad officer?  
“The usual,” Tony answers her.  
“The usual what?”  
“Night.”  
“You had sex, didn’t you?” Ziva laughs when she releases it.  
“What?”  
“It’s okay to admit it. I mean, we’re all adults here.”  
“That’s a subject I’d be willing to debate, officer David. Where’s Gibbs?” Fornell demands of us.  
“Yeah, Fornell’s here and he’s not an adult. He’s a weird two-year-old whose parents left him at the FBI headquarters, so they gave him a job. Which he fails at regularly,” I inform Ziva.  
“Well, he must have known you were coming, because he’s not here,” Tony answers Fornell.  
“It was really more of a courtesy call, DiNozzo. Letting him know about these orders from Justice. The ones where the F.B.I. is taking over your case. Are you sure he’s not around?” Fornell informs us.  
“You’re not taking the case. You can take his ex-wife. You can take his not guilty agents, but you can’t take this case. You you’ll be having fucking hell,” I snap at him as I move from my desk to in front of Fornell, glaring him down. Before adding, “Come on. Or you can fuck off without the body.” Fornell follows me into the director’s officer where Shepard and Gibbs are arguing about something. I don’t bother knocking I just walk in and inform them, “The ghouls (A ghoul is a demon or monster originating in pre-Islamic Arabian religion associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh.) back. But he still doesn’t have hair. How unfortunate for him.”  
“These are pretty clear-cut orders, Agent Fornell. ‘NCIS is hereby ordered to turn over full jurisdiction of the Bright case to the F.B.I. by the end of business today.’ Who’d you have to sleep with to get these?” Shepard asks Fornell.  
“Director, please! A serial killer falls down the chimney on a marine base. Is that a logical way to decide jurisdiction?” Fornell asks Shepard innocently without answering who he had to sleep with.  
“It’s been working for us since around eighteen eighty-two.”  
“Sadly, justice didn’t see it that way. The F.B.I. as invested twelve years in this investigation.”  
“Whose fault is that? Not ours, but when the shoe is on the other foot you protected our terrorist, but you want your murdered that was found dead on our base. That’s doesn’t make sense, hell if you didn’t protect our terrorist my sister will be alive. But you’re worried about a dead serial killer, he’s not going to kill anyone else so what’s it matters if we take the time to find out how he got dead before you wreck his name,” I snap at him now. He stopped us from kill Ari when he kidnapped Kate the first time, and he wanted to stop us when he murdered Kate too.  
“Alice, get over it. That was almost three years ago since he kidnapped Kate. The FBI’s changed since then. And my people made more progress in just three days. Now, I can see how that would be embarrassing,” Shepard dismisses my sister’s life like the chance to save her, but the FBI stopped us is nothing but the FBI pissing her off for wanting our body is something.  
“I’ll get over it. no had feelings, Jethro?” Fornell asks Gibbs who was on his phone before walking over to me and pulling my back into his chest.  
“Nope. Just need you to look at something before you leave,” Gibbs informs Fornell as he rubs my arm. He knows I am still sensitive about Ari in autopsy when Gibbs shot him in the arm but wasn’t allowed to kill him because he was being protected by the FI. He is too. We both know that night could have saved Kate’s life and stopped Ziva from being added to this team.  
“You’ve got that moustache in a box, don’t you?” Fornell demands of Gibbs making Gibbs laugh at him as he leads us out of the director’s office and over to the elevator with Shepard following us.  
“Shh, baby. You can’t blame Fornell for everything the FBI does wrong. Blame Sacks, and you’ll be happily,” Gibbs whispers in my ear so only I can hear him as we ride the elevator down to autopsy.  
“It took more time than I care to admit. But I finally managed to solve the riddle of how our friend died,” Ducky greets us with that information as we walk into autopsy as a group.  
“You may need this,” Gibbs informs Fornell as he hands him a magnifying head band to wear making Fornell put it on.  
“Look closely… in the area of his abdomen. Do you see anything resembling wounds?” Ducky asks Fornell who is looking at the x-rays of our victim.  
“No,” Fornell answers him.  
“Well, neither did I until I took a second look at the CAT scan. You see, smoking desiccates flash. Which is why it is the preferred method of preserving meat in less technologically advanced society…”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! How did he die, doctor?”  
“Well, as the moisture was lost, the victim tissue – which protected the vital organs – shrank. You see these little black dots?”  
“Um… um… oh, yeah,” Fornell agrees with him as he looks at the x-rays again.  
“HE was stabbed repeated and fatally.”  
“With what? A safety pin?”  
“As I just explained, the shrinkage of the flesh is deceptive. Most likely it was an ice pick or a Philips-head screwdriver.”  
“Somebody killed your serial killer, Fornell,” I inform him calmly.  
“On a marine base. Which means, it is still our jurisdiction,” Shepard informs him, finally standing up for NCIS from the other agencies.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“MY point is that we cannot just investigate the crimes that we want to,” McGee explains to Tony as Gibbs leads me into the squad room.  
“McGee’s right. Does anybody have a problem with that?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“No, boss, it’s just,” Tony attempts to defend himself and what his problem is.  
“Just what, Tony?” I ask him, what’s his problem at the moment? Normally he’s right into investigating every case, not just the easy ones.  
“Some days this job really sucks.”  
“Yeah? Well, it’s about to get worse. Ziva, you and Tony are with Sacks on this one,” Gibbs informs them.  
“Doing what?”  
“Coming up with a list of people who want him dead,” I inform Tony slowly, isn’t that common sense or just me.  
“Besides everyone in this room?” Ziva asks me.  
“Except for Mc-Lawyer over there,” Tony takes a dig at McGee.  
“Tony, all I was saying,” McGee attempts to defend himself.  
“Go check on Abby. See if she needs any help,” Gibbs orders McGee before turning to Fornell who is walking into the squad room, “Running a little late today, are we, Tobias?”  
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Fornell demands.  
“Oh, only slightly more than a lot. Come on,” Gibbs orders Fornell.  
“What?”   
“Dad’s got something for us,” I inform him as we enter the elevator again. We ride the elevator in silence this time, we’ve got a killers’ killer to catch and not just to piss off the FBI.  
“There wasn’t any recoverable tissue from any of the remains. All four bodies were completely stripped to the bone,” Ducky informs us as we walk into autopsy.  
“Yes, I can see that, Duck. How long were they in the ground?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Shallow graves. Exposed to the elements. All four women could have been there, oh, decades, or for as little as six months,” Ducky informs us.  
“Poor girls. They need names to go home,” I mumble as I look at them.  
“We know it’s got to be at least five years,” Fornell snaps at Ducky.  
“Do we, Tobias?” Ducky demands of him.  
“Do you have prof it was him or is this like arresting Tony and Ziva?” I ask Fornell.  
“Yes! Unless Bright figured out a way to climb in and out of that smoke stack,” Fornell informs us while ignoring me.  
“For what it’s worth, I agree with you. But down here we deal in facts,” Ducky agrees with Fornell without answering my question either.  
“Meaning you don’t know?” I ask Ducky.  
“Well, not yet.”  
“You couldn’t have told me that on the phone, Duck?” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Yes, I could have, Jethro. But that’s not the reason I asked you down here. I took the liberty of reviewing the profile that the F.B.I. prepared on our serial killer eight years ago. In order to disguise his predatory nature, Bright had to be methodical precise, cautious almost to a fault.”  
“You point?” Fornell asks him.  
“Well, if the F.B.I.’s finest,” Ducky begins making me laughter, FBI’s finest is a bit like saying an honest pick pocketer, Ducky continues, “Couldn’t get him, it makes me wonder who did?”  
“He knew his killer. That’s good work, Ducky,” Gibbs informs us before leaving to ring Tony, I follow Gibbs out, leaving Fornell with Ducky and the victims.  
“That’s scary. A killer knowing a killer,” I say to Gibbs as he answers his phone.  
“DiNozzo… concentrate on the high school. Someone there had to have a personal connection to Bright. Find him.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Do you mind? Your breath’s taking the starch out of my collar,” Tony hisses at Sacks as we walk into the squad room.  
“What have we got?” Gibbs and Fornell demand in unison.  
“Um, the teaching staff’s still present from five years ago. All claim not to have known Bright,” Ziva reports.  
“Well, if they murdered the guy and stuffed him down the chimney, that’s not surprising,” Fornell informs her.  
“Tony?” Gibbs turns to his other agent as we walk into the squad room.  
“Running down a list of substitutes who used to teach back then,” Tony reports to him next.  
“His wife’s a teacher. Third grade. See if she ever worked at Puller,” I offer a possible suspect.  
“We check for Brights already, boss. There are none.”  
“Check her maiden name,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Her maiden name is Burris, Tony,” Ziva informs him.  
“Burris. B.U.R… okay, got one git. Karen Burris. Subbed for social studies and Western History in two thousand and one. Social security number listed is the same as Bright’s wife!” Tony informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Karen, you were a substitute at Lieutenant General Lewis Puller High School,” Gibbs states as we walk into the integration room were the victim’s wife is.  
“I’ve… I’ve worked at a lot of schools in the area. What does that have to so with this?” Karen demands of us in confusion.  
“Considering we found your husband petrified in the chimney there? Quite a bit,” Fornell informs her.  
“Karen, we know this is hard. But we’re here to help. And it’s important that you tell us the truth. Please,” I beg of her as I place an hand on her arm in comfort.  
“When did you find out?” Fornell demands of her.  
“Find out?” Karen asks in confusion.  
“That your loving husband… was murdering women who looked just like you.”  
“I told you. My husband didn’t do those things.”  
“He removed the toes from their left feet. We think that you know why. Would you mind taking off your shoe and showing us your left foot?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Please,” Karen cries making me hug her.  
“Karen,” Gibbs says making her hold out her left foot and Gibbs kneels down to take her shoe off to see she is missing those toes too.  
“Your husband was an evil man,” Fornell informs her.  
“That thing was not my husband! It wasn’t the man I married. It had to be stopped! Don’t you see? I had no other choice,” Karen hisses in anger for her ‘husband.’  
“You could have gone to the police.”  
“And have my children lie the rest of their lives knowing that monster was their father? No! I had to! I had to protect them from it,” Karen cries making me pull her into a hug.  
“But know they have a murder for a mother. And their going to lose you too,” I remind her softly as I hug her tightly, rubbing her back, that must be hard knowing she had to kill her husband and living in fear of being arrested for so many years.  
“Karen, no one should have to live through what you did. Believe me when I tell you that there’s no jury in the wouldn’t that wouldn’t sympathize with you,” Fornell promise her as a pager goes off making Fornell check his own, “it’s not me.”  
“What…? Got it, Abs. thanks,” Gibbs says into the phone before hanging up.  
“Karen, it’s going to be okay. We’re do everything to protect your family, this time,” I promise her.  
“You’ll be okay, Karen. You can get through this,” Fornell promise her.  
“Get away from her, Tobas! Alice, now! The bodies in the yard are not from five years ago,” Gibbs orders us but we don’t move.  
“They’re older?” Fornell asks him.  
“No. they’re more recent than that. Her husband wasn’t the serial killer. She is,” Gibbs corrects us making us quickly move away from her and she gives us a creepy look making me grab Gibbs hand in fear.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’ve got to tell you, Jethro, that was… that was,” Fornell says be can’t find the words as we are sitting in the squad room. Fornell is sitting across the desk facing my desk as Gibbs is sitting behind his desk with his feet kicked up next to his computer, I am sitting on Gibbs legs, and we are all drinking coffee.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums.  
“How in the God’s name could we miss that?”  
“I don’t think God had much to do with it, bowling ball,” I inform him.  
“You know what’s really got me freaked out? If her husband’s body hadn’t gotten hung up going down that chimney five years ago, she’s still be out there. We’d never have caught her.”  
“I can do you one better than that,” Gibbs one ups Fornell.  
“Nah. Can’t top that, Jethro.”  
“What was his fingerprints doing at your crime scene that made you think it was him?” I ask my own question.  
“What was the toe doing in her husband’s stomach?” Gibbs corrects me.


	39. Who is more Subborn? *

*  
“Jethro, stop,” I laugh as he tickles my ribs. He has me pinned on his bed, it’s almost half past one and we’re not sleeping, he’s tickling me like a child because I wouldn’t tell him what he wants to hear. I am wearing Gibbs’ NIS sweatshirt and a pair of nickers that’s it, while Gibbs is wearing a pair of sweat pants and an old USMC sweatshirt.  
“Say it,” Gibbs orders me without stopping.  
“No,” I gasp out as I try to wiggle away from him. But all my wiggling does is raise my shirt, allowing Gibbs to slide his hand under it onto my bare skin.  
“Alice, if you say it, I’ll stop.”  
“No… no… no, stop.”  
“Say it.”  
“Okay, okay… I love you,” I gasp out making him finally stop tickling me.  
“See baby, that wasn’t so hard,” Gibbs teases me as he places a kiss on my lips before informing me, “I love you too. Even if you’re so stubborn.”  
“You’re one to talk, stubborn, old man,” I inform him as I lean up and kiss him again, but this time I run my tongue across his lips, making him open them. He lowers his hands from my ribs to my waist, holding me in place as he begins to control the kiss. I wrap my hands around his neck, grabbing a handful of his hair to pull him closer to me, deepening the kiss. I run my hand down his back and under his shirt, so I can feel his strong back.  
“Alice, we should go to sleep,” Gibbs mumble as he drops his head into my neck where he begins to kiss on it.  
“Mm-hmm. Old, stubborn men need their sleep,” I tease them making Gibbs mumble something against my neck, but I can’t understand it because he suddenly moves his hand up my torso and to my left breast which he flicks his long fingers over my nipple.  
“You keep mouthing off and I’ll put that pretty mouth to use so you can’t,” Gibbs threatens me, but I just moan at the feeling which he is creating in my body. Gibbs uses his second hand to work my shirt up and over my breast. He stops playing with my chest and makes me lift my upper body off and pulling my shirt off for him as he removes his own shirt. Once his shirt is off, he returns his hand to my breast and his mouth this time as well, making me moan.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out. I run my hand down his back as he sucks on my breasts. I run my hand around his waist and rub the budging lump in his sweatpants. I use my second hand to pull Gibbs up to my face and kiss him again.   
“Baby, you keep rubbing that I’ll finish fast then a teenager,” Gibbs warns me making groan at him as he removes me hand from his cock.  
“Why are you teasing me? You do that at all day at work,” I complain to him as I quickly place a kiss on his lips.  
“Get those pants off and I’ll stop teasing you,” Gibbs promise me making me node as I remove my pants quickly. Gibbs also removes his pants before laying against me again. Gibbs continues, “Let’s see how wet you are baby?” that’s all the warning I get before Gibbs runs his finger throw my pussy lips making me gasp out in surprise. He raises his finger to his lips and suck it clean before returning his hand to my pussy lips and begin pushing his first finger into me, and I moan in pleasure as he begins to pump it in and out slowly, teasingly slowly.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out as he teases me.  
“What? I’m not doing anything,” Gibbs teases me making me moan at him.  
“More,” I beg of his as I grab his arm and hold it tightly.  
“More what?” Gibbs tease me.  
“More… move faster,” I gasp out as I raise my hips, and beginning to hump his fingers until he uses his other hand to hold my hips down.  
“Ask properly, and nicely,” Gibbs orders me.  
“Jethro… please, please move faster, Jethro, please,” I beg of him, he’s teasing me and it’s not far.  
“See, that wasn’t so hard,” Gibbs teases me before finally speeding up his fingers inside my pussy as he adds a second one.   
“Oh god,” I gasp out as he hits the spot inside me making me grip his arm tighter.   
“You like that baby? You want to cum,” Gibbs teases me as he continues to finger me, but I grab his hand to stop his hand.  
“I want you inside of me. Please,” I beg of him making him smile at me before he slowly moves on top of me without hurting me.  
“What ever my girl wants, she gets,” Gibbs promises me as he grips his cock and lines it up with my pussy before slowly pushing in, making us both groan in pleasure. Once he pushes his whole cock inside of me, he comes to a stop, allowing me to get used to the feeling of his girth. He whispers into my ear, “Let me know when you’re ready for me to move, baby.”  
“Jethro, please,” I beg of him after a moment making him begin to pull back and thrust back into me, making me moan in pleasure as Gibbs groans.  
“You’re always so tight. How are you still so tight?” Gibbs asks me before leaning down and kissing my lips. He begins to move faster as he deeply kissing me, the kiss slightly messy but we don’t care. After a moment I break the kiss to kiss down Gibbs delicious neck until I find the spot that makes him groan and lose his pattern of thrusting. When I find that spot I begin to gently bite and suck on it, leaving a mark so everyone knows he’s mine.  
“Alice, baby,” Gibbs gasp out as he slides a hand down my body and to rub my clitoris making me moan and lose my ability of sucking on his lovely neck.  
“Jethro, I’m going to cum” I gasp out as I cum around his cock.  
“Alice, baby. You squeeze me so tightly. I’m going to cum,” Gibbs warns me before cumin inside of me making me gasp. As he comes down, Gibbs drops on top of me as he catches his breath before rolling off of me.  
“Wow. Never gets old,” I inform Gibbs as I roll over to look at his beautiful, just fucked face.  
“Good,” Gibbs exclaims.  
“But there’s one drawback. Your water bill is going to be huge,” I complain as I pull a face that I’m covered in sweat.  
“Nah, it’s down. Don’t have to use it as much after spending the day perving on my partner,” Gibbs admits making me blush, that’s hot and a great compliment.  
“Really. I made you have to do that?” I ask him in surprise.  
“Mm-hmm. Don’t be so surprised.”  
“Well, have you seen the other people at the office, and it’s me,” I exclaim in surprise as I snuggle into Gibbs’ sweaty chest happily.  
“Well, you’re sexy and don’t have a problem standing up for the right thing. Even when it’s against Fornell,” Gibbs teases me again, or still.  
*  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro,” I exclaim as he suddenly opens the shower curtain, scaring me. I didn’t hear him wake up or enter the room.  
“Alice,” Gibbs tease me as he steps into the shower behind me.  
“What are you doing?”   
“Saving water. You’re the one who said my bill is going to be too big,” Gibbs says innocently before he grabs my waist pulling me against his chest.  
“No, you just want to be a pervert,” I correct him as I attempt to get out of his hands.  
“That’s Tony. Not me,” Gibbs defends himself as I get out of his hold and turn around to place a kiss on his lips.  
“It’s both of you,” I correct him as I move away from him and grabbing a shampoo to wash my hair,  
“Let me,” Gibbs orders me as he takes the shampoo to wash my hair for me. He puts a fair about of shampoo onto his hand as I turn around to allow him access to my hair. He gently rubs the shampoo into my hair and cleans it for me.   
“Thank you,” I say to him as he massages my head.  
“Baby, you should get a haircut.”  
“No.”  
“You don’t have to cut it all off. Maybe just a trim, neatening it up. Make it all the same length and pretty,” Gibbs explains to me softly.  
“I like it.”  
“I like it too, I just read somewhere that a regular hair cuts help to keep it healthy, so you don’t have to cut it off because it gets damaged,” Gibbs explains to me his reasoning to me.  
“I’ll think about it,” I mumble but I don’t know if I can do that.  
“That’s all I want you to do. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Gibbs whispers to me.  
“It’s stupid, Jethro,” I mumble as I turn around and snuggle into his chest.  
“Baby, what is it?”   
“The last time I cut my hair, Kate sat me down at the table and did it herself. I don’t know if I can trust someone else to do it. Kate is the only one I have trusted to cut my hair for years.”  
“I’ll help you find someone trustworthy,” Gibbs promise me before he gets me to wash the shampoo out of my hair and he begins on the conditioner.  
“I know you will,” I mumble as I enjoy the feeling of his hands in my hair, helping me take care of my favourite part of my body.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs mumbles as he removes his hands from my hair before I grab the soap and rub it over his body, cleaning him as I leave the conditioner in my hair for a moment.  
We finish showing and get out without continuing what Gibbs joined me for, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He happily gets dressed and makes his way down to the basement to work on something and it’s not the boat because he’s removed that from down there and I missed how he did it, unfortunately.  
I get dressed into a pair of sweatpants and an old sweatshirt. I then make my way down to the lounge room to watch TV and read a book in the silence, enjoying a rare day off.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, you hungry?” I ask him as I walk downstairs to see him sitting at the work bench working on a small bit of wood.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums as I walk over to him and lean on his back watching him make a tiny boat out of the piece of wood.  
“What do you want to eat?” I ask him.  
“Don’t know.”  
“We have some steak you can cook, and I can make some sides,” I offer to him.  
“Mm-hmm. That sounds good,” Gibbs agrees with me as he puts the wood down and stands up as I stop leaning on him.  
“Come on then, let’s make food to eat,” I exclaims as I pull him upstairs by his hand.  
“You planned this,” Gibbs releases when he sees the steak already out and the vegetable are almost ready to eat already.  
“Well, I was hungry and it’s the only food you have in your fridge still. You need to buy food,” I complain making Gibbs laugh because he knows I’m not going to buy it for him but he’s also not going to buy it.  
“Yeah, yeah,” Gibbs mumbles as he takes the steak to cook on the fire in the lounge room.  
“I’m just saying,” I tease him as I check the sides as Gibbs begins cooking.  
“I know you are. And I don’t see why we can’t just have takeout,” Gibbs comments.  
“Well, you’re almost out of coffee so you have to go shopping anyway,” I remind him making him laugh at that because I have him by his addiction.  
“Okay, I’ll buy some food when I get more coffee,” Gibbs laughs at me as I lean against the doorway between the kitchen and the lounge room watching Gibbs cook.


	40. Driven *

“Lights please. From the video presentation, it’s clear that sexual harassment can take many forms in the work place. A co-worker with ‘elevator eyes’ looking you up and down. A co-worker shows you a cartoon or photo of sexual nature,” Taylor, the sexual harassment lady, lectures us about well sexual harassment. We couldn’t find a case this time, so we’re spread out around the room. Tony is sitting beside McGee and Ziva is sitting behind Tony. Abby is near McGee, while Gibbs is standing next to McGee and I am standing in front of Gibbs with his arms around me, holding me against his chest. And Shepard is sitting on the printer desk next to Gibbs.  
“IF you’re lucky,” Tony says to McGee making me smirk, he’s not going to get that, ever. Taylor keeps glaring at Gibbs and me but we’re here, we’re not going to stand apart to make her happy.  
“A co-worker’s hand accidentally brushes up against your body,” Taylor adds as she pointedly looks at Gibbs’ arm around my chest and resting on my hip.  
“If you’re really lucky,” Ziva teases Tony.  
“Physical contact can be divided into three categories. Green light includes normal behaviour. Yellow light includes borderline behaviour such as hugging someone or,” Taylor continues as Abby stands up and Shepard gives a look, but Gibbs just looks back patiently. Taylor asks Abby, “Yes?”  
“What’s wrong with hugging people? I hug people all the time!” Abby exclaims in confusion.  
“You may see it as friendly, but your co-workers may find it offensive,” Taylor explains.  
“You guys get offended when I hug you?” Abby asks us in surprise and in fear that she offended us.  
“No,” we all answer her.  
“I’m hugging you all in my mind right now,” Abby informs us as she places both hands of her chest.  
“D.O.D. policy is very clear about this point, miss. You must first ask permission before making physical contact with a co-worker,” Taylor informs Abby.  
“Like… every time?”  
“Yes. And finally, there’s red light behaviour such as deliberate, unwelcomed, touching,” Taylor explains right before Ziva sticks her tongue in Tony’s ear, making his shout and jump to his feet. Taylor demands of him, “Another question?”  
“Yeah. What is you slap someone in the back of the head like this?” Tony asks before smacking McGee on the back of the head and McGee returns the action by hitting Tony in the balls making Tony gasp in pain before continuing his question, “Would that be considered an inappropriate behaviour?”  
“Absolutely. Are you saying that this has actually happened?” Taylor demands of Tony making him look at Gibbs who just glares back.  
“No, I was just wondering. That’s all.”  
“Yes?” Taylor asks Jimmy who has his hand in the air instead of standing up and asking the question.  
“Uh, yes. Uh… what if part of your job,” Jimmy begins.  
“Gibbs,” Gibbs answers his ringing phone and turning away from Taylor to listen to a maybe case.   
“…includes touching naked people, and…”  
“That’s inappropriate at any time,” Taylor snaps at Jimmy.  
“Even if they’re dead?”  
“Why are you touching dead, naked people?”  
“You see, I work in autopsy.”  
“Can we try to keep this discussion focused on the topic?”  
“Gear up!” Gibbs orders us before turning to Shepard and informing her, “Navy Lieutenant’s been found dead in an R and D facility in Fairfax.”  
“Wait, I can’t mark you as attending unless you’re here for all of it,” Taylor calls after us as we leave the room.  
“So, you want us to waste our time, sitting around here as a killer gets away because we might touch someone inappropriately. No, I think we’re go because NCIS rule is we don’t have to attend if we have an active case. This one is active,” I inform her.  
“Uh, miss Taylor, Todd is correct, but I will take excellent notes for them,” Shepard agrees with me.  
“Okay,” Taylor says.  
“Sorry, Abs. can’t spring you this time,” I apologize to my friend before we leave.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Dad wouldn’t be here. He’s got to take Mrs Mallard to the hospital,” I inform Gibbs and Jimmy at the crime scene that is in a garage.  
“IS Victoria all right?” Jimmy asks me in surprise.  
“Well, she cut herself shaving.”  
“And for some reason, he thinks you can handle this, Palmer,” Gibbs informs Jimmy.  
“Um… what do you think, Agent Gibbs?” Jimmy asks hopefully.  
“Well, I don’t know, Palmer. You got me a T.O.D.?”   
“Yes! According to the liver probes she died two hours and eighteen minutes ago,” Jimmy informs us.  
“Does it tell you how?” I tease him.  
“Actually, the probe only tells you the difference between ambient temperature and… but you already know all this. Uh… tentatively, I’d say she died from hypoxia, Agent Todd.”  
“Carbon monoxide poisoning.”  
“Yeah, most likely. In sixty percent of cases it’s accidental. And the other twenty-nine present – they’re self-inflected.”  
“Well, I’m more concerned with the three percent you left out,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Palmer, he’s talking about the ones deliberately murdered this way,” McGee informs him.  
“How’d she get on the floor?” I ask them in confusion.  
“A co-worker found her in the passenger seat, in there, door still closed and the engine running,” Ziva reports.  
“He drove it out, attempted CRP. Tony’s taking his statement now,” McGee adds.  
“What kind of vehicle is this?” Gibbs asks as he points to the USV that she died in.  
“It is a second-generation, fully-autonomous A-I operated vehicle, boss.”  
“Oh, yeah. I can see that, McGee. I mean, other than the obvious.”  
“Wait, you actually understand that? You know what it does then?” Ziva asks Gibbs in surprise.  
“Yeah. Your basic second-generation, A-I autonomous stuff… where the hell does the driver sit?”  
“That’s the point. There’s isn’t one. It drivers itself.”  
“Boss, A-I stands for artificial intelligence. It’s a robot,” McGee explains to Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’ve known Roni for almost ten years, Agent Gibbs. She was one of my brightest students at M.I.T. an exceptional mind. Light years ahead of her peers when it came to the field of artificial intelligence,” Pike, our victim’s boss, informs us in his office.  
“Machines that can think,” Gibbs asks in confusion.  
“Yes.”  
“So that Humvee can think?” I ask him to conform it.  
“Only about driving. An easy task for you or me, but for a machine it takes millions of calculations a second, and complex reasoning skills.”  
“According to the navy, your thinking car is a joint project with them and Azeon,” Gibbs states.  
“They’ve been very good to us as far as R and D resources go.”  
“Meaning money?” I ask him.  
“And lieutenant Seabrook’s time.”  
“We’re going to need your security tapes and access logs that you keep, doctor,” Gibbs informs him.  
“She wasn’t even supposed to be here this morning, Agent Gibbs. She worked late last night. I… I gave her the morning off.”  
“She didn’t take it. She died in your garage zero six forty this morning,” I remind him.  
“She must have come in to run a test. She’s… was a perfectionist. Never satisfied. Traits I’m afraid I encouraged her in.”  
“Sitting in a running vehicle inside an enclosed space is not a bright idea.”  
“Trust me, Agent Todd. Roni was not the type to kill herself.”  
“What type was she, doctor?” Gibbs demands of him, everyone can be the type to kill themselves.  
“Driven.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do we got, Duck?” Gibbs asks Ducky as we walk into autopsy.  
“Oh, Mister Palmer’s initial assumption was correct. Lieutenant Seabrook died of carbon monoxide poisoning,” Ducky informs us.  
“Tell us something we don’t know,” I ask him.  
“The levels of CO in her blood – five times the fatal dose. Yes, she was probably rendered unconscious in less than thirty seconds.”  
“Not possible unless she was,” Gibbs begins.  
“She was breathing in the exhaust fumes directly from the tailpipe.”  
“Or someone pumped it into the vehicle,” I add.  
“Which makes sense in light of what else I found. Evidence of assault. Look at her wrists. They’re bruised,” Ducky informs us as he shows us bruising.  
“She was restrained,” Gibbs and I say together.  
“And I also found what appeared to be bite marks on her inner thighs and back.”  
“Run a rape kit please,” I ask Ducky hopefully.  
“I did. That’s when I found this. An intrauterine device. More commonly know as an IU.D.,” Ducky informs me as he shows us the contraceptive device.  
“IS it just me, or does anyone else wonder how they get those ol’ things in there?” Jimmy asks us and we all give him a disgusted look making him add after a moment of silence, “That probably sounded a lot more inappropriate than I meant.”  
“Do you think, Palmer?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“As I was saying, when I ran the rape kit, I found, I found fresh male genetic material from last night or early this morning. Abby’s running the samples now. I also found of engine oil and a particular kind of lotion on her hair and skin.”  
“The main ingredient was pumice,” Jimmy informs us.  
“Grease-monkey soap,” Gibbs states what that is.  
“Yeah, except her nails and hands are clean. The skin is soft, no calluses to speak of,” Ducky informs us.  
“Not her soap. Maybe her playmates,” I offer to him.  
“Maybe. She certainly wasn’t a regular user.”  
“Thanks, Duck,” Gibbs says to Ducky making me through my hands in the air, yes, he said thanks to someone. We leave Jimmy to Ducky as we leave into the elevator where Gibbs asks me, “What’s with the celebration?”  
“You said it. You finally said it. You THANKED someone. Know you have to say please and we’ve made it, and the world is ending,” I explain to him making him smirk at me before I hug him.  
“Didn’t you learn anything this morning, you’re not allowed to hug people without asking permission, young lady,” Gibbs teases me.  
“If I can suck your dick without asking, I can hug you without asking.”  
“I think I’d like the first one more,” Gibbs continues to tease me.  
“Oh no. You’re in trouble and aren’t getting anything but a hug for a long time,” I tease him back as the door opens and we walk out and over to the squad room.  
“Lieutenant Seabrook wasn’t alone at Azeon last night, boss,” Tony reports as we walk into the squad room.  
“She was with a mechanic,” Gibbs informs them as we walk to our desks.  
“Yeah. The Azeon security cameras caught it.”  
“And there was evidence she was,” Ziva begins.  
“Sexual assaulted? Dad this she was raped,” I inform them.  
“Yeah, check this out,” Tony says to us before playing the video on the plasma screen between McGee and his desk, the mechanic attacking our victim as she works on the car. He grabs her arms and manhandles her.  
“You got a warrant yet?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“Yeah. Right here. Name’s Jamie Jones. Ziva and I were going to pick him up,” Tony reports.  
“Not anymore. You’re processing the Lieutenant’s apartment.”  
“Boss, what about me?” McGee asks Gibbs.  
“You get with Abby. CO levels in that vehicle were off the chart. You find out how he did it!” Gibbs orders him before we leave.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This is completely unacceptable. When do we get our vehicle back?” Engler, one of our victim’s co-workers, demand of us in the main lab on their base.  
“When we’re done with it,” I answer him.  
“Doing what?”  
“Figuring out how it was used to kill Lieutenant Seabrook,” Gibbs answers him.  
“Are all NCIS agents this stupide?”  
“Mister Engler! Insulting our guest won’t bring Otto back here any sooner,” Pike orders his worker.  
“Of course. My apologies. How long will it take for you to figure out Roni killed herself, Agent Gibbs, Todd?”  
“Who said she killed herself?” I ask him.  
“She was the only one done here this morning!”  
“You mean except for you?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Torsten, take a break. I’ll handle this,” Pike orders him.  
“You’d better, Russell. Their jeopardizing the entire future of this company,” Engler hisses before storming off like a child.  
“What he was trying to say was that this proof of concept test is make or break time for us, Agent Gibbs, Todd.”  
“Reschedule it,” Gibbs states.  
“I tried. The D.O.D won’t budge on the dates. Dozens of teams are flying in from all over the world!”  
“Then you’d better help us find Lieutenant Seabrook’s killer. Where’s your chief mechanic?” I ask him.  
“Jamie? No. no, not possible. He got along very well with Roni. They were very good friends.”  
“We have video of him sexually assaulting her last night in this very garage,” I inform him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We calmly walk into the NCIS garage, but we quickly see Abby is stuck Otto the car and McGee isn’t paying attention. we quickly run over to the car and I pull on the handle, but it’s locked, and Abby’s locked inside with the CO gas.  
“IT won’t open! The kill switch,” Aby gasp out while pointing to the kill switch she can’t reach. Gibbs runs over to the wall and hits the emergency alarm before taking the fire extinguisher from the wall. The alarm making McGee look around to see Abby in trouble, now. Gibbs runs back over to the driver’s window and warns Abby.  
“Cover your face!” Gibbs orders her making Abby cover her face and he smashes the drivers window, allowing him to hit the emergency kill button. I rip the door open the second Gibbs hits the button and unclip Abby. I pull her out as Gibbs makes his way back around the car. I hug Abby as Gibbs finally gets around the car and wraps his arms around us both.  
“Permission to hug!” Abby gasp out, remembering the lecture she got earlier today.  
“You know you never have to ask, Abby,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“Are you alright?” I ask her as I look at her sickly white face. She scared me.  
“What happened?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Get the chair!” Gibbs orders him making McGee fetch us a chair to sit Abby into.  
“I almost bought the farm, McGee! I saw that old lady telling me to run to the light,” Abby informs him angrily, he’s lack attention almost cost her, her life.  
“Boss, my back was only turned for a few seconds,” McGee defends himself.  
“A few more seconds, McGee, and we’ll be going to another funeral,” I snap at him as I hug Abby again.  
“Are you okay?” Gibbs asks Abby.  
“Yeah. Really light headed,” Abby answers him as the elevator’s door open.  
“Boss! Evidence cage called in an emergency!” Tony informs us.  
“It was me, DiNozzo. Stand down,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“You attacked a car?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“That car almost killed Abby. Something even Ari didn’t get close to doing,” I snap at Ziva, the car had it coming.  
“I think there was a short. When I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt, it pinned me back and the windows shut, and the engine started. It triggered all the doors in the car to lock. And then the whole cabin filled up with exhaust. A few minutes more I would have been singing hymns with angels right now,” Abby informs them.  
“Abby, I’d have noticed before then,” McGee promise her, but I don’t belief him.  
“Then I would have hugged you, McGee.”  
“So, Lieutenant Seabrook was killed by a malfunction?” Tony asks them.  
“Too many variables,” McGee comments.  
“If it was a short circuit or a problem with the programming or anything like that, why is it only showing up know? Why not one of the other times that they tested it? Why do close to the final tested date?” I ask them as I rub Abby’s back.  
“It was deliberate,” Gibbs simplifies what I just said.  
“The lieutenant was set to look like suicide,” Ziva adds.  
“I think it’s time we had a heart-to-heart with Jones, boss,” Tony adds.  
“How’d he do it?” Gibbs demands but McGee doesn’t respond making Gibbs almost yell, “IT’s not a damn quiz, McGee! Find out!”  
“On it,” McGee exclaims.  
“What’d you say to Jones?”  
“Nothing. He’s been asking about Lieutenant Seabrook, acting like she’s still alive,” Tony reports to us.  
“Come on. Dad’s checking you out,” I order Abby as I pull her too her feet.  
“I’m fine. I just,” Abby begins.  
“It’s not a request, Abby.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Look, this is all just a big misunderstanding, Agent Gibbs. All you have to do is call one phone number, man,” Jones informs Gibbs in integration room as Gibbs passes in circles as I sit across from him and glare at him.  
“Lawyer,” I demand of him as I slam my phone down on the table.  
“No,” Jones answers me as he stands up.  
“Roni. Look, I know what it must look like back at her apartment. But,” Jones begins as he stands up.  
“Lieutenant Seabrook’s your girlfriend now?” Gibbs demands of him as he slams Jones back into his chair.  
“Yeah. We’ve been together for a few. Years. We started dating maybe six months back.”  
“Dating?”   
“Yeah,” Jones answers Gibbs making me play the video of him attacking her on the TV screen.  
“What’s that look like to you?” I demand of him.  
“IT’s a stupid game, man. Only when we’re alone,” Jones exclaims as he drops his head in shame.  
“You like games, Jones?” Gibbs demands of him as he leans into his personal space.  
“We’re just role-playing, all right? It’s not like we’re freaks. Come on, man. Am I going to lose my security clearance over this?” Jones demands as he Gibbs turns around to stare at the TV making Jones do it together.  
“Hey! You almost killed my friend today. Your security clearance is the least of your concern,” I yell at him as I bash my hand onto the table between us, making him jump before looking at me.  
“What?”  
“That damn Humvee you used to kill Lieutenant Seabrook!”  
“Roni? What the hell are you talking about?”  
“Roni is downstairs, Jones, on a steel slab!” Gibbs informs him as I show him the photo of her in autopsy on the table.  
“This is one of her jokes, right…? Is she behind the glass? Huh,” Jones demands of us. He then turns to the window and shouts, “Because if you are, Roni, this isn’t funny… Roni? Tell me that’s not her.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He’s telling the truth,” Ziva informs us in the observation room.  
“Just a quick test run and she’s coming right back to him?” I ask her in disbelief as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, Gibbs… Right with you Abs,” Gibbs says into his phone before leading me out of the observation room, and down to the lab where McGee has found something to solve the case.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The reason that we couldn’t find how they hacked the AI program was they didn’t,” McGee informs us as we enter the lab.  
“They snuck in before the system was even online,” Abby informs us.  
“Makes sense,” I node along with them.  
“There were a series of commands inserted into the flash memory of the bios at boot-up,” McGee reports to us.  
“They waited until the condition were met, and then BAM! Killer-car syndrome,” Abby exclaims.  
“Once executed, it purged from memory. The only trace left, an extra space on one of the motherboard’s bio chips.”  
“I figured it’d be something like that,” Gibbs states making Abby laugh at him.  
“Right. Um… we know the program was flashed from a physical device that was tied into the system,” Abby informs us.  
“Memory stick, SD card. We just need to find it,” McGee adds.  
“When we do, we’ll have the killer code ad a clue to who write it,” Abby continues but Gibbs walks over to my camera that I left in the lab yesterday making Abby informs McGee, “I think we lost him. We need to try it again, but slower.”  
“So, what you’re saying, for example, we need to find something this small in a Humvee jammed with twenty-two million dollars’ worth of electronics?” Gibbs asks them as he holds up the SD card he removes my SD card out of my camera.  
“Pretty much,” McGee agrees with him in surprise.  
“We’re screwed,” I comment in annoyance, why couldn’t it be easy and quick?  
“That is an excellent point,” Abby agrees with me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Still not Tony. Abby, I think I found it… that’s it. That’s the kill program,” McGee exclaims as he finds it on the computer in the from the SD card that he found in the fuel compartment, as they are in the NCIS garage. They have pulled the complete car apart; all the technology and seats are spread over the fool.  
“Yes!” Abby exclaims.  
“That’s a good job. Now put it back together,” Gibbs orders them as we walk up behind them.  
“As in now,” I add when they just stare at us.  
Gibbs, Alice, what’s the rush?” Abby asks us in confusion.  
“The director just assured the secretary of navy we were handling this thing with kid gloves,” Gibbs informs them.  
“Well, we didn’t get that memo! Because, you know, we’re wearing latex.”  
“Well, they want a team from Azeon to come by and check and make sure we didn’t break anything on it,” I explain to her.  
“When?” McGee asks us.  
“Two hours,” Gibbs answers them.  
“Boss, it took us ten just to take it apart!” McGee reminds us as the elevator opens.  
“Yeah, that’s why we brought you help,” I explain to them as I point to Jones.  
“And Roni would be in tears if she saw Otto like this,” Jones informs them.  
“Can you do it or not, Jones?” I demand of him.  
“Does it have to run?”  
“It’s be nice,” Gibbs answers him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“IF you’ve discovered the problem with the vehicle we can fix it,” Engler says to us in the director’s office, with Pike, Shepard, Gibbs and myself, buying time for Abby, McGee and Jones.  
“IT wasn’t a problem. It was sabotage,” I correct them.  
“By whom?”  
“An expert in artificial intelligence,” Shepard inform them.  
“Then it wasn’t Jamie,” Pike exclaims.  
“IT must be one of the companies we’re competing against. They… they know that they can’t beat us in a fair fight,” Engler exclaims confidently.  
“The whiner of the drive-off gets the entire D.O.D contract, director Shepard. Not just the Navy’s.”  
“The Navy’s banking on you, Doctor,” Shepard reminds him as Gibbs phone begins ringing. She continues to lay it on thick, “IT’s why I’ve agreed to the Secretary’s request that you visually inspect Otto.”  
“When?” Engler demands of us.  
“Right now, if you’d like. Agent Gibbs, would you mind escorting us?” Shepard answers him when Gibbs nodes, letting us know it’s time. We all head down to the garage to see that Otto is missing now. What?  
“Where is Otto?” Engler demands of us.  
“Gibbs?” Shepard demands of us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We have let a robot-killer Humvee loose on the streets of Washington!” Shepard complains in the squad room.  
“Uh, technically, director, it’s a second generation, full autonomous,” McGee begins to correct her.  
“I don’t care what it’s called! Find it! Fast!” Shepard cuts him off.  
“You should. How can you kiss up to the owners when you don’t even know its name?” I tease her.  
“BOLO. On it, boss,” Ziva jumps into action.  
“I’ll take the beltway,” Tony exclaims as he jumps into action too.  
“Abby and I will see if we can access Otto’s system remotely,” McGee adds.  
“I think I might be able to help with that,” Jones offers.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Clear!” Ziva exclaims as we search around Otto next to the road in the woods where Abby, McGee and Jones located the car.  
“They took our chips, boss?” McGee informs us after checking the chip hole.  
“When I told you to put this car back together, I didn’t mean put it back together with he only piece of evidence we had on the killer,” Gibbs yells at him.  
“I didn’t. we put in a copy. Abby’s got the original. Otto has five stereo cameras. Hoping one of hem got a picture of our guy,” McGee comments.  
“Good thinking, McGee,” I complement him on the SD card as we search he cameras for the guy that stole Otto out of our garage.  
“Well, we’re definitely dealing with someone on the inside. They knew where all of Otto’s cameras were,” Tony complains.  
“The only picture I got is this,” McGee informs us as he shows us a blurry photo.  
“That thing takes worse pictures than you do, McGee,” Tony teases him.  
“They went to a lot of trouble to get the chip back. Why?” Gibbs demands what we’re all thinking.  
“Well, like you said, it’s the only evidence we have,” McGee reminds him.  
“They know we can link it to them. How?” I ask him.  
“Well, there weren’t any prints on the surface. The program’s in assembly language. I’, not sure,” McGee rambles as my phone rings.  
“Yeah, Alice,” I answer it.  
“I back-traced the connection used to activate Otto. They’re in Azeon’s network. They’re online right now. I even have the,” Abby rambles but I hang up on her as I turn to Gibbs.  
“The car-nappers are activated at Azeon’s right now,” I inform him.  
“Let’s go,” Gibbs orders us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You’re sure about this, Agent Gibbs?” Pike asks us in the main lab in at Azeon.  
“We sure about this, McGee?” Gibbs asks, handing the blame off.  
“Well, Abby gave me the specific IP address for the computer used to access Otto. I’ll know it when I find it,” McGee answers him.  
“Which one was it?” Jones demands as he walks into the room.  
“We’re working on it,” Tony explains to him as a computer beeps from in front of McGee.  
“Boss, IP address matches this one,” McGee explains to us.  
“Engler!” Pike exclaims making Jones punch Engler and continues to attack the other man.  
“You bastard! You killed her!” Jones yells at Engler in pain.  
“Get him off me,” Engler shouts at us.  
“What’s the matter? You couldn’t share the limelight?” Jones exclaims as I pull him off Engler who Tony pulls into his own corner, stopping the fight.  
You were jealous of Roni from the moment you met her,” Pike reminds him.  
“It’s ridiculous! If anything, she was jealous of me! I demand to know what proof you have against me!”  
“This,” Gibbs answers him as he holds up the SD card.  
“A flash chip?”  
“It was used to kill Lieutenant Seabrook,” Tony explains.  
“The one you took from the vehicle was a copy,” Ziva explains to him.  
“Let me… let me se the code. Everyone here has their own specific style. I can tell you with certainty who wrote that one,” Engler begs of us.  
“As can I, Engler. May I?” Pike asks Gibbs, making him hand over the SD card and Pike puts it in his computer. The computer beeps as Pike works at it for a moment before informing us, “You’re mistaken, Agent Gibbs. This chip is blank.”  
“Let him go,” Gibbs orders Tony.  
“Boss?” Tony asks in confusion.  
“Let him go. He’s the one who found Seabrook. If he wanted the chip back, he would have taken it before anyone got there,” I remind them.  
“Doctor pike… the only thing you erased from this chip were my photos. The real chip’s in the evidence locker at NCIS,” Gibbs informs him as he takes the SD card and puts it back into his computer, showing us the empty card.  
“She thought of you like a father!” Jones hisses at Pike.  
“She was supposed to take the morning off, Jamie. It was an accident. I would never, never,” Pike explains away the murder like that changes the facts of him killing her.  
“Who was supposed to drive Otto that morning?” I demand of Pike, worried about who he was trying to kill.  
“Me! You… senile old fool! You were trying to kill me!” Engler exclaims in surprise.  
“I did it for all of us. He owns half the company! When Otto wins that race, we would have been stuck working with him forever! Nobody deserves that! You smug bastard! I never should have brought you in on this! Look, he’s destroying,” Pike rambles his hate on out.  
“If red light is for sexual assaulting a co-worker, what colour is for murder?” Ziva demands of us.  
“Uh, how does black light sound?” Tony asks us.  
“Can’t that’s Abby’s light colour as a warning she’s coming to steal my food,” I correct him before informing him, “How about red and blue? That’s the colour the killer is going to see.”  
“It works for me,” Ziva agrees with me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Hey. It’s late. Go home,” I order Ziva who is working away at her computer in the squad room.  
“Just doing a little research,” Ziva informs me without looking away from the computer.  
“On what?” I ask her as I lean onto the divider next to her desk.  
“Y. pestis. A very nasty illness. It can cause permanent damage to the heart, lungs, and kidneys. And in some cases, patients can relapse months, or even years later. Tony had it.”  
“So, did Alice, at the same time. I was there, Ziva,” I remind her as I put my coat on before grabbing Alice’s coat.  
“Did you know that he had some tests done recently. And he’s been wearing a hospital bracelet on his wrist?”  
“Nope.”  
“I asked him why, but he won’t tell me.”  
“Then he’s probably got a pretty good reason,” I remind her as I leave for the night, meeting Alice in the lobby.  
“Hey, there handsome,” Alice grins at me as she walks over to me.  
“Hey, baby,” I greet her as I help her into her jacket.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
*  
“Alice,” Gibbs mumbles as I kiss down his neck, I am straddling his lap on the coach.  
“Mm-hmm,” I mumble without moving from the spot behind his ear, leaving my mark.  
“Stop that. I’m trying to watch TV,” Gibbs informs me but he’s holding my hips against his, making me suck on his neck in answer to him. I open my mouth slightly and bite his neck, before running my tongue over it to soothe him.  
“Don’t wanna,” I mumble to him as I move my lips away from his neck and up to his lips. Gibbs takes control of the kiss, using his hands to move my hips against his own.  
“Still want me to stop?” I tease him as Gibbs breaks the kiss to kiss down to my neck.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs mumbles against my neck without stopping, as I move against the bulge that si growing in his sweatpants.  
“Didn’t think so,” I state as I use his long hair on top, to pull his mouth back to mine for another heated kiss. He sucks my lower lip into his mouth and gently bites it before soothing it with his tongue. I slide my hand down his back to rest on his shoulders and Gibbs raises one hand from my hip to cup my left breast in his hand. He rubs the nipple through my, his, NIS sweatshirt that I am wearing.  
“You are wearing too much clothing, baby,” Gibbs informs me as he breaks the kiss again without removing his hand from my breast.  
“I’m not the only one,” I gasp out between my heavy breaths.  
“Tit for tat,” Gibbs offers me as he helps me out of the sweatshirt, leaving me in just a pair of cute little red panties. Gibbs removes his hands from my body so that he can remove his own sweatshirt that he is wearing, leaving him in a pair of sweatpants.  
I lean forward and kiss him again, leaning our bare chests together making me groan at the feeling of his body against my own.  
“Why don’t we move this to the bedroom?” Gibbs asks me softly as he breaks the kiss again.  
“Mm-hmm,” I agree with him but before I can get up, Gibbs stands up with me in his arm. He has his hands under my ass, holding me in place making me wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck so he doesn’t drop me. I gasp out in surprise, “Jethro, put me down. I can walk myself.”  
“Let me think about it… no,” Gibbs answers me as he begins walking towards the stairs.  
“Put me down. I don’t want you to hurt your knee,” I beg of him.  
“It’s fine,” Gibbs informs me as he walks up the stairs.  
“Jethro,” I whine.  
“Be quiet or I’ll have to punish you.”  
“Jethro,” I begin but he cuts me off by pinning my body to the wall at the top of the stairs and kisses me, this time I don’t even have time to tease him, he just forces his way into my mouth so that I know who is in control at the moment.  
“I said to be quiet,” Gibbs reminds me as he breaks the kiss and begins walking down the hall to the master bed room. He walks into the master bedroom and drops me onto his bed with a smirk.   
“I don’t like that smirk,” I inform Gibbs, I know he’s planning something.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums innocently before suddenly grabbing the hem of my panties before pulling them down and off before I can react.  
“Jethro,” I laugh as I attempt to move away from him, but he pins me to his bed with his work rough hands.   
“Where do you think you’re going?” Gibbs asks me as he drops his head to kiss my lower stomach, just about where I wanted him to be.  
“Nowhere,” I answer him making Gibbs hum at me again as he rubs his hand down my right leg to the knee and back up, teasing me.  
“That’s what I thought,” Gibbs mumbles against my stomach as he continues to kiss it. He runs his hand up my leg again and this time he lightly runs it between my lower lips without truly touching it, making me moan from the contacted but also in disappointment that it’s not more, yet.  
“Jethro,” I beg of him as he continues to tease me.  
“What?” Gibbs ask me around his smirk, he’s enjoying this.  
“Touch me properly,” I snap at him, why is he teasing me? I only distracted him from his John Wayne, but that doesn’t mean I deserve this.  
“Maybe,” Gibbs mumbles before moving up my body to suck my right nipple into his hot mouth. I moan out in pleasure as he sucks hard onto the nipple, before gently bitting onto it.  
“Jethro,” I whine out making Gibbs finally touch my pussy properly as he runs his fingers from the top of my pussy down to the bottom without really touching where I need him most.  
“Better?” Gibbs asks me as he releases my breast only to move onto the other one, giving it the same treatment as the first.  
“Getting there,” I answer him as he suddenly inserts one of his big fingers into my pussy opening, making me moan in pleasure.  
“Better?” Gibbs teases me, but I can’t think to answer him. He quickly sets up a rhythm of thrusting his finger into my pussy making me moan. Gibbs continues to move his finger as he sucks and bites on my breast before moving his body down my body again until his head ends up in line with my pussy. He moves his head towards my pussy and licks my clitoris making me moan louder and reach down to grip his hair. Gibbs continue to tease my clitoris in time with his thrusting of his finger without helping me get close to cumin quickly, just torturing me with pleasure.  
“Jethro, please,” I beg of him as I pull his hair.  
“Please what baby?” Gibbs asks me, with every word I feel his heated breath on my lower lips making me gasp.  
“Jethro. Please… please… please,” I gasp out without answering him, he’s torturing me.  
“I can’t read your mind, I need you to tell me,” Gibbs reminds me without stopping his teasing.  
“Please, fuck me… please,” I beg of him making him smirk as he works his body back up mine and removing his pants at the same time, leaving him finally naked.  
“Whatever my baby what’s, she gets. But be careful what she wants,” Gibbs informs me as he lines himself up with me and begin to push his rigid cock into my wet pussy making us both moan in pleasure at the contact. I lift my legs and wrap them around his waist, holding him tightly against my body as he rests his weight on his left arm, with a gap between his torso and my own.  
Gibbs stays still until I move my hips up, making him pull out with a groan before thrusting back in. I moan as he quickly begins making a pattern that drives me wild. He slowly pulls his cock halfway out before he thrusted back in with a quick, hard thrust making us both moan loudly.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out in pleasure as he repeats that move.  
“Alice, baby,” Gibbs groans as he moves his right hand to down to use his index and middle finger to rub my clitoris in time with his thrusts.  
“Jethro. Please,” I big of him as he rubs my clitoris, making me climb closure to my climax. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and hold his upper body against mine, trying to get as much contacted as possible, as we both get closure and closure to cumin.  
“Baby, cum,” Gibbs orders me making me moan as I get closure. Gibbs begins thrusting faster, losing his pattern and begins humping me without moving out more than an inch each time making us moan.  
“Jethro… I’m going to cum,” I gasp out as I cum around his cock making Gibbs groan as he cums inside of me at the same time as me cumin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:  
> I wrote this sex sense as I am watching a murder mystery. Why is it that I can only write sex sense if I am watching a murder mystery? And why is it the more gruesome the murder the better the sex sense I write?  
> Sorry, just thinking outload or in this case, on paper


	41. Suspicion

“Ziva, I am not secretive,” McGee exclaims as Ziva and him leave the elevator, arriving at work together for a change.  
“Did you hear, that, Tony? Alice? McGee just said he’s not secretive,” Ziva exclaims as they walk into the squad room where Tony and I are working on paperwork.  
“Hmm, let’s see. Wrote a novel,” Tony begins.  
“Didn’t tell us.”  
“Got it published.”  
“Didn’t tell us.”  
“Made substantial amounts of money from said novel.”  
“Hmm. Didn’t tell us.”  
“Anything else?”  
“Bought a Porsche.”  
“Didn’t tell us. Can you see how some people might begin to think there was a pattern of secretive behaviour emerging here, probie?”  
“Okay, look, I might have been hiding stuff, but it was not secretive. It was just,” McGee attempts to defend himself as he walks over to his own desk.  
“Deceptive?” Ziva offers a word.  
“Sneaky?” Tony offers another.  
“Self-preservation. If I told you guys I was writing a novel, you would have laughed at me,” McGee finish his own sentence.  
“True,” Tony and Ziva agree with him and each other for a change.  
“Besides, everyone has secrets. I’ll bet you two have some doozies.”  
“No,” Tony snaps, too fast making me laugh at him.   
“Of course, not… sex machine,” I tease him making Tony glare at me, he thought that name died with Kate but I’m not letting it go.  
“Ha!” Ziva laughs at Tony, even she knows that’s too fast while trying to work out why I called Tony ‘sex machine’ I’m dating Gibbs not Tony.  
“Ha? What ha. I said no,” Tony hisses at Ziva as he ignores me and his old nickname.  
“You said no too quickly.”  
‘He did, didn’t he?” McGee agrees with Ziva.  
“What dark, dirty little secrets do you have that are making you so uncomfortable?” Ziva teases him and after a moment of silence she adds, “Does she have a name?”  
“Who much air did it take to blow this one up?” I ask Tony next because he seems to only date air heads.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Edenvale? Where the hell is Edenvale?” McGee demands as he uses the plasma screen above my desk.  
“Keep scrolling, probie,” Tony orders McGee.  
“I’m scrolling. I’m telling you, I can’t find it.”  
“It’s not on the map.”  
“Boondocks.”  
“Boondocks, boss,” Tony reports as Gibbs walks over to us.  
“Pack a toothbrush,” Gibbs orders us before offering me a hand that I take, and he pulls me away from his children.  
“What are boondocks?” Ziva asks Tony and McGee in confusion.  
“Da-da-da da da da da da da,” Tony sings.  
“Da-da-da da da da da da da,” McGee sings next.  
“Da-da-da da da da da da da,” Tony sings.  
“Da-da-da da da da da da da,” McGee sings next.  
“Da-da-da da da da da da da,” Tony sings.  
“Da-da-da da da da da da da,” McGee sings next.  
“Da-da-da da da da da da da,” Tony and McGee sing together.  
“If you two continue to sing, I’ll tape your mouths shut,” I threaten them as we step into the elevator as a team.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Tony and McGee are singing in the car making me grab my duck-tape and tape Tony’s mouth quickly. Without breaking the tape off the roll, I tape McGee’s mouth shut too, leaving their heads taped together as I side effects. I break the tape off and then decide what the hell and tape Ziva to her own head rest as she sleeps and her hands to McGee’s hands to make it harder for her to escape when she wakes up.  
“I warned you. I did,” I remind them as I put the duck-tape back into my bag for next time I need it for the boys and their annoying ways.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We don’t get a lot of murders out here in Edenvale, Agent Gibbs., it’ got the whole town talking. Well, y’all want to come inside. I’ve set up the conference room for you,” Barrett, the local deputy sheriff, informs us.  
“Crime scene first, sheriff,” Gibbs informs him.  
“That would be the Edenvale Motel – U.S. Twenty-nine. Ten-minute drive. Not much to see up there, though.”  
“Except the crime scene,” Ducky reminds him.  
“Well, yeah. Room right. Shot twice in the chest. Bled out under the door.”  
“Sheriff, the sooner we get to work on the body, the sooner we’ll be out of your way.”  
“You want to work on the body?”  
“Preliminary examination. I’ll do the autopsy back in D.C.”  
“Agent Gibbs, I think we have that you might call a breakdown in communications,” Barrett informs us making blink in surprise. What is going on? He continues, “She was found three days ago. Booked in under a false name. paid cash. No pocketbook, no driver’s license, no vehicle. Took the best part of two days to get her prints up to Washington and processed. Soon as we found out she was a marine, we called you. By that time, Harry had done the autopsy. Harry Lawson. Coroner. He’s a good man.”  
“Well, I’ll bet he is,” I state.  
“Well, he’s also the funeral director and owns the furniture store. Old country tradition,” Barrett informs us.  
“What about the crime scene, sheriff?” Ziva asks but we’re not holding out hope on it still being there or good.  
“Well, turned back to the motel.”  
“Cleaned up?” Tony asks next for confirmation.  
“And I’m guessing already occupied.”  
“Evidence?” Gibbs asks hopefully without any real hope; this poor girl might die without finding out why or who because of this small-town hick.  
“Oh, yeah. Got plenty of that. You’ll want to talk to Ruby,” Barrett informs us before leading us to their lab, which has nothing on Abby’s lab and it’s cramped with all of us in it. Someone keeps touching me and it’s not Gibbs or Tony or McGee.  
“IF it was loos, I bagged it. The hairs, fibres, shell casing, gum wrappers, used tissues, even an old French fry cleaning lady must have missed. It was right up under the headboard… anybody would have missed it. Um… everything’s been tagged, numbered, indexed and photographed. I did the indexing by hand on account of the printer not working,” Ruby, the young lab Tec, informs us excitedly.  
“Blood samples?” Tony asks her as I move away from the annoying hand and closure to Gibbs.  
“I took multiples, sent some to the lab, kept the rest as backup,” Ruby answers him as McGee drops a lens.  
“Oh! Oh, sorry. My fault,” McGee exclaims as he picks it up off the floor, why was he touching it? Abby would kill him if he touched something in her lab, let allow drop it, or worse break it.  
“It does that all the time. Well, that’s everything. Um… except one teeny, tiny little thing. She was shot twice, but I could only find one shell casing.”  
“Maybe he picked up,” Ziva offers.  
“Yeah, maybe.”  
“IF he policed his brass, he would have made sure to take both casings not one. He would have sterilized the whole crime scene, not open bullet,” I correct Ziva.  
“You said you had an office we could use?” Gibbs asks Barrett making him node before leading us out of the lab and back into the main police station and into an office set up for us.  
“Here you go. Home sweet home. I’ll stir up some coffee for you. Oh, we do have a suspect,” Barrett informs us like it’s nothing.  
“When were you going to tell us that?” I demand of him.  
“Well, I’m telling you now,” Barrett exclaims like it’s nothing but Gibbs glares at him making him turn to his officer, and younger brother and call, “Tyler?”  
“Yeah?” Tyler answers him.  
“Bring me that suspect’s file, would you? The victim made one phone call from the motel. Local guy by the mand of Masoud Tariq. Only been in town a few months. He’s an I-raqi.”  
“Same as the victim,” Tyler adds as he hands us the file on their ‘suspected.’  
“She’s from Kuwait, actually,” Ziva corrects the ignorant locals.  
“And where are you from?”  
“Her mother’s vagina,” I answer her Ziva.  
“The city,” Ziva overlaps me.  
“What about you?” Barrett asks me as he looks me up and down.  
“No where you’ve ever been,” I answer him as Gibbs glares at him.  
“Well, unfortunately, this guy Masoud Tariq, he’s disappeared. So, I got a search warrant. We found her lipstick in his living room. Ruby got a fingerprint match. Now, we’ve got a NBOLO out for him, but he’s got a couple days start,” Barrett informs us when he releases his brother isn’t getting anything about Ziva out of her.  
“When he comes back, we’ll catch him,” Tyler informs us.  
“If you need anything else, you just holler,” Barrett informs us before leaving us alone and shutting the door behind them  
“You see their nameplates? Both Barretts,” McGee asks us.  
“Brothers?” Ziva guesses.  
“Cousins?” McGee adds his own guess.  
“Boondocks,” Tony states.  
“Those ‘investigators’ are a joke. So, there’s fingerprints and lipstick. They could have been in a relationship. If you search Jethro’s house right now, you’ll find my fingerprints and make-up at his house, but he hasn’t murdered me… yet. This is going to be a hell of a case,” I complain making everyone agree with me. I continue, “They haven’t investigated shit, they’re just blaming the only none local.”  
“I’ll take the body back to D.C., Jethro. But I’m afraid we’re going to have to rely on this autopsy report,” Ducky informs me as Gibbs rubs my arm, attempting to care me down. But he does understand where I am coming from, I’m afraid for this guy.  
“You can’t do another one?” McGee asks him in confusion.  
“Well, if I think it’s necessary. But there will be so much missing that you can’t get back. Blood patterns, position of the body, and of course you’ll be missing all the usual piece that have gone off for testing.”  
“If the hicks tested it and not just assumed on circumstantial evidence,” I remind him.  
“She comes down from D.C. for the weekend, books into a motel under a false name. pays cash and calls a man,” Ziva summarises what we know.  
“Jealous spouse?” McGee asks us.  
“She’s not married.”  
“Neither was he. Moved here six months ago,” Tony reminds us.  
“Which is about the time Lieutenant Shaheen got back from Iraq.”  
“Nice timing.”  
“DiNozzo, ride back with Ducky. Talk to Lieutenant Shaheen’s commanding officer. Find out what she was working on in Iraq,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Okay, back tot eh big city suits me, boss. I got the Boondock blues already.”  
“McGee,” Gibbs turns to him.  
“Boss,” McGee asks waiting for his order.  
“Crime scene. Take that forensic woman with you.”  
“Ruby.”  
“Ruby. Yeah. Ruby. Check her methodology. See what she missed,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Maybe she didn’t miss anything… right.”  
“What do you need, dad?” I ask him as I turn around to face him.  
“Just the body,” Ducky informs us.  
“That leaves you two and me with Masoud Tariq,” Gibbs informs Ziva and myself.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Sleepy,” Ziva comments on the seminally sleepy town but everyone is watching us and the ‘suspects’ house.  
“Not quite,” Gibbs corrects her as he points to the neighbour.   
“That’s Daryl Hardy. The sort of nosey neighbour gives small towns a bad name. thinks Tariq is a terrorist. Like a terrorist would ever come live in a little town like ours,” Barrett informs us.  
“He file complaints?” Ziva asks him.  
“Nothing ever amounted to anything. Just spread a lot of bad feelings among people, is all. Tariq kept out of trouble. Paid his bills. Obeyed the law. At least up until now.”  
“We’re being watched.”  
“That kind of town,” Gibbs informs us.  
“That’s why I couldn’t ever live in a little town. I like my privacy too much,” I inform them as we walk over to the garage and open the rolling door.  
“Lacking a woman’s touch,” Gibbs comments as he looks around at the garage, Gibbs basement is nicer and cleaner then this garage.  
“I don’t know,” Ziva comments as she photographs the work benches.  
“Want to take mine? You know, I didn’t mean anything by what I said earlier,” Tyler flirts with Ziva.  
“Yes, you did,” Ziva and I correct him without looking at him.  
“You find something?” Tyler asks Ziva when she looks at something in surprise.  
“The sooner you leave me alone, the sooner I’ll know,” Ziva infirms him.  
“Well, I guess the photo can wait, huh?” Tyler flirts with her before leaving as I swab the garage floor and spray it with the floor, showing up a large pool of something that’s been cleaned up.  
“Jethro?” I call him making him come from where he was searching.  
“I think someone’s been making modifications,” Ziva informs him.  
“Diesel fuel?” Gibbs asks us.  
“And a positive indicator of nitrates. Probably ammonium nitrate. Mixed with diesel oil and all you have to do is add a detonator and a cell phone if you want to set it off remotely. I think we just found ourselves a bomb factory,” Ziva informs him as we all stare at it. We leave the garage after processing it for a little longer, back onto the street. Ziva continues in confusion, “I thought the local constabulary searched the house?”   
“Not for a bomb factory,” Gibbs reminds her.  
“Something’s fishy in this town,” I inform Gibbs as I look around the street.  
“Hard to miss. Maybe the neighbours were more observant,” Ziva informs us before Gibbs and I walk up to Daryl’s porch to talk to him.  
“You from Washington?” Daryl demands of us.  
“Special Agent Gibbs, Todd. NICS,” Gibs introduces us as we show him our badge.  
“NCIS. That like the F.B.I.?”  
“Navy and marine’s version,” I answer him.  
“IT’s about time. You found something.”  
“Maybe,” Gibbs answers him without giving anything away.  
“Mm-hmm. I knew it. Sherriff didn’t want to know. No one did. It’s one of them sleeper cells they warn us about on the news, ain’t it?”  
“What makes you think that?” I ask him innocently.  
“I don’t think it. I know it. Wait here,” Daryl orders us before returning and handing us a some ‘evidence’ which is photos of his neighbours house before continuing, “Waste of time giving it to that son-of-a-b. here. Good luck.”  
“Thanks,” I say to him as we leave back over to Ziva.  
“Nice neighbour?” Ziva asks us.  
“He thinks he uncovered a sleeper cell,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Maybe. Sent it to Abby,” Gibbs orders him as he hands it to her,  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yeah, got it,” I say to Tony in the garage when he calls me to give me the bad news instead of telling Gibbs himself, he’s afraid of him even though he is miles away.  
“He dropped off the planted like two years ago, Alice,” Tony informs me.  
“Ziva just sent over photos of two men with Tariq, both Middle eastern. Same deal,” I inform him before hanging up and inform Gibbs and Ziva, “Masoud Tariq is an alias. His real name is Wasim Al Fulani, former captain of the republican guard. Disappeared off the radar two years ago.”  
“Hmm. We know where he’s bee for the past six months. Just need to figure out where he is now,” Ziva comments.  
“Yeah. And whether he packed a bag,” Gibbs adds.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’m going for a shower,” I inform Gibbs in the hotel room that night.  
“You want company?” Gibbs asks me with his boyish grin as I grab the toiletries and my towel that I packed for this trip.  
“Well, hotels never have enough hot water, so it makes sense,” I state as I walk into the bathroom with Gibbs following me. I put the towel onto the sink and the toiletries onto the edge closest to the shower before I get undressed, but Gibbs just stands there, watching like the perv he is. Once I am completely undressed I lean into the shower and turn the water onto a warm temperature.  
I climb into the shower as Gibbs finally begins getting undressed to join me. He joins me in the tiny shower, wrapping his arms around my waist, leaning his chest against my back.  
Gibbs grabs the shampoo and uses it to wash my hair for me. I rinse the shampoo out and Gibbs puts the conditioner in my hair. While I wait before washing it out, I turn around in the tiny shower to wash Gibbs’ body for him. I wash his body off before washing my hair out before quickly washing my body and getting out of the cooling shower.  
I grab the towel and wrap it around my body, before brushing my teeth. Gibbs wraps his towel around his waist before brushing his own teeth. One my teeth was clean I walk back into the main room of the motel and I grab my clothes out of the bag I left on the bed. I get dressed before Gibbs walks out to get dressed himself.  
“Night Jethro,” I mumble as I climb into the bed, because it’s getting late, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Gibbs stays up to sunrise.  
“Night baby,” Gibbs mumbles as he moves the bag and surprises me when he joins me in the bed. He wraps his arm around me, before going to sleep.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Shalom!” Ziva greets us the next morning as she walks over to were we are sitting in the boot of the car together.  
“’Morning,” Gibbs greets her.  
“Morning,” I also greet her as we stand up and turn around, showing her that we both have a coffee this morning.  
“Did you brew that in your room?” Ziva asks us.  
“Yep,” I answer her as she puts her bag in the boot.  
“You know, it’s not even real coffee.”  
“IT’s coffee,” Gibbs corrects her.  
“I read the label. Roasted chicory, whatever that is.”  
“It’s a flower. It’s got a taproot like a dandelion. Fried and roasted makes for a cheap coffee substitute.”  
“Well, that’s what you’re drinking. Cheap motel coffee substitute.”  
“That smell like a cheap coffee substitute?” Gibbs demands of her as he takes the lid of his coffee cup and let her smell the heavenly drink inside.  
“Well, you brew it in your room.”  
“Well, yes, I did. With my own grind, that I brought from home,” Gibbs admits.  
“You bring your own coffee grind on investigations?”  
“Only on overnighters,” Gibbs defends himself as he shuts the boot and we get into the car. Ziva is in the front with Gibbs while I sit in the back, alone today.  
“Did you hear from Tony last night?” Ziva asks us hopefully.  
“No,” Gibbs answers her.  
“How about this morning?” Ziva asks again but Gibbs just glares at her making her add, “The only reason I’m asking is because I called him last night to update him, and he didn’t pick up the phone. He didn’t answer this morning either.”  
“Ah. You two got married and didn’t tell me.”  
“No! I know this may sound a bit strange, coming from me, but…”  
“More than a bit, Ziva,” I cut her off.  
“He’s my partner, and I…”  
“If something was wrong he would call in side from eating sea food, that’s the sign to worry,” I inform her.  
“Yeah, okay. So?” Gibbs overlaps me.  
“So, you sent him back for other reasons, then to question Lieutenant Shaheen’s commanding officer,” Ziva informs him.  
“Did I miss the announcement?”   
“No, I was not named Director of NCIS.”  
“I was thinking more like secretary of the navy, because the director of NCIS would know damn well not to ask me such stupid questions!”  
“Look, Tony’s been very secretive lately, and for a man who can’t keep what he had to breakfast a secret, I think it’s scary.”  
“What’s scary s your persistence,” I state.  
“Sorry,” Ziva apologizes as Gibbs starts the car. She continues though, “So the only reason you sent him back was what you said,” Ziva asks but Gibbs accelerates the car backwards, making Ziva almost get throw out of the car through the windscreen making her exclaim, “Ow.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“’Mornin’. So, are you going to call him, or will I? the F.B.I I’m beginning to think Daryl Hardy was right after all,” Barrett asks us when we arrive at another motel.  
“Still NCIS jurisdiction,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Mm-hmm. Until he sets off a bomb in the local mall. That’d be a good time for it to be under someone else’s jurisdiction, would you say?” Barrett teases Gibbs as a bar come to a stop with Tariq inside. Barret exclaims, “That’s him! That’s Tariq! STOP RIGHT THERE!” Barrett orders Tariq as he pulls and aims his gun at the car, but the car takes off, spinning its reals and the local officers fire after it, making me cover my ears.  
“CEASE FIRE! HEY! CEASE FIRE! PUT IT DOWN!” Gibbs orders them.  
“Hey!” Ziva exclaims as she runs over to Tariq who is bleeding from his shoulder where he is sitting behind the driver’s wheel.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, they’re going to hold him here for a couple hours. Then we’re moving him back to D.C,” I inform Ziva, and McGee as we walk up to them in the hospital.  
“Check his clothes, and the pick-up for explosives,” Gibbs orders McGee.  
“I can get Ruby to help,” McGee exclaims but Gibbs glares at him making him add, “OR not.” Gibbs, Ziva and I walk into the room with Masoud Tariq and shut the curtain behind us.  
“Did you shoot me?” Masoud demands of us in pain.  
“No,” Gibbs answers him.  
“Did she?”  
“No!” Ziva answers him next.  
“You?”   
“Nah. You want me to lie about it?” I ask him, making him smile for a moment before continuing.  
“Sheriff Barrett?”  
“Possible.”  
“His brother?”  
“Probably,” Ziva answers him.  
“Why’d you run?” Gibbs asks him.  
“In Baghdad, when you see men with guns, you go the other way, it’s what you do. You all seemed very eager to shoot me,” Masoud explains.  
“You were armed,” I remind him of the gun on his passenger seat.  
“You couldn’t see it. And it was unloaded.”  
“Where have you been for the past four days?” Ziva asks him.  
“Deer hunting.”  
“Rana Shaheen was shot dead over the weekend,” I inform him.  
“Right after she came to see you in your house,” Ziva adds.  
“Of course. That means that I must be a murderer. At least in this town. I’m curious, what else are they accusing me of?” Masoud asks us without much surprise about what this town would do to get him away from them.  
“We found traces of explosives in your garage,” Gibbs informs him.  
“So now I’m the monster that scares them at night. Al Qaeda come to kill them. Do you believe this?”  
“I don’t know what to believe, Wasim Al Fulani,” I state as I call him by his real name. I walk out of the room as Abby rings me this time.   
“Give me some good news, Abby,” I beg of her.  
“I’m not pregnant,” Abby answers me without hesitation.  
“Too much information.”  
“Kidding. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with being pregnant. I love kids. It doesn’t mean I’m trying, you know. And even if I am trying, that doesn’t mean that I know anybody I would want to try with. Am I being trying, Alice,” Abby teases me.  
“More than Fornell but less then Shepard,” I answer her making her laugh at me.  
“My guess is that you want to know about the two guys in the photos.”  
“Abby, I’ll want to know about any guys, but we’ll have to settle for them.”  
“Gibbs wouldn’t like you saying that.”  
“Good thing he knows where my pillows are. The guys.”  
“Well, don’t hold your breath. They are three quarter profiles, no full face. Not really good for a math off. I think we’re out of luck.”  
“Evidence turning up anything? Like at all, because we have Tariq in custody.”  
“Um… I’m beginning to think that she was shot with two different weapons. They’re both nine mils, but I can’t match the slug. And Ducky said they hit the body at two different velocities. Like really different. Like the difference between a howitzer and a BB gun. Maybe not that different, but Ducky’s really puzzled about it, too,” Abby informs me.  
“Are you telling me, we have two different shooters?” I ask her.  
“Maybe. Or maybe not. You know, I haven’t figured it out.”  
“When you do, Abs…”  
“You will be the first to know, actual, technically you’ll be the second know, because I’m doing the testing. But you will be the second to know. Alice?”  
“Yeah. Yeah. You can be first. I suppose. I have to ask Abby, why is everyone calling me instead of Jethro?”  
“Because, we don’t want to give him back news. You take bad news better,” Abby exclaims before I hang up on her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You’re a Jew,” Masoud says to Ziva in the ER hospital room as we stand around, Tony finally called Gibbs, so he must have good news to inform him.  
“Yes,” Ziva answers him.  
“Israeli?” Masoud asks her but she doesn’t react making him try again, “Mossad then.”  
“She’s working for NCIS. That’s who she is now, my bitch,” I inform him making me blink at us.  
“So yes. So now I am as suspicious of you, as you are of me. Is it always going to be this way?”  
“At least in our lifetime,” Ziva answers him as the curtain opens and Tyler walks in.  
“Mmm. Cosy,” Tyler informs us.  
“Can we help you?” I demand of him; this town is driving me crazy.  
“You know, a couple more inches to your right and our martyr here could have been living it up with all those vestal virgins. You know, it truly is a screwed-up religion where you have to blow yourself up just to get lucky,” Tyler teases Masoud. Ziva reacts by grabbing his cock and balls, squeezing it making him gasp.  
“When you insult his religion, you insult mine and your own. Tell him you’re sorry,” Ziva orders him.  
“I’m sorry. AH,” Tyler gasp out.  
“I can’t hear you. So, Tariq wouldn’t be able to either,” I inform him making Ziva tighten her hold.  
“I’m sorry,” Tyler says louder.  
“Apology accepted,” Masoud says making Ziva release the redneck.  
“IS there a problem?” Gibbs asks us as he steps into the room.  
“I was telling the Deputy here where the bathroom was,” Ziva lies making Tyler leave the room.  
“I know about Operation Cauldron.”  
“Good. Then you know that I’m not in your country illegally,” Masoud says.  
“Lieutenant Shaheen was your case officer.”  
“Yes. She was the only American I ever met whom I trusted.”  
“So, you kept in touch with her?” Ziva asks him.  
“No. it is forbidden. I have them information, they gave me a new life.”  
“She came to visit you,” I remind him.  
“I did not invite her.”  
“Why did she come? An unmarried woman visiting a Muslim man’s home?” Ziva asks him.  
“No, it was not for that.”  
“So, you were disappointed, and that’s why you followed her back to the motel.”  
“No.”  
“Maybe she saw something in your garage you didn’t want her to see,” Gibbs offers to him.  
“A bomb perhaps, agent Gibbs?”  
“Explosives. Somebody put them there,” I inform them.  
“Not me. Why don’t you go talk to Mister Hardy, my good neighbour? Maybe he put them there or saw who did. My wife and daughter were killed buying fruit in a Baghdad market, Agent Todd. I’ve seen enough bombs. That’s why I did what I did. That’s why I left,” Masoud exclaims making me look at Gibbs and the heartbreak in his eyes. He believes him, as the curtain opens.  
“Boss, you got a minute?” McGee asks us, making us step out of the room and close the curtain behind us. McGee hold up the bombing gear as he informs us, “I found something.”  
“It doesn’t look like an explosive residue, McGee,” I remind him.  
“Well, it’s Ruby’s. she used a red fluorescent powder to dust for prints.”  
“So?” Gibbs asks him.  
“So, we don’t. the only way this could have gotten on the back of the cell phone is if it was planted after she dusted for prints. Someone set him up, boss.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I don’t like what you’re getting at, Agent Gibbs,” Barrett snaps at us in the police station.  
“Do you have a better explanation?” I ask him.  
“People like living here. They go to church on Sundays and they obey the law. Mostly. And they believe every person, even a stranger, is guilty until proven innocent.”  
“You mean innocent until proven guilty,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“Yeah, well that’s the way it used to be,” Barrett informs us.  
“Before Masoud arrived?” I ask him.  
“Before everyone got so damn scared.”  
“Well then you know why I asked the question.”  
“Sit. Look, half the town would have planted those explosives just to get rid of Masoud.”  
“Half the town didn’t have a key to his house,” I remind him.  
“The house was leased.”  
“The owner?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Martha Hollingway. Eighty-four years old. Unlikely.”  
“Who else had access to it?” I ask him.  
“Oh, my lord.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You think I killed her?” Tyler demands in interrogation room at the police station.  
“Did you?” Gibbs asks them.  
“I was the radio officer the night she was murdered. I didn’t leave the comms room the whole night. Tell them, Tom.”  
“IT’s true,” Barrett agrees with his brother.  
“You big0time Washington D.C. guys, you blow in here so smart. Think you got all the answers. You don’t know squat about this town.”  
“Educate us,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Everyone knows he did it. Nobody’s trusted this guy since the moment he got here. She was at his house! Maybe they were getting it on, they had a fight. Who knows? Or maybe… maybe she figured out what he was really up to.”  
“Making bombs?” I ask him.  
“Didn’t surprise me. Our country is at war! Alert level orange in case you happened to not notice. We are told to keep an eye on people who are behaving suspiciously. I was doing my job. I told you we needed to keep a better eye on the Iraqi. You never listened to me.”  
“Is that why you planted the explosives?” Gibbs asks him.  
“I didn’t plant any explosives.”  
“McGee,” I call the geek who has gloves and the bomb test kit ready.  
“Deputy, please take off your trousers,” McGee orders him.  
“You know what? Screw you, McGee,” Tyler yells at McGee.  
“Tyler,” Barrett begins to warn his brother.  
“If you prefer, I can get Officer David to take them off for you,” Gibbs offers making Tyler remove the pants quickly. McGee empty the pockets of Tyler’s pants and then swab them. He sprays the swab and it comes up positive.  
“I guess that’s not your favourite colour,” McGee teases him.  
“I was just getting him before he got us,” Tyler defends himself.  
“IT’s too bad you weren’t getting Lieutenant Shaheen’s killer,” I state.  
“Tom, this is outrageous! I’ve just been humiliated right here in front of everybody,” Tyler complains to his brother like he’s not just been caught fabricating evidence.  
“I understand. It’s not about that. That’s the least of your problems,” Barrett says to his brother.  
“The doctors released Masoud. He’s in the car,” Ziva informs us.  
“Hey, McGee,” Gibbs calls to him.  
“Ready to roll, boss,” McGee agrees as we leave, but he stays behind to say goodbye to Ruby.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Um… I’ve got to go. I’ll see you then. Do you have a tape measure at your place? Good,” Tony says into his phone as we walk back into the squad room.  
“Hey,” McGee greets Tony.  
“Hey. You taking calls again?” Gibbs asks Tony as we walk over to our own desks.  
“I never stopped, boss. Why? Did I miss your call?” Tony asks him.  
“No, not mine.”  
“What’d you find out about Masoud?” I ask Tony.  
“This guy was good, boss. Gave the marines some hard intel. IED factories, weapons caches, and the names of more than fifty bad bays. He deserves a medal,” Tony informs us.  
“He got a U.S. passport instead,” McGee informs Tony.  
“What about the other two who relocated with him?” Gibbs demands.  
“Yeah, low-level stuff, mostly. Nothing to get excited about. A couple of names. Weapons cache. But good ol’ Uncle Sam gave them both passports anyway,” Tony informs us.  
“He’s ready, Gibbs,” Ziva states.  
“DiNozzo, run these plates,” Gibbs orders him as he hands them to him.  
“Sure thing, boss,” Tony exclaims as Gibbs and I walk away from him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Why did Lieutenant Shaheen come to you?” I ask Masoud in interrogation room at NCIS, Ziva is sitting next to me while Gibbs is standing next to Masoud.  
“She was investigating someone,” Masoud admits.  
“Who?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Two Iraqi men who relocated with me. I didn’t meet then until I left Baghdad. They were on the same flight.”  
“When did you last see them?” I ask him.  
“Lieutenant Shaheen asked me precisely the same question. Edenvale two weeks ago.”  
“IS this them?” Gibbs asks as he shows him the photo his neighbour took from him.  
“Yes. They were very nervous. They wanted to know what information I passed on to the marines in Baghdad.”  
“You told them?” Ziva asks him.  
“No, I lied. I told them I gave them bad information. They believed me. They said they had passed on bad information, too.”  
“Why did you lie?” Gibbs asks him in confusion.  
“Because I trust no one, Agent Gibbs.”  
“Why was Lieutenant Shaheen investigating them?” Ziva demands of him.  
“She wouldn’t tell me.”  
‘Names, please?” I ask him.  
“I don’t know. Did these men kill lieutenant Shaheen, Agent Todd?”  
“Someone did.”  
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“Yeah, I got it. Thanks,” Tony says into his phone before informing Gibbs, “Hey, Major Raines gave us their names, boss. Asad Al Qutaji and Youssef Zidan. They’re sharing a house in Washington. No record of employment since they arrived.”  
“Abby thinks there could have been two shooters,” Ziva reminds us.  
“Get Major Raines in here,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Already on his way,” Tony informs him as McGee’s phone begins ringing.  
“McGee… thanks,” McGee says into the phone before informing us, “Boss, I think there’s something you need to see.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“IT was in her report, only no one read it,” McGee explains to us in the hallway on the to the lab, but the elevator opens, and we walk into the lab.  
“What report?” Gibbs asks McGee in confusion.  
“Ruby’s report. She just got here. Hey Ruby.”  
“HI, Agent Gibbs,” Ruby greets him.  
“Ah, bear with us here for a second.”  
“You’re going to love this, Gibbs, Alice,” Abby exclaims.  
“Ready?”  
“Okay. So the shot casing I collected from the crime scene had quite a lot of undischarged powder in it. It was all kind of clogged inside. So I did a test. This is the same amount of powder found in a normal nine-millimetre shell,” Ruby explains us before a muffled explosion from her presentation she set up for us. “And this is similar to the powder I found in our shell casing. A bit like my last boyfriend. The powder was degraded by some type of oil. The first round didn’t even leave the barrel so he fired again. The second round hit the first, and they both left the barrel in tandem.”  
“Which is why the first round was a t low velocity, and the second round was all mashed up and unrecognizable. I’m surprised the barrel didn’t rupture,” Abby adds.  
“Maybe it did.”  
“Not two weapons, boss, just one,” McGee informs us.  
“One weapon. One shooter.”  
“That’s good work. Tell DiNozzo I’ll need another search warrant,” Gibbs orders them.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Agent Gibbs,” Raines greets us as he walks into the conference room.  
“Oh, thank you for coming, Major. Have a seat,” Gibbs offers him making him sit at the end of the table.  
“I came down to give you what I could. Their files are missing.”  
“Oh, we know where they are,” I inform him.  
“You do?” Raines asks me in surprise.  
“Lieutenant Shaheen’s briefcase,” Gibbs informs him calmly.  
“You found it?”  
“Not yet.”  
“Bad luck.”  
“Lucky for you,” I state.  
“I’m sorry?”  
“Operation Cauldron relocated three Iraqi men from Baghdad to the United states after they supplied intelligence on the insurgency in Baghdad,” Tony states.  
“That’s right.”  
“Masoud Tariq gave you first class intelligence. In comparison, the other ones gave you far less, Major Raines. But they still came to America,” Ziva states.  
“Lieutenant Shaheen…”  
“Wasn’t investigating them. She was investigating you. How much did they pay you for the new life in America?” I demand of him.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Agent Todd.”  
“For an intelligence officer, you’re not very intelligent,” Ziva insults him.  
“What’s your license plate number?” Gibbs asks him.  
“I drive a Pentagon car,” Raines exclaims.  
“Kilo-echo-four-one-three-nine,” Ziva reads off her note pad.  
“You signed it out last Friday,” Tony explains to him.  
“Masoud had suspicious neighbours looking for terrorists. He found you. So, I guess he wasn’t off the mark,” I state.  
“You followed Lieutenant Shaheen, parked the car down the street and waited while she met Masoud. Not very smart,” Ziva insults him again.  
“Neither was killing her,” Gibbs adds.  
“All right, so I followed her because it was me investigating her. She’s the one who got paid off. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want her name ruined after she was dead,” Raines exclaims.  
“Take off your gloves,” I order him.  
“What?” Raines demands of me.  
“Gloves, off!” Ziva orders him making Raines take the gloves off showing a burnt hand.  
“I had a minor accident over the weekend.”  
“The barrel of your weapon exploded,” Gibbs explains what the ‘accident’ was.  
“Guess you tossed it in the river,” Ziva comments.  
“You should have tossed your ammo, too,” I inform him.  
“McGee,” Gibbs calls his agent.  
“Found them in Major Raines’ garage, boss. Served the warrant to his wife,” McGee explains as he places the ammo on the table.  
“I hate when that happens,” Tony complains.  
“What’s that? Sump oil?” Ziva asks.  
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be able to tell you exactly after we match it to the casing found at the murder scene,” McGee promises her.  
“How much?”” I demand of him, but he ignores me.  
“HEY! HOW MUCH!” Gibbs shouts at him.  
“Half a million. Lieutenant Shaheen always suspected,” Raines admits.  
“It could have been anyone. Criminals, insurgents, Al Qaeda,” Ziva snaps at him.  
“You think I didn’t check them out? They were just a couple of rich kids who wanted to get the hell out of there and come party in America. Just rich kids, that’s all.”  
“Pity Lieutenant Shaheen had to pay the price.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Uh, Gibbs, about this morning,” Ziva begins in the car as Gibbs drive to the location of the ‘rich’ kids.  
“Oh, come on. Are you really starting this again?” I ask her in annoyance.  
“IT’ my Mossad training. They drummed it into us. Push, push, push, push, push, push, push. Never give up until you get the truth.”  
“Or get your ass kicked,” Gibbs finishes for her.  
“OR you get your ass kicked. I thought you sent Tony back because of his um… illness.”  
“His illness?”  
“He has two cell phones. Makes furtive calls to hospital. Goes missing for hours. Always lies about where he’s been. I mean, he doesn’t even talk about women anymore. The only logical explanation is that he’s receiving outpatient treatment for a serious medical problem.”  
“That’s not the only explanation,” I inform Ziva because a more Tony explanation is he’s fucking a doctor, nurse, patient at the hospital and doesn’t want her or us to know about each other. Probably Jeanne.  
“You know, for a couple of rich kids, Asad and Youssef aren’t exactly living it up,” Gibbs comments as he looks at the house they are living in. We get out of the car and walk up beside the house.  
“You think they’ll be deported?” Ziva asks Gibbs as we walk.  
“Yeah, probably,” Gibbs agrees with her as we see Asad making us take off chasing him.  
“Youssef! Youssef!” Asad calls out before changing to Arabic saying, “Quickly!”  
“What is it?” Youssef asks back in Arabic in the garage where they are making a bomb.  
“They’re coming for us!” Asad gasps out in Arabic.  
“Down on the floor! Now!” Ziva orders them in Arabic as we point our guns at them making Asad do it but not Youssef.  
“Turn around,” Gibbs orders them but again Youssef refuses. Gibbs punches Youssef making him fall to the ground where we arrest them.  
“Gibbs,” Ziva calls out making us look over at the bomb. The good, rich kids are really bad guys.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, have you seen Ugly Tony? I can’t find her,” I complain after looking for hours without being able to find my dog as I walk down into the basement where Gibbs is working on the cabin for his boat, but the rest of the boat isn’t int eh basement anymore.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums without telling me where she is hiding.  
“Where is she?” I ask him and in answer he just moves away from the cabin, showing me that my dog is sleeping at his feet. Making me exclaim, “Traitor.”  
I walk over to Gibbs and give him a hug around his back quickly before releasing him to puck up my missing, traitor of a dog. I walk over to the chair in the corner, I sit down and begin brushing my dog. Hear that Gibbs, MINE.  
“Why are you stealing my dog?” I demand of Gibbs as I watch him sand the cabin of his boat.  
“She followed me down here,” Gibbs defends himself making me snort.  
“Well, she’s mine. Not yours.”  
“Why are you more jealous of me stealing your dog then me stealing your coffee?”  
“Because it’s my dog, I can get another coffee not another dog-rat-cat-thing.”  
“Your weird baby.”  
“Well, yeah. I have to be, I am dating an old pervert who is also my boss. No normal person would do that.”  
“Are you saying ever women I have ever dated was weird?”  
“No, they were all insane. Who marries someone who is already married to his boat, job and coffee.”  
“Really,” Gibbs exclaims as he moves away from the boat and over to me as he puts the sander down on the bench next to me so that he can pin me into my chair. He leans down and kisses me. My hand leaves Ugly Tony and buries itself in his hair, holding him against me to continue the kiss for as long as humanly possible until he moves away from me as I gasp for air, making Gibbs smirk that he can make me so breathless.  
“I can’t breathe,” I gasp out when I really can’t get air in making Gibbs lose his smirk as he grabs my puffer off the bench and hands it to me.  
“Baby are you alright?” Gibbs asks me in fear for my health.  
“Yeah…”  
“Don’t lie to me. That’s the third time this week you’ve been unable to catch your breath, and nothing is in common with any of the times. Different places, days, activities.”  
“I… I don’t know. It’s getting worse again. I… I have booked a doctor’s appointment to get my lungs checked. It feels like, well, like I have Y. pestis again.”  
“Oh, baby. Has this…”  
“Yes… this has happened before, when I was born the doctors said by the time I’m in my late twenties I would probably need a lung transplant. But they gave me some meds that seemed to help strength my lungs and they said I mightn’t need it anymore,” I explain to Gibbs through my fear making him pull me into a tight hug.  
“Oh, baby. We’ll get through this. I promise. No matter what,” Gibbs whispers to me, now understanding why I am so afraid of hospitals and sacred when I got Y. pestis. My lungs are already damaged, and this only makes it worse. After a while Gibbs asks me, “DO they know why your lungs are so bad?”  
“Yeah… mother smoked while pregnant with me. My lungs didn’t develop correctly because of the smoking, I was so under weight at birth. She didn’t care that her smoking damaged my lungs, or that I almost died within my first week of life… do you want to know the worst bit?”  
“Sure,” Gibbs answers me, but he doesn’t know what could be worse.  
“She didn’t even smoke before she found out she was pregnant with me. But when she found out that she was pregnant, and I wasn’t her husbands, she took up smoking, drinking and everything they said not to do when pregnant back then.”  
“Oh baby. I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Gibbs whispers as he holds me tighter in his safe arms.  


	42. Sharif Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be the only chapter you get this weekend.   
> You are getting it early because I am going away this weekend and won’t be able to update at the normal time!!!!

“City engineers traced the disturbance to an underground power node. Back traced the source, they found this,” McGee explains to us as we walk underground into a junction room where a dead guy is located, and he is missing his eye. Gibbs is moss green polo over a plan white shirt with his NCIS jacket and hat. I am wearing a red shirt that falls to my elbows, that show the tops of my breasts, over a hair of flare bottom jeans and my NCIS jacket for the crime scene. My red hair is plaited down my back and resting below my ass.   
“Hey boss. Meet marine officer major Jon Maguire. At least that’s what his I.D. says. It’s hard to tell with he, you know, the one eye,” Tony explains in the room.  
“Yeah, where’s the missing one?” I ask Tony as I look around on the ground for it.  
“Your guess is as good as mine. The major worked under marine corps systems command as liaison to the civilian sector for NBC preparedness.”  
“Nuclear, biological, and chemical,” McGee states.  
“Very good. I’m proud of you. Like a weird uncle. Hey, boss, you may not have noticed, but the…”  
“Door locks from the outside,” Gibbs finishes for him.  
“Oh, so you noticed that.”  
“Meaning someone else locked him down here,” McGee reminds us.  
“Yeah, you really want to impress me, McGee, tell me why. He know where his S.O.SA was going?” Gibbs demands of us.  
“Not a chance. Shorting the power box was clever, but a shot in the dark. Lucky it worked at all.”  
“And someone was able to figure it out,” Ziva states.  
“That’s precisely why S.O.S was chosen, because it was so very recognizable. Dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot. Unlike the old signal which was CQD, come quick distress,” Ducky rambles.  
“Just the S.O.S?” I ask them.  
“That’s all he sent,” Ziva admits.  
“Morse code’s a dying art,” McGee comments making me pull a face, that’s a poor wording choice at the moment.  
“Was for him.,”  
“Well, he could have sent a longer message, but nobody would have recognized it. Present company excepted,” Tony states.  
“Cause of death?” Gibbs asks Ducky.  
“Well, he didn’t suffocate. There are no signs of cyanosis to indicate oxygen deprivation. No petechial haemorrhages that would indicate strangulation. There’s no blunt or sharp force trauma. In fact, there is no sign of any trauma at all,” Ducky informs us.  
“Other than the missing eye,” McGee corrects him.  
“That would explain his death, Timothy,” Ducky exclaims as he inserts the liver prob to work out time of death.  
“The blood came from somewhere,” I remind Ducky.  
“Yes, well, the blood on the hands is superficial, from several torn cuticles and pads.”  
“It looks like he literally tried to climb the walls.” Tony comments.  
“Oh, that’s odd. Ninety-nine point one. It appears our corpse is running a slight fever,” Ducky exclaims as he removes the prob.  
“What happened down here?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“Whatever happened, someone wanted to watch,” Ziva exclaims as she points out the security cameras pointed around the whole area.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“…resulting in ill-fitting eyeballs, which had a tendency to pop out during rigorous interpersonal activity,” Ducky rambles to the victim in autopsy as we enter.  
“Such as?” Tony asks him, making our presents know.  
“I leave that to your imagination, Tony. But I do have a cause of death.”  
“I was hoping there was a reason you called me down here, Ducky,” Gibbs states.  
“Yes, the major’s death occurred as a result of acute organ failure, brought about hyperthermia.”  
“IT wasn’t that cold down there,” Tony states.  
“No, hyperthermia, Tony. Not hypo. His body literally became too hot to handle.”  
“IT wasn’t that warm down there, either,” I state.  
“No, indeed it wasn’t, but the hyperthermia would explain the elevated temperature I sound at the crime scene. One mystery solved. Unfortunately, the major does not appear to suffer from any of the risk factors involved in hear stroke.”  
“Well, he still managed to die from it,” Gibbs states.  
“Yes, indeed, he did. You know, certain medication can interfere with the body’s cooling processes, but we’ll have to wait for Abby’s toxicology report to see if that is a factor.”  
“I get it. Rigorous interpersonal activities. I get it. Maybe there’s a trophy for the crypt keeper?” Tony laughs at Ducky as eh points to the missing eye.  
“The wound was self-inflicted.”  
“Are you saying that he,” I begin in disgust. That takes the toe.  
“He tore out his own eyeball. Now, I found trace of vitreous fluid under his fingernails.”  
“Well, where’s it go? We didn’t find an eyeball at the crime scene,” Tony reminds him.  
“It was at the crime scene, all right. Hiding in his stomach,” Ducky chuckles at us.  
“You didn’t find a toe in there too, did you, Duck?” Gibbs asks him.  
“We may just have to call Fornell and ask him if he has a serial killer with something with eyeballs,” I comment.  
“How’d it get in his stomach?” Tony asks in confusion as he give me a look.  
“Oh, I don’t know, Tony. But there are only two pathways into the stomach. Neither possibility is particularly appetizing,” Ducky informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Thank god you’re here. I really need your help. You’ve got to stop me from doing something stupid. I’m thinking about getting a tattoo… all these tattoos. You know, I get really nervous ‘cause it’s such a final decision. Should I go with something a little esoteric or I don’t know, maybe a little eastern? Huh, Ganesh. The Hindu god of wisdom, for me, the wise one. What do you think?” Abby rambles as she drags Gibbs into her office when we enter the lab. Gibbs leans on her desk and looks so cute in his embarrassment about the question of opinions. I lean against his side, looking at the tats, nothing I would get but they all would work for Abby.  
“I don’t think I’m the one to ask about this,” Gibbs informs her as he looks even more embarrassed.  
“But Gibbs, you know me better than anyone else! And when you’re going to make a decision that’s going to affect the rest of your life, you need the person around you that knows you best for guidance. Please?”   
“Where do you want to put the tattoo?” Gibbs asks her through his embarrassment making her freeze.  
“You’re right. You’re not the one to ask. Toxicology report. I heard about Ducky’s unexplained hyperthermia. I can explain it. I found traces of three quinuclidynyl benzilate in Major Maguire’s blood. NATO calls it MZ gas. We call it Agent Buzz. It’s an incapacitating agent that causes hyperthermia, severe hallucinations and in large enough doses, death. It’s a chemical weapon, Gibbs,” Abby explains as she leads us back into the main lab and over to the standing desk.  
“Whose?” I ask her.  
“IT’s hard to tell. Chemical weapons are banned, but they’re still allowed for research purposes. Even by our own government.”  
“Can you tell which lab it came from?” Gibbs asks her.  
“No, but I do have a lead. The camera that you pulled from the sewer is Wi-Fi based. It works by piggy-backing on local, unprotected networks. Once it’s on the internet, it can be routed anywhere at will. And it makes it totally.”  
“But you traced it anyway. Let me know when you,” Gibbs orders her as we begin to leave.  
“I got an address,” Abby finishes for him.  
“Yeah, that. Thanks,” I state as was continue to leave.  
“No, I mean, I got an address. The killer watched the major die from a bowling alley. Nineteen Bella street. Of course, whoever was there is probably long… gone… right now. Hm,” Abby exclaims making us blink before Gibbs kisses her forehead and we turn to leave again.  
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“I’ve got as bad feeling about this. We let the Elf Lord go in, we may never get him out,” Tony offers as we arrive at the bowling alley, but we haven’t exited the car, yet. I am wearing a red, leather jacket while Gibbs is wearing a grey jacket.  
“It’s getting old, Tony,” McGee complains.  
“Tony, you and Ziva take the back. Elf Lord, Alice, you’re with me,” Gibbs orders us as we get out of the car. We walk over the bowling alley way to the door and enter the bowling alley quickly and quietly.  
“I wonder where everyone is,” McGee comments when he sees the emptiness of the area and all the old video games.  
“Talk to me, Ziva,” I beg of them over the radio.  
“Rear service entrance clear. Standing by,” Ziva reports.  
“Ask me again. I still don’t believe you! Look, we can do this nice and easy, or not so nice and easy. Come on, man! Start talking!” Reynolds, an CID agent, yells in another room.  
“Hey, man. I said I didn’t know!” the manger hiss at him.  
“I don’t believe you!” Reynolds yells at the manager making us all run into the run with our guns trained on the crazed man.  
“Federal agents! Drop it!” McGee shouts at him as we enter the room.  
“Drop your weapon!” Gibbs orders him as well.  
“Nice and easy!” an agent orders us.  
“Federal agents! Put them down!” Reynolds orders us.  
“Lower your weapons!”  
“NCIS! Drop your weapons!” Tony orders them as he comes in through another door.  
“Drop your weapon!” Mann, the CID bitch from sandblast, orders us as she appears in the room. She is in civilian clothing which compose of a pair of jeans, with a black shirt under a grey jacket that has a cream jacket over it, with a white wool lining. Her hair is in a tight piggy tail at the bottom of her head.  
“Put it down!” Reynolds orders us again.  
“How about you first? Because this weapon isn’t moving an inch until your weapon is on the ground, with or without you,” I inform him as I stare at him with my gun calmly aimed at his head.  
“How about if we all drop our weapons, since clearly we’re all on the same team?” Mann offers but it’s more of an order to us then an offer.  
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“Mamoun Sharif. CID was able to trace an old lead from when Sharif was working as a paid informant for the CIA. The trail led to an alias which led to a credit card,” Mann reports to us back at the squad room, she has taken off her cream jacket. Mamoun Sharif’s face is on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“Which led to a bowling alley,” Gibbs asks her in disbelief, what is the chances of that?   
“Yep. Funny us running into each other like that,” Mann flirts with Gibbs making me clenched my hand into a fist, he’s still MINE.  
“Funny?”  
“Do you have a better word?”  
“Sad. But I do find it sickening that you find a lead funny when we have a dead marine. Do you care about anything but getting a dipstick into your oil?” I demand of her making Gibbs grab me from lunging at the CID bitch. He quickly tucks me in under his left arm so that I can’t try to attack her again, while also having a great excuse to hold me at work.  
“A few come to mind,” Gibbs agrees with me as he ignores her flirtation tone.  
“So, the real question, are our cases connected?” Mann asks Gibbs as she ignores me.  
“As connected as McGee and his cute little writing pipe. Prints on the computer that was used to monitor the sewer matched the prints on file from Sharif’s CIA report. The mad bomber’s is back,” Tony informs her.  
“Except he’s not using bombs this time,” Ziva reminds him.  
“Yet,” I add.  
“So where did he get the BZ gas?” Mann asks us.  
“One of the Major’s duties was to deliver small quantities of weapon’s grade gasses to civilian research labs,” Tony informs her.  
“Ziva, you and Tony,” Gibbs begins to order his team around.  
“Rin down the list of the major’s deliveries starting with the most recent,” Ziva finishes for him.  
“And find out…”  
“If any of them were BZ gas. On it, boss.”  
“They always finish your sentences for you?” Mann flirts with Gibbs again.  
“I teach them to anticipate,” Gibbs answers her without hesitation.  
“Too bad you couldn’t teach Tony not to piss on the furniture,” I complain making Gibbs smirk at me without commenting on Tony’s bladder.  
“Well, they do it well. You must be a good teacher,” Mann flirts with Gibbs. I don’t like it, making me glare at her, but if I had looked at Gibbs I would have seen him smirking at me without even paying any attention to Mann at all.  
“IT’s taken Tony five years to learn, so not that impressive,” I correct her again.  
“Well, thank you very much,” Gibbs laughs at Mann without looking at her still, instead moving his arm so that he is holding me waist, leading me over to my desk without risking the CID bitches looks or my job.  
“Ah, boss, if Sharif was trying to cover his tracks, why would he go to all this trouble just to kill Major Maguire?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“It does seem unusual that Sharif would have wasted BZ gas the way he did,” Mann agrees with McGee.  
“He wasn’t wasting it. He was testing it,” I correct McGee sadly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Testing it for what?” Shepard asks Gibbs, Mann and me in her squad room.  
“It’s a chemical weapon. Take a guess,” I remind her.  
“I meant do you have anything specific? A date? A target?”   
“No. Nothing yet,” Mann admits.  
“IS there any hard intel suggesting that Sharif is planning an attack?”  
“You mean other than the dead guy in our morgue?” Gibbs asks her.  
“If you’re worried about the lack of chatter,” Mann begins.  
“Don’t.”  
“…the last time Sharif planned an attack, there was zero uptick.”  
“HE certainly proved last time that he was a pro at flying beneath our radar,” Shepard agrees with Mann.  
“Yes, but even if he’s planning on not using the gas himself…”  
“Sell it to someone who will,” Gibbs finishes for her.  
“Sell it to Ari, who will,” I overlap Gibbs making Mann give me a confused look, she doesn’t know him.  
“Yes,” Mann agrees with Gibbs.  
“Homeland Security certainly loves non-specific threats,” Shepard complains.  
“So how are we going to handle this? Our investigations have merged. Who is going to take the lead?” Mann asks Gibbs sweetly.  
“You’ll be working under Agent Gibbs. Your boss and I flipped a coin for it. Is that a problem?” Shepard informs her.  
“No problem. I’m just…”  
“Used to being on top?” I snap at her.  
“In command, yes. But I’ve worked with Agent Gibbs before, and I’m happy to again,” Mann corrects me as she glares at me before innocently turning back to the director.  
“Hmm,” Shepard hums as she nodes at the door making us leave.  
“You two have worked together a while, huh?” Mann teases Gibbs as we walk down the runway towards the squad room.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums without answering her, and for once I don’t know if this slut is talking about Shepard and Gibbs or Gibbs and me, but I think it’s Shepard.  
“How long?”   
“Reason you’re asking?” Gibbs demands of Mann without answering her probing.  
“Just curious.”  
“Well forget it. That is and will always be none of your business,” I inform her tightly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abby, you were not there. You did not see the look on Gibbs’ face,” McGee says to Abby as we walk into the lab.  
“Look at what, McGee?” I demand of him as we look at a program on the plasma of what Mann and Gibbs baby would look like. The same program they used to work out Shepard and Gibbs, but still not Gibbs and myself.  
“Hi, Boss, Alice. I was… I was just…”  
“Talking about us behind our backs?” Mann demands of him.  
“Well, we were trying to,” Abby admits as her computer beeps.  
“Haven’t you learnt your lesson from Kate. Or Tony. Or Cassidy. Or Gerald,” I ask her making Abby smile at me as everyone else if confused.  
“Sorry Alice. You know how the boys are. Their worse then high school girls with a crush,” Abby agrees with me as she pulls up the beeping program on her computer while getting closing the program that created the photo of Gibbs and Mann’s baby.  
“What do you got on Sharif?” Gibbs demands of her as he walks over to Abby with me and Mann, but he rests his left hand on my hip.  
“OR Maguire?” Mann demands of them.  
“Well, we’ve been digging all day to find the connection,” McGee reports to them.  
“Um, one possibility?” Abby asks us.  
“A twenty-thousand-dollar deposit,” I state.  
“Wired from an offshore account two days ago,” Mann adds.  
“IS Sharif the source of that wire?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Well, he didn’t sign his name on it,” Abby informs us.  
“IF we can trace the source, it might give us a lead on him,” McGee adds.  
“Yah, do it,” Gibbs orders them before turning to leave.  
“Oh, wait! There’s more!” Abby exclaims as she grabs my arm, using it to stop Gibbs from leaving.  
“The Wi-Fi camera that Sharif used, it streams videoed Major Maguire in real time to Sharif’s computer,” McGee informs us.  
“And we all know the that internet was designed to be a redundant communications protocol.”  
“And we were able to use that redundancy to find echoes of the original steam by locating the separated packets as there were routed from…”  
“How long will they go on like this?” Mann whispers to Gibbs without stopping McGee’s rambling.  
“Until we stop them,” Gibbs answers her just as quietly.  
“ISP to ISP,” McGee continues to ramble.  
“McGee! Bottom line,” Mann orders him but McGee does listen or hear her and continues his rambling making her give Gibbs a hopeless look.  
“No caf-pow without a bottom line right now,” I state with an eye roll making Abby hit McGee in fear of her caf-pow being withheld.  
“We’ve got the video Sharif took of Major Maguire before he died,” McGee says the bottom line as he rubs his sore arm that Abby hit.  
“You could have just said that, and not give normal people a head ache,” I complain making Abby laugh at me.  
“First he tried to pick the lock,” Abby informs us as we watch the video of a man dying making me tear up and without looking away from the video, Gibbs pulls me into a backwards hug so that my back is to his chest.  
“Then he called for help. About a half hour later, he gets the idea to try and signal using the power box on the wall, which caused the traffic lights on the street to blink,” McGee informs us what else is happening in on the video.  
“Watch what happens when the BZ gas goes into effect.”  
“Oh, he looks really agitated,” Mann comments as he loses his mind.  
“The BZ gas cause severe hallucinations,” McGee informs us.  
“HE is literally losing his mind. Now we know how an eyeball got in his stomach,” Abby comments as he eats it making me almost throw up, but I don’t stop watching, this man needs us to see his final minutes.  
“How much?” Mann demands of them.  
“This was the result of roughly ten milligrams of exposure,” Abby informs us making us all pale.  
“Oh god,” I mumble without meaning too.  
“What?” McGee asks us.  
“We’re missing ten kilograms, McGee,” I inform him softly.  
“That’s like a million times more,” McGee exclaims as we look back at the victim.  
“I miss Ari… I want Ari back,” I mumble as I look away from the video and force myself to act like this doesn’t scare me to death.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Good news, boss. Gordon hear ran a fill inventory,” Tony exclaims as he rushes into the squad room. Gibbs is sitting at his desk while I sit on the ledge behind his desk, rubbing his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down so that he doesn’t do something stupid and get shot.  
“The only thing unaccounted for was BZ gas,” Ziva informs us as Mann glares at me but I don’t care, he’s my boyfriend and I can use that to calm him down at work if I need to, it’s got nothing to do with her.  
“Does that mean you found Sharif?” Gibbs asks them.  
“I guess he’s still unaccounted for, too,” Tony admits sadly.  
“HE’s someplace doing something. Figure out where and find him!” Gibbs orders him as he stands up quickly as he grabs his gun, badge and jacket. I only grab my jacket before Gibbs grabs my hand and drags me out of the squad room.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I thought you’d like to know that Sharif made it to the top of every agency’s most wanted list. Homeland security’s all over it,” Mann informs Gibbs as she walks down the stairs into his basement only to freeze when she sees the boat is gone. Gibbs is wearing a long sleeve shirt under a whipt old shirt with red writing across his chest, ‘Carhartt.’ I am wearing Gibbs NIS sweatshirt with my hair up in a messy bun. For once I am helping Gibbs sand the bare ribs of the cabin for his boat, she continues to ask, “Where’s your boat?”  
“Oh, had to move it to made some room,” Gibbs answers her without really thinking about it.  
“Yeah, but…”  
“They’re covering their asses. Again… they did that when Ari killed an NCIS agent too. And when a bomb on a ship blow up an NCIS agent… when Y pestis was delivered through the mail, almost killing two people. It means nothing, if it meant something, he would have been on the top of their listed months ago when he faked his death,” I inform her angrily, we’ve been through this too many times.  
“But where…?””  
“It’ll take them days to do anything,” Gibbs agrees with me as he wraps his arm around me shoulder for a moment because he knows I hate all the times they jumped on the band wagon too late and someone at NCIS is hurt or killed.  
“Yeah, well they want a briefing.”  
“Well, what are you wanting for?” I demand of her, if they want a briefing she should be briefing them.  
“Chemical weapons are notoriously difficult to deal with. And ten kilograms is a large amount. It could be a land-based attack.”  
“Or it’s something else we haven’t thought of yet,” Gibbs corrects her with another possibility.  
“Well, that’s what I’m here for.”  
“IS it?”   
“You say that like you were expecting something else. Or is it hoping?”  
“Whatcha got in the bag?” Gibbs ask her without answering her question.  
“Dinner.”  
“Why don’t we start with that?” Gibbs answers her as he places the tools on the workbench, because his still got his arm holding be, I follow him over to the bench where I put mine down too.  
“So maybe Sharif is just going to sell the BZ,” Mann offers to Gibbs as we sit down on the wooden horse to eat the Chinese food to eat but she only got two meals, nothing for me.  
“He’s not,” Gibbs answers her as he places half the food on an old plate off the workbench and hands me the plate to eat while he eats out of the box.  
“And you’re so sure of that because?”  
“His eyes,” I answer him making me freeze, that’s the same thing Kate said about Ari, and look how that ended.  
“His eyes?” Mann demands of me in confusion.  
“He doesn’t want the money. He wants to kill,” I inform her as I force my voice to be calm when inside I am fighting not to cry. I miss Kate and the long she is gone the more I am talking like her.  
“Who? Sharif’s sold himself out to the highest bidder his whole life, no matter what side they were on. And that’s changed?”  
“People get older. Realize that they want something different,” Gibbs informs her.  
“And you can tell this by just looking into someone’s eyes?”  
“Yeah,” I inform her without care, it’s not that hard to work it out based in someone’s eyes.  
“Okay. What do you see in my eyes?” Mann flirts with Gibbs.  
“You want me to kiss you,” Gibbs answer her after a look moment of silence making me clench my teeth together in anger, he is not kissing her, or I’ll shot them both.  
“So, are you going to?”  
“Yeah.”  
“When?”  
“In your dreams,” Gibbs answers her, letting us know that he is teasing her. He wraps his arm around my shoulder, making a point of kissing my forehead so she knows who he is going to be kissing. Making her glare at me like I stole her boyfriend but he’s mine.  
“No, no, no. I’d better go. Ah, you know, we’re a distraction to your team. We can’t have anything interfering with finding Sharif,” Mann says to Gibbs without getting up I get back up and pick up the sander to begin sanding the boat again, ignoring her.  
“Yeah, we’re going to find him,” Gibbs promise her as his phone begins to ring. He answers, “Yeah, Gibbs… What do you want, Sharif…? You want friendly? The front door is open. Bring coffee… what do you want…? Not going to happen,” Gibbs listen to the phone as I watch him and work the wood how he showed me. He reaches behind him and picks up the remote to turn the TV on.  
“…hospital. Authorities are not certain what has caused the mystery illness. There are no fatalities as of yet, but at least six people have fallen sick,” ZNN report says on the TV making me watch closely as I lead against the boat, taping the sander against my left shoulder.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Abby pov  
.  
“Poor Gibbs. First, he loses his memory, and now he might lose his mind… what about Alice, she’s going to be looking her mind too, she’s already had Y pestis. And then Contained potassium cyanide, she has enough bad luck now,” I ramble in fear outside autopsy where Gibbs, Mann and Alice are getting checked out by Ducky because Sharif threatened that he poisoned them.  
“Sharif is going to los a lot more than that when Gibbs catches him,” Ziva promise me as the door opens.  
“Are they going crazy?” I demand of Ducky as he walks out.  
“NO, he’s his usual self. Which some people might characterize an unconventional. I didn’t find any trace of BZ gas in any of them. Sharif appears to be bluffing. You’re welcome to,” Ducky answers me as Gibbs, Mann and Alice walk out making me lunch at Gibbs, hugging him tightly and almost knocking him over.  
“Gibbs! I was so worried,” I exclaims. Gibbs is wearing a white shirt under a light blue almost white shirt with his green vest over the top of all of that. Alice is wearing a NIS sweatshirt and red jeans; the shirt still has wood dust on it.  
“I’m okay, Abs!” Gibbs promise me as I release him and pull Alice into a hug.  
“Alice! You need to stop scaring me like that!” I get up her.  
“Abs, you need to stop Contained potassium cyanide Jethro and Dad. They just said the same thing,” Alice complains to me as she hugs me tightly.  
“Yeah, me too,” Mann adds but I don’t pay her any attention.  
“Abby, we’re find. Don’t worry about it,” Alice promise me as she releases me and grabs Gibbs hand, holding him tightly.  
“No fatalities at the hospital. The does was too low. They’re reporting it as food poisoning. But the word is already beginning to lead out,” Ziva reports without caring about Mann.  
“How did Sharif deliver the BZ?” Alice asks us as we step into the elevator as a group.  
“I can’t tell yet. The pattern of illnesses appears random,” I report to them sadly.  
“We’re still trying to find a link between Sharif and the Chechen rebels,” Ziva adds.  
“You won’t find one. He’s trying t distract us,” Gibbs informs her.  
“From what?” Mann demands of him. Oh, Gibbs has pissed her off and I bet it has something to do with the fact that Alice is his girlfriend.  
“I don’t know!”  
“Then what makes you so sure?”  
“Never question the gut,” I whisper at her because that’s a stupid thing to do.  
“Oh!” McGee exclaims as he steps into the elevator, knocking Alice into Gibbs chest, pinning her there because his body falls onto of her.  
“Going somewhere, McGee?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Actually, looking for you, boss. I might’ve found a connection between Sharif’s victims. Neighbours reported seeing the same truck outside of the houses,” McGee exclaims as eh moves away from Alice’s body making Gibbs hold her against him before releasing her to step out of the room.  
“Well, you got a plate?” Mann demands of him, oh she is really pissed at everyone, not just Gibbs and Alice.  
“Not enough of one. All I got is a red truck, some kind of logo.”  
“Ziva, you and Tony find out if anyone else saw… where the hell is DiNozzo?” Gibbs snaps when we walk into the squad room to see him missing.  
“You tell me. Oh, that’s right. You won’t,” Ziva exclaims.  
“Find him! NOW.” Gibbs orders her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“The pest control firm didn’t realize that one of their commercial sprayers was missing, until I sent two of my agents to question them. We’ve IDed Sharif as one of their employees,” Shepard says in MTAC over a video call.  
“Former employee,” I correct her.  
“Call you back,” Shepard says to the call before hanging up on the call.  
“Sharif hasn’t shown for work since the attack,” Mann reminds him.  
“Probably because he’s too busy preparing for his next one. The missing sprayer is truck-mounted. But it could easily be adapted for a small aircraft. I’m having mobile sensors deployed at every marine and naval base on the east coast.”  
“F.A.A. finished grounding all small aircraft?”   
“In the works.”  
“Dad says there’s an antitoxin,” Alice informs her.  
“Needs to be delivered to all trauma ones and base hospitals,” Mann informs her.  
“In the works,” Shepard repeats.  
“I hope ‘in the works’ means something different than it does where I come from,” Mann complains.  
“Keep hoping,” I mumble before hearing myself shouting on the ship from the hiatus bombing, ‘you don’t want this being seen? It’s too late! Too late! Too late!”   
“Jethro? Are you okay?” Shepard asks me.  
“Yeah. Fine,” I state as I turn and walk away with Alice walking after me. I notice she is shielding her eyes from the lights making me ask, “Baby, are you okay?”  
“Yeah I’m…”  
“Don’t lie to me.”  
“I have a headache,” Alice complains making me node as I lead her back to the squad room where I sit at my desk with the TV on and Alice sitting on my lap. I hand her a couple of pain pills before she hides her face in my neck, not that I mind.  
“…about a possible terrorist attack. There has been no official confirmation, but the FAA continues to ground,” the reporter rambles on the TV as Abby and McGee rush into the room.  
“Gibbs! We have news,” Abby overlaps with the report.  
“We were able to back trace the wire transfer to major Maguire,” McGee adds.  
“It wasn’t easy. Most offshore accounts use a block cipher as a security protocol.”  
“So, what we did was we fooled their system by causing it…”  
“You got a location on Sharif?” Alice cuts them off with a groan of pain.  
“Alice, the wire transfer did not come from Sharif,” Abby exclaims.  
“Who did it come from?” Mann demands as she walks into the room.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I want a lawyer,” Dane, the lab Tec that received the BZ gas, demands of us as we enter the integration room.  
“Why? You done something wrong?” Alice asks him as she sits in front of him at the integration table.  
“I’m admitting to nothing.”  
“You don’t need to. We already know you wired twenty thousand dollars to Major Maguire. What we don’t know is why?” Mann informs him.  
“I’m going to make this real simple for you. No lawyer. No trial. Just a room like this until you talk,” I inform him as I sit on the edge of the table next to him.  
“Then a one-way flight to Gitmo,” Alice adds.  
“That’s the way it works for terrorists,” Mann continues for Alice.  
“I’m not a terrorist!” Dane yells.  
“Well, you better hope you can convince us otherwise,” I inform him.  
“I diverted the BZ gas to Sharif, not the major. When I went to cover my tracks,” Dane explains to us.  
“Major Maguire found out,” Alice states.  
“Yeah. Sharif said he would take care of it. I got worried when the Major disappeared, because I knew the missing BZ would be traced back to me.”  
“So, you made it look like Major Maguire sold the gas to Sharif by putting the money in his account,” Mann demands of him.  
“How much did Sharif pay you?” I demand of him.  
“Nothing. I paid him,” Dane informs us.  
“What? You just like killing Americans?” Mann demands of him.  
“We weren’t planning on killing anyone. The plan was to scare people!”   
“Hey, it’s working,” Alice snaps at him, this guy is pissing me off for scaring my girl. She doesn’t need to be scared of this guy, but he’s made her scared and I’m going to end this guy.  
“You guys don’t get it, do you? Every time there’s a catastrophe, someone cashes in. Katrina, the construction companies cleaned up. The tsunami, traders made killing on tsunami detection stocks.”  
“And during a chemical scare,” Mann asks him.  
“Have you checked the stock market today? My lab paid me in stock options. The phony attack that put six people in the hospital. Oh, that worked ‘cause everybody is running out and buying gas masks now. The stock prices went through the roof. I’ll be a millionaire by tomorrow’s bell.”  
“You gave a terrorist deadly nerve gas,” Alice corrects him as we get up to leave him alone.  
“Just wait, all right? It’s not what you think! I built in a safeguard. I denatured the enzyme, which makes it useless for an airborne attack. That’s the only way that I would give him the BZ gas,” Dane calls to us.  
“Sharif knew?” I demand of him.  
“Stealing the bug sprayer was just to scare people. Sharif has the BZ, but he can’t even use it. I mean, if you ingest it, it’ll kill you. But yea, last time I checked, bleach and bug spray will do the same thing, and you can buy that anywhere. There is no terrorist attack.”  
“Then why are there six people in the hospital right now?” Alice demands of him angrily.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
I walk into the kitchen to make Gibbs and myself a coffee, but I freeze when I see Kate sitting on the bench. Kate never sits on the bench, she wouldn’t even sit on the table or a desk.  
“Hello, Alice,” Kate says, she looks like she did before she died.  
“Kate… I thought I saw you in MTAC,” I mumble as I stare at her… she’s back and this time I’ll make her stay, she’s not dying again.  
“I’m always with you Alice.”  
“How are you…? You’re dead. I was there, I’m confused,” I mumble as I make my way over to the coffee machine to make the coffee.  
“I’ll never leave you Alice.”  
“You better not be watching me when I’m naked or doing thinks with Jethro,” I state as I pull out two cups.  
“I’m not Tony.”  
“Yeah, he would get off on that,” I state as I pore the coffees.  
“HE would record it to spread it around the office,” Kate agrees with me as she laughs with me.  
“Nah, Jethro would kill him before he had the chance,” I wave her off.  
“Alice… who are you talking to?” Ziva asks me as she walks into the room making me freeze.  
“Myself,” I lie, wishing Kate was still here.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Boss, local LEOs found the stolen sprayer in an alley. No trace of BZ,” McGee reports to us in the squad room, I am sitting at my desk while Alice is sitting on the ledge behind me, leaning on my shoulder because her head is still hurting her. After a long moment, McGee says to Tony, “I think maybe Dane was right.”  
“Wrong, probie. This is Sharif. He wouldn’t go to all the trouble if he didn’t have a plan. And not knowing is driving boss crazy,” Tony exclaims from his desk.  
“Then explain how Sharif is going to spread the BZ f it’s been modified?”  
“Maybe it wasn’t modified,” Ziva offers as Alice groan into my neck from the pain.  
“It was. CID’s chemical weapons specialist analysed the blood of the victims at the hospital and confirmed the BZ’s been modified. It’s harmless. Unless ingested,” Mann states.  
“Which is basically harmless,” Ziva states.  
“It wasn’t harmless for Major Maguire and those six people,” I snap at them making Alice groan in pain again and I feel bad, I shouldn’t have snapped so loudly with her right there.  
“Sharif was in their house. He could have spiked their O.J. with BZ,” Tony offers to me.  
“OR Sharif figured out a way to modify it back,” McGee adds as my phone rings.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” I answer the annoying think.  
“Why don’t I wait for you to start the trace?” Mamoun Sharif asks me as I attract McGee’s attention to do just that. Mamoun Sharif continues, “I just called to see how you were feeling Agent Gibbs. How’s the pretty Alice Todd?”  
“Better than those six innocent people you put in the hospital.”  
“I’d stop by to pay my respects, but I’m on my way out of town. How about I send you a postcard? I am planning on traveling quite a bit for my retirement.”  
“And you Chechen buddies?”  
“I’m not even sure where Chechnya is.”  
“We both know you’re not retiring.”  
“With what I need I plan to …”  
“Who were they? Wife? Family? Come on, Sharif. I’ve been there. I know. It’s not the money. It’s payback. You won’t stop until you get it. So, who were they?” I demand of him, but he hangs up on me before we can find answers or where he is ringing from.  
“Well, that went well,” Alice mumbles into my neck.  
“So, this is all about payback?” Tony asks us.  
“Oh, he’s planning an attack,” Mann releases, slowly. Through all of this talking they sound so far away from me, even Alice who is pressing her face against me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I believe I have a clue as to what that might be. Do you see the slight inflammation of the stratum corneum of his fingertips?” Ducky asks us in autopsy.  
“Slight?” Mann demands of Ducky in disbelief.  
“Looks like he was grating cheese, forgot the cheese,” Tony agrees with her.  
“Yes, well, most of the damage occurred when Major Maguire attempted to scale the walls of his crypt. But when I was learned that the BZ gas had been modified so it was no longer an airborne threat, I looked for other methods of exposure,” Ducky informs us.  
“HE ingested it,” Mann states like Ducky’s stupid.  
“That’s a good guess, but also a wrong one. The answer lies in the Major’s urine. Smell that,” Ducky orders us.  
“I’d prefer not to,” Tony exclaims making me lean over Alice’s shoulder and sniff it myself.  
“Garlic,” I state as I hold my Alice, with my right arm under her breasts.  
“Sharif is spiking garlic with BZ toxin?” Mann demands of Ducky.  
“No. the contents of his stomach showed that Major Maguire hadn’t eaten anything, much less garlic. It appears that Sharif may have been testing a topical method of exposure. Ike sunscreen or a body oil. If that is the case, then that would explain both the inflammation and the garlic odour by-product. Of course, all this will require a specialized analysis from Abby to determine that that is indeed the case. I’m fairly certain that,” Ducky rambles as I lead Alice out and Mann follows us over to the elevator. We silently ride the elevator up to the lab to talk to Abby for information.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“DMSO. Or as we professionals call it dimethyl sulfoxide. It’s an industrial strength solvent that ahs very interesting side effects,” Abby rambles in the lab.  
“It carries whatever it comes in contact with directly into the blood stream,” Mann states what she knows.  
“Wow. Gold star for the colonel. So, it looks like Sharif has mixed BZ with DMSO, which means that all anyone has to do is come in contact with a coated surface to be exposed. The more BZ is in the mix, the faster it’ll take effect. Anywhere from ten minutes to thirty-six hours.”  
“How many people?” Alice asks her softly because her head is still hurting her.  
“The bad news, about a hundred thousand.”  
“Oh, well the good news better be really good,” Mann orders Abby.  
“Well, Sharif is going to have some serious distribution problems. If he were to go door-to-door - right? There’s only so many people he can get to before we get him. He could do more damage with a shotgun,” Abby explains as my mind flashes back to a gunfight and people screaming in fear, as my phone begins to ring but I can’t hear it over my past.  
“Are you going to get that?” Mann demands of me.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” I answer the phone as I snap out of the memory flashes.  
“We’ve got some tape on Sharif,” Tony reports.  
“We’re on our way up,” I state before hanging up on him and informing Mann and Alice, “Got a lead on Sharif.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The guy’s been a busy little banker,” Tony informs us back int the squad room.  
“He spent the last three days going from bank to bank,” Ziva adds.  
“Depositing or withdrawing?” Alice asks him.  
“Withdrawing, and all of it in singles,” McGee informs us.  
“Twelve transactions at twelve different banks,” Ziva states.  
“Which is why he was flagged.”  
“Anti-laundering law used to say any transaction over ten grand needs to be reported,” Tony reminds us.  
“But those are nine thousand each,” Mann says in confusion.  
“Well, Sharif must have known the limit,” McGee states.  
“What he didn’t know is that Fed lowered the threshold to five grand last month,” Tony informs us.  
“Since when do you know so much about anti-laundering lays, DiNozzo?” I demand of him in confusion, that’s not something Tony knows.  
“Well, you should read your memos more often then, boss,” Tony teases me.  
“Or not,” Alice adds with a laugh as she sees the glare I leave at Tony.  
“How much?” Mann asks them.  
“One hundred and eighty thousand,” Ziva informs us.  
“A lot of singles,” McGee informs us.  
“About one hundred and eight thousand.”  
“I have an entirely inappropriate joke about strip clubs, but I’m going to save it for a less terrifying moment,” Tony informs us.  
“He’s putting the BZ on the money,” Mann says what we all know.  
“And the way it changes hands within thirty-six hours,” I begin.  
“A lot more than a hundred thousand will be at risk.”  
“DiNozzo.”  
“I’ll check casinos and racetracks. Best places to get rid of large amounts of cash quick,” Tony promise.  
“Agent McGee, airports. Train stations. Wherever Sharif can hit large groups of people,” Mann orders my people.  
“On it, boss. Colonel,” McGee corrects himself.  
“Ziva, coordinate roadblocks with Local LEOs,” I order Ziva.  
“We’re going to have to issue a warning. It’s going to wreak havoc on the economy,” Mann states.  
“The economy is not what I’m worried about,” Alice snaps at her.  
“HE could be anywhere. We’re not going to find him now.”  
“You still think this is funny?” Alice hisses at Mann, picking on her flirting from before.  
“What?” Mann demands of Alice with her own glare.  
“You still think this is funny?”  
“McGee!” I call McGee as I pull Alice away from her possible victim.  
“Yeah, boss?” McGee responds.  
“What is this?” I ask him as I point to the video of Sharif taking the money where there is something in his hand.  
“Well, it looks like the cash,” McGee says to me after a moment of silence.  
“He can see that, McGee! Right there. What is that? That,” Alice snaps at McGee as she points to what I am looking at.  
“Let me see this. Looks like a GBP. It’s a Game-Box Portable.”  
“Pest guy said Sharif was addicted to it,” Tony reminds us.  
“Is that a video game?” I ask them in confusion as I tighten my hold on Alice.  
“Actually, it’s a wireless handheld game console,” McGee corrects me.  
“Wireless. That means traceable,” Alice reminds them.  
“If he’s playing it, and we knew his online gaming ID. Yeah.”  
“We do,” Mann states.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abs?” Alice asks her as we walk into the lab.  
“Tony already called him on it. Looks like while Sharif was waiting for Major Maguire to pop his cork, he spent four hours at the bowling alley playing an online video game called Killer Kud-suckers,” Abby informs us in one breath.  
“You got his handle?” McGee asks her hopefully.  
“Almost there. Oh, look. It’s ‘agent Gibbs.’”  
“Jethro. Why do you always attract the crazies? Ari? Mann? Sharif?” Alice asks me softly so no one else hears her.  
“Accessing the multi-player registry. He’s online. He’s actually been online over an hour,” McGee informs me over the top of Alice.  
“He’s not in any rush,” Abby informs us.  
“No, he’s waiting for something. A plane or,” Mann corrects my people as she glares at Alice. I guess she heard the insult Alice whispered.  
“A train! He’s at the Amtrac station,” McGee informs us suddenly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He’s still online,” McGee informs us when we arrive at the train station.  
“National Guard is sending in a response team with antidote,” Mann informs us.  
“If someone wants to suggesting waiting for him outside I won’t complain,” Tony jokes.  
“Ziva, lock the station down. Nothing leaves,” I order her as we walk inside the Train station.  
“Which way, McGee?” Tony asks us.  
“I don’t know. He went offline,” McGee informs us sadly because he is failing us.  
“DiNozzo,” I call to my agent.  
“Yeah, boss?” Tony asks me.  
“Have security block all exits,” Mann orders him.  
“I’m on it,” Tony informs us as he leaves to do his job.  
‘Train number eighty-four… is now boarding on track eighteen,’ an announcer announces over the PA as Alice and I walk past Mamoun Sharif.  
“Jethro,” Alice hits me and points to the suspect.  
“Boss; are you all right?” McGee asks me as I hear the gun fire again.  
“NCIS! Get down on the ground, Sharif!” I order Sharif as I point the gun at him. Sharif looks over at Alice and myself pointing our guns on him before he throws the contaminated money into the air, attracting the people’s attention around us to the falling money, making him disappear. I quickly run after him.  
“Get the money!” Alice orders McGee.  
“What about Sharif?” McGee asks her.  
“We got him! We got him!” Alice snaps at him as she takes off after us.  
“Don’t touch the money!” McGee orders the civilians.  
“The money’s contaminated! Put it down!” Mann overlaps McGee before we’re out of earshot of them. We chance Sharif down a hall and into the men’s room.  
“IT’s over, Sharif,” I snap at him as Alice stumbles.   
“Give yourself in before you get hurt,” Alice orders him before she falls to the ground. I attempt to get closure to Sharif, but I also stumble.  
“IS something wrong, Agent Gibbs? Todd?” Sharif teases us as I fall to the ground.  
“What did you do?” I demand of him as I look at Alice, she’s too far away from me to protected her.  
“Those lovely hand tools. Undetectable until it reaches your bloodstream. A little early, but I am not complaining,” Sharif informs me as I struggle to get up and attack him, but he carefully picks up Alice’s gun and aims her gun at me and his own gun at Alice’s pretty head. She’s unconscious so that she can’t get out of the way. He continues to talk, “Their names were Cassandra, Dmitri, and Bashira. They were my family. Until one of your country’s smart bombs was not too smart. Do you know what it’s like to lose your family? They say everyone you kill, you just make ten more like me! But I think today, just one will be enough.” He goes to pull the trigger of the gun pointed at Alice, but someone shoots him first making me look at the door to see Mann and Tony there.  
“Hang on, Boss. National guard’s here. They’ve got the antidote,” Tony informs me.  
“Alice,” I gasp out in fear. She has to be alright. She just has to be.  
“She’s fine. You’re both going to be all right, boss,” McGee informs me from where he is checking on Alice.  
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“Hey, Jethro,” Alice mumbles as she walks into the lounge where I am watching TV tonight. We have both been given the all clear from the BZ gas. I am wearing my USMC sweatshirt and sweat pants while Alice is wearing just my NIS sweatshirt, a different one, and underwear, that’s it. Her beautiful hair is out of its holder for a changing meaning it falls down her back and over her breasts, landing below her beautiful ass.  
“Hey, baby,” I respond to her as I open my arms, allowing her to sit on my lap.  
“Why does everyone who is trying to kill you end up getting me too?” Alice mumbles to me as she cuddles into my chest.  
“I don’t know. I wish they wouldn’t.”  
“Me too. I really don’t like hospitals,” Alice complains making me laugh at her.  
“ME too... I hate them. Especially when you’re the one who needs them.”  
“Mm-hmm,” Alice hums.  
“…Which happened today. Station officials have said certain areas will remain closed for further,” the reporter reports on the news on my TV.  
“Why don’t you go back to bed baby?” I ask her when she begins to fall asleep on my lap.  
“Beds cold,” Alice complains again making me laugh at her, she always uses that excuse when she wants me to join her.  
“Do you want me to come to bed?” I ask her with a laugh making her hum in agreement.  
“Well, you are very hot,” Alice says innocently.  
“Okay, baby. Come on,” I laugh as I lightly smack her ass, making her get up and I get up. I turn the TV and lights off before following Alice upstairs into bed. I remove my sweatshirt before turning the light off in the bedroom. I climb into the bed and Alice immediately crawls into the bed and snuggles up on my chest, with a happy hum.  
“Hm-mmm… much better,” Alice mumbles into my chest.  
“Sleep baby,” I order her softly as I rub her hair, slowly putting her back to sleep. I always leave the bathroom light on for Alice, so I can see her beautiful face in the light, and she looks so peaceful when she is asleep, and I love to watch it. Once I am sure she is asleep I whisper to her, “Baby, one day I am going to marry you, but I don’t think it’s going to be anytime soon. Unfortunately.”


	43. POLL... please vote and help me

Who do you want to walk in on Alice and Gibbs when they have having a private moment?

Mann  
Shepard  
Ziva   
Abby  
Tony   
McGee  
Ducky  
Mike franks  
Fornell  
Mystery red-head  
Diane (first ex-wife)  
Rebecca (second ex-wife)  
Stephanie (third ex-wife)  
Other


	44. Doctor *

Thank you ShadowPhoenix34 for taking the time to answer my question for this chapter and future chapters.  
And thank you Monkeyface-fan1 for giving me the idea on who to get to treat Alice for her condition.  
“Hey baby. Are you alright?” Gibbs asks me softly in the squad room as I finish my paperwork today.  
“I’m nervous,” I whisper to him as I stop pretending that I’m getting work done.  
“Do you want me to come with you?” Gibbs asks me as he sits on the edge of my desk.  
“I don’t know. I don’t like doctors.”  
“I know you don’t. Come on, I’ll come and protect you from the big bad doctor,” Gibbs whispers to me as me moves my hair behind my ear from where it fell into my eyes.  
“Will you?” I ask him hopefully because I’m really scared of the doctors.  
“OF course,” Gibbs promises me before adding, “Come on baby. Let’s go before your late.”  
“Yeah, yeah,” I complain as I get up and grab my jacket as Gibbs grabs his own to go with me.  
“You hate a lot of things. FBI, Shepard, Mann, doctors, Ari, school. It’s kind of funny,” Gibbs laughs at me as the elevator door opens and we step inside.  
“I don’t hate the FBI. I just hate the people who work for them. Big difference,” I defend myself making Gibbs laugh harder.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
I walk into the doctor’s surgery with Alice, and over to the counter to check her in.  
“Good afternoon. How may I help you?” the receptionist greets us with a smile.  
“Hi… um my names Alice Todd, I have an appointment at 1530,” Alice informs her shyly.  
“Yes, thank you. Please take a seat and fill out this form. When you are done please bring it back to here and the doctor will be with you soon,” the receptionist informs us as she hands Alice the form making us node before walking over to a couple of chairs and sitting down. I gently grab Alice’s hand to make sure she knows I’m here for her. She begins filling out the form, as I pick up a couple of todays newspaper of the table to read as we wait for the doctor. After a little while Alice finishes filling out the form and returns it to the reception desk before moving back over to me and wrapping her arms around my arm and leans her head on my shoulder.  
“Miss Todd,” the doctor calls out to her after a long time of waiting. The doctor is a female with her hair pulled to the back of her head in a bun, she is wearing pink scrubs and according to her name take her name is Benoit…  
“DO you want me to come with you baby?” I ask her softly as she stands up, I don’t want to go if she wants to do this herself.  
“I think I can do it,” Alice says unsurely but she stills wants to do it herself, so I’ll trust her.  
“Okay, baby. If you need me, I’ll be here,” I agree with her as she nodes before walking over to the female doctor. I watch Alice walk out of the room before I return to the newspaper I am reading.  
Time continues to crawl by as I wait for Alice to return from the doctor’s with a, hopefully, clean bill of health and that she’s having trouble breathing because of something we can chance so she gets better. After almost half an hour of talking Alice walks out.  
“Hey, how’d it go, baby?” I ask Alice as she walks over to me.  
“I have to get a lung function test, x-ray and a blood test done. And return,” Alice informs me sadly making me node as I walk over to the receptionist desk to book the next appointment.  
After we leave the doctors instead of going back to work, I take Alice to get the tests done so that we don’t forget to get them done before next week when she will have her next appointment.  
The tests take the rest of the afternoon so that when we’re done with them we head straight home for the night.  
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“Gear up,” I order my team as I walk into the squad room this morning. I am wearing a white shirt with a red shirt over top and a black suite jacket that is sitting over the back of my chair.  
Alice is wearing a sexy, tight red shirt that has a rope around her neck, her shoulders are bare but then there are sleeves fall to her hands. The sleeves have a hole that she has her thumbs through, so it doesn’t move up. It is showing me her breast, just covering them but I’m not going to complain. She si also wearing jeans but the side of the jeans have flowery, white, lacy from the top of her thigh down to her ankle, and it looks great. She is wearing a pair of combat boots that NCIS supply to all their agents, and over the back of her chair there is my cream jacket that she is wearing today. I am going to have a talk about her stealing my clothing at work. She has to stop teasing me at work or we’ll be getting in trouble when Shepard walks in on my taking her.  
“Where are we going?” Tony asks me as they all get their gear for the crime scene.  
“Norfolk. Dead navy nurse. Tony, gas the truck,” I order Tony as I throw him the keys.  
“Yes boss,” Tony agrees as he catches the keys and we step into the elevator.   
“McGee call Ducky.”  
“Yes, boss,” McGee agrees with me.  
“Do we know anything?” Alice asks me.  
“She was due to deploy on the USS Cole in a week. That’s the time we have to work this out,” I inform her making her node.  
“Okay.”  
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“Wow,” Alice mumbles as we walk into the victim’s bedroom at her house. The entire room is ripped apart, and she is splayed out on the bed. She is wearing a slip that is pushed up, displaying her breasts to the world and blood covers her entire body like a blanket. The victim is a short, redhaired, pale girl who couldn’t be over thirty. Her red hair is spread out over the pillows, making her look like an angle. The bedroom has furniture everywhere, the curtains are pulled off the wall. So is the lights and the clothing are thrown everywhere.   
“Tony, shoot and sketch,” I order him as I look around the room.  
“On it, boss,” Tony agrees as he gets to work.  
“McGee, collect evidence,” I order him next.  
“Will do, boss,” McGee agree with him.  
“Ziva, the neighbour found her. Talk to him.”  
“On it,” Ziva agrees as she turns and leaves to talk to the neighbour.  
“Where’s the husband?” Alice asks me as she picks up the broken wedding photo of the ground after Tony photographs it.  
“Unaccounted for,” I answer her making her node before handing it to McGee to bag and tag it.  
“Okay,” Alice mumbles as she looks around the room. She asks me, “Do we know the victim’s name?”  
“Not yet… Ziva should get it from the neighbour,” I inform her as Ducky walks into the room.  
“Sorry we’re late gentle men and ladies. Palmer got us lost,” Ducky informs us as he walks into the room.  
“Doctor, you were the one with the map,” Jimmy reminds Ducky.  
“Palmer, you should know by now not to trust dad with a map,” Alice reminds him before asking Ducky, “Is she wearing her dog-tags? We need a name please.”  
“Got a TOD Duck?” I ask him.  
“Jethro, I just meet the dearly departed,” Ducky exclaims making me give him my boyish, half smile that Alice’s seems to love.   
“Are her dog tags there?” Alice asks them again.  
“No,” Jimmy answers her after checking around the victim’s neck.  
“TOD is approximately between 1300 and 1500,” Ducky informs us as he looks at the liver prob.  
“Do we have a course of death?” Alice asks Ducky as she looks over the victim.  
“I’d hazard a guess of blood lose but I wouldn’t know for sure until we get her back to autopsy,” Ducky answers her as Palmer brings over the body bag so they can move her. Alice and I look around the room, looking for something to help us with the case.  
“Emma Jones,” Alice reads off the driver’s license she found on the floor, next to the door and empty bag. She looks at the license and the victim, they look like the same person, so we have a name. Alice informs us, “There’s no cards or cash in it besides the money.”  
“Maybe it’s a robbery gone wrong,” Tony offers as he looks around the room.  
“Maybe,” I agree with him as Alice bags and tags the empty bag and license.  
“Her navy ID card is missing, Jethro,” Alice informs me as she looks around the room for it. That’s not good, maybe that’s what the killer wanted. Alice and I walk out of the bedroom and into the living room where Ziva is talking to the neighbour.   
“Gibbs, Alice, this Benjamin Baker, the neighbour who found the victim,” Ziva introduces us to him.  
“Hello, call me Ben,” Ben says as he stands up to shake our hands.  
“He was just telling me why he came over,” Ziva reminds him.  
“I always come over at this time to make sure she’s okay. Her husband… he doesn’t like her having friends, so I make sure she’s okay when he’s not home.”  
“How did you get in?” Alice asks him next.  
“She leaves a key under the mailbox, there is a loose brick that she puts it in. When I knocked and there was no answer, I got worried and got it. I unlocked the door and called out for her, then I found her like that… dead, there’s so much blood,” Ben exclaims.  
“Did you touch the body?” I ask him next.  
“Yeah, I tried to give her CPR. But she was gone,” Ben informs us.  
“Do you know where her husband is?” Ziva asks him.  
“No. I never care where he goes, and she doesn’t… didn’t like talking about her husband, so I just talked to her.”  
“Were you sexual involved with her?” I ask him after a moment.  
“No,” Ben yells before looking so heartbroken. After a moment he continues, “She was like a sister to me… she was trying to talk me into telling my family that I am gay. But I didn’t want to, she was the only person I know that wasn’t disgusted by that. When she got home from her deployment she was going to come with me to tell my parents.”  
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“Emma Jones, twenty-three. Joined the navy at eighteen and begin study to be a nurse. She was all set for her second deployment next week,” Tony reports in the squad room as we all stares at the victim’s face on the plasma screen above Alice’s desk.  
“She is on the UUS Cole… destroyer, set to deploy from Norfolk for eighteen months. She hasn’t had any complaints against her on the ship,” Alice adds next to me.  
“She married her high school crush at the age of seventeen, when they fell pregnant, but she lost the baby. His name is Cole Jones… and he has an airtight alibi for the murder,” Ziva informs me.  
“Yeah, what is it?” I ask her.  
“He’s been in the local drug tank since last morning. They still have him on ice, waiting for him to be bailed out for DUI.”  
“Well, that’s as airtight as you can get,” Tony comments.  
“What else do we have?” I demand of them.  
“Um, the victim’s computer is encrypted, Abby said it’s going to take some time to get into it. It might have something on it to give us a lead,” McGee reports to me.  
“Help her,” I order him.  
“On it,” McGee agrees as he rushes off to help her.  
“Anything else?”  
“Don’t know anything else,” Tony admits as my phone begins to ring.  
“Gibbs,” I answer it.  
“Jethro, I have something,” Ducky informs me.  
“On our way,” I inform him before hanging up and stating, “Ducky has something. I want to talk to the husband. And a background check on them both.”  
“On its boss,” Tony says.  
“On it, Gibbs,” Ziva overlaps Tony as I walk away with Alice following me. We step into the elevator in silence and Alice hits the button for autopsy.  
“Jethro; how could someone get married at seventeen?” Alice asks me in confusion.  
“You can get married from sixteen with parental consent,” I inform her.  
“But why? If you love them, why do you have to marry them? You can just love them.”  
“I don’t know.”  
“Or wait until your older.”  
“So, when you’re older, you’ll marry me?” I ask her with a smirk.  
“Why? I already have you. I don’t need the government saying you can’t leave, I have a gun to say that,” Alice informs me making me smirk, that does make sense, but I still am going to marry her someday.  
“Because, the government is going to say that you can’t leave me,” I inform her as I corner in the elevator so that I can lean down and kiss her. She reaches up and pulls my head closure to her face, kissing me hard, fighting for control, as I run my hands off the wall and over her breast. I gently squeeze her left breast, making her moan. I continue to kiss her until the elevator binges, making me move away from my girlfriend with another smirk. She slowly blinks for a moment before forcing herself away from the wall and follows me out of the elevator into autopsy.  
“What do we have, dad?” Alice asks Ducky as we walk into autopsy, trying to hide her beautiful blush.  
“Overkill,” Ducky answers her as he points to the victim. He continues, “She was stabbed seventy-two times in total. Fifty-five times in her pelvis area, eleven on her hands in a defensive position and six on her torso. The knife was eight inches in length and one and a half inches in width.”  
“Was she raped?” I ask him when he stops his ramble.  
“Unfortunately. I sent Abby the swab,” Ducky answers me making us all freeze.  
“Anything else?” Alice asks him.  
“Yes, she was five weeks pregnant,” Ducky informs us. He continues to ramble about pregnancy, but we walk out of autopsy, leaving him talking to his latest guest. We step back in the elevator to ride it up to the lab this time.  
“How can someone rape a petty girl like her?” Alice asks me in confusion, but I don’t know.  
“We’ll work it out,” I promise her as I pull her into a hug. She’s too kind and feels bad for everyone who is a victim.  
“He’s going to pay,” Alice states making me node. He’s going to pay all right.  
“Yeah,” I agree with her as we walk into the lab where Abby and McGee are working on the computer. “What do you have?” I ask them as we walk in making them both jump in surprise.   
“You’re early,” Abby exclaims.  
“We had an appointment?” Alice asks her.  
“No, but I have nothing for you yet,” Abby explains to Alice.  
“Your computer says otherwise,” Alice mouths of while she points to the kit the computer has making Abby spin around to see the hit.  
“IT didn’t binge,” Abby complains as she pulls up the hit.  
“I’ll get you a cat bell, so it can always binge when you get a hit,” Alice informs Abby making her smile at Alice.  
“What do you have?” I ask her again.  
“A hit on the victim’s DNA,” Abby informs me before continuing, “She has a missing person report out on her since the 80’s. She was taken from her school. The case is still open.”  
“Who’s case?” Alice asks her in surprise.  
“NIS. That’s all it says. It’s not computerised. You’ll have to find the paper copy, sorry,” Abby informs us.  
“What’s the case file number?”   
“November-Charlie-India-Sierra one-nine-seven-one-one-two-three-five-four-nine,” Abby reads off to Alice who writes it down in her notebook.  
“Anything else?” I ask her.  
“I need more time Gibbs.”  
“How long?”  
“Twelve hours, maybe longer,” Abby answers me, and I stare at her.  
“You have two,” I inform her before walking out of the room with Alice and head back to the elevator.  
“I’ll look into the missing person case,” Alice informs me.  
“Good luck,” I mumble because there are so many files to look through.  
“Yeah, I’ll need it,” Alice complains as she hits the button for the garage because the files aren’t held in this building anymore.  
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“What do we have?” I ask my team the later today as I walk into the squad room with a fresh cup of coffee for myself and one for Alice.  
“A headache,” Alice answers me without looking up from the file as I place the coffee on her desk.  
“Tony?” I turn to him while I ignore Alice’s comment for the moment.  
“The husband is in integration room one for you,” Tony answers me.  
“And?”  
“He has a messy background. Ten years ago, an ex-girlfriend got a restraining order against him because of physical abuse he commented against her,” Tony reports as he puts the file up on the plasma between his and Tony’s desk.  
“Ziva,” I turn to her.  
“She is an outstanding navy nurse. Born on 12 of January in 1983. A missing person report in the 80’s but I can’t find the exact date or the report at all… the cops are called to their house at least once a week when she is not deployed. Emma Jones never press charges, but Cole has spent a total of three years in prison for beating her, DUI, public intoxication and illegal gambling. Why doesn’t she press charges?” Ziva informs us as she puts up her own informs.  
“Because Ziva when you press charges against abuser they get worse when they get out. And it’s almost impossible to prove it, it’s your word against theirs. And the only way to be safe is to move away and change your name, phone number, email and everything else, including your friends. And they still find you, no matter how careful you are,” Alice informs her as she stands up and walks over to us. She continues to report, “I’ve been reading the report. Mike needs to learn to write or type because this is worse then Tony’s writing… anyway from what I can understand of this writing, Emma Jones was kidnapped from her home on 14 of February in 1983. Her father was deployed overseas, Mike worked the case for six months, but she never showed up. The science wasn’t very good back then, so he had to go off the leg works, and no one had seen anything. The Emma’s parents are still alive and living in her old home. Their going to be here tomorrow morning.”  
“McGee?” I call to him next but he’s not here making me ask them, “Where’s McGee?”  
“Still helping Abby with the computer,” Tony informs me.  
“Let’s go,” I order them before storming off to talk to the ‘loving’ husband. They follow me to the integration room, and Alice joins me in integration room while Tony and Ziva enter the observation room.   
“Good afternoon, sir,” Alice greets him softly. Cole is a brown-haired man that would be 6’2 when standing. He is a chubby man, with bushy eyebrows, his not wearing his wedding ring but he is still wearing his high school ring. He is wearing beer, stained yellowing, white shirt and ripped jeans, making him look more homeless then loved.  
“Who are you people?” Cole demands of us.  
“NCIS,” I answer him.  
“What can I do for NCIS today? Did I hit something on base?”  
“Sir, your wife was found dead this morning,” Alice informs him.  
“What? THAT’S NOT FUNNY.”  
“Sir, we don’t joke about death,” Alice informs him.  
“You have to be joking,” Cole cries as Alice and I sit down across from him.  
“Mr Jones, did you know your wife was pregnant?” I ask him softly.  
“No. that’s not possible. We were trying but I’m sterile. She can’t be pregnant.”  
“IS that why you were beating her up?” Alice asks her.  
“I never laid a hand on my wife.”  
“What about all those police reports?” Alice asks him as he hands him copies.  
“We have screaming matches and the neighbours call the police. I never laid a hand on her, but I did… I admit that I verbally abused her,” Cole admits.  
“You think that’s better? Verbal abuse can be worse,” Alice informs him.  
“Do you know who would want to kill your wife?” I ask Cole.  
“You mean besides me?” Cole asks me.  
“You were in the drunk tank when she died,” Alice informs him.  
“There’s this couple that call us all the time. I don’t know who they are, but they scare Em… please, find who killed her. I might have hurt her when we fought but I love her,” Cole begs of us.  
“We will,” Alice promises him as she moves from her seat and pulls Cole into a hug. She continues, “Can you tell us anything at will help us find her?”  
“I don’t know anything else. Please,” Cole begs of my girl as she’s holding her tightly in a hug.  
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“Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs,” Abby exclaims while bouncing on the spot as I walk back into the squad room with Alice, Tony and Ziva,  
“Abby, Abby, Abby,” Alice copies Abby right down to the bouncing, making Alice’s boobs bounce, not that I mind.  
“We cracked the computer,” Abby exclaims happily.  
“What did you find?” I ask her.  
“You’re going to love this,” Abby exclaims.  
“We found this,” McGee explains as he pulls up an online diary.  
“Is that all?” Tony asks him.  
“So far. There’s more but we need more time. But it’s a start,” Abby explains to us.  
“So, one has to read it,” McGee adds.  
“Where’s Kate when you need her?” Alice asks us because last time there was an online dairy, Alice volunteered her sister.  
“Thanks for volunteering Alice,” I state making her groan.  
“I read Mike’s writing, but you want me to read this too?”   
“That’s what I said.”  
“Least it’s not handwritten,” Alice complains as Abby prints it out for her.  
“There you go,” Aby happily says to Alice.  
“Thanks. Just want I wanted to spend my day doing,” Alice mumbles as she moves over to the printer to collect the diary to read.  
“Anything else?” I demand of them.  
“Nope,” Abby pops her P in answer.  
“I want to be able to see that whole computer,” I order them making them node before leaving back to the lab. Alice returns to the squad room with a 3-inch-thick pages of the diary.  
“I hate you sometimes,” Alice hisses at me as she waves the paper at my face.  
“Mm-hmm. We need answers,” I remind her as we all return to our desks to work as Alice mumbles to herself. She sits down and begin to read the diary.  
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I walk up the stairs from my basement to see Alice sitting on the lounge with Ugly Tony still reading that diary, making me smile at how devoted she is to our job. She is wearing my NIS shirt and nickers, that’s it.  
“Hey baby,” I greet her as I walk over and kiss the top of her head before rubbing Ugly Tony’s head.  
“Hey,” Alice mumbles without looking away from the diary. I sit beside her and wrap my arm around her.  
“You find anything yet?” I ask Alice, but she just hums as she continues to read. I release I’m not going to get an answer from her, so I just pick up my copy of the daily newspaper and begin reading it, leaving Alice to read the diary.  
“What is a dom-sub relationship?” Alice asks me after almost an hour of silence except for the turning of the pages.  
“Why do you ask?” I ask her in surprise, why is she asking me about that? Has Tony said something about that? Is it something she wants to try? What is going on?  
“For the last four or five chapters in this diary, Emma has been talking about being a dom looking for a new, better behaved sub. That her husband wouldn’t understand,” Alice explains to me making me blink in surprise.  
“It’s… um… sexual relationship… something, that,” I begin but I trail off with a heave blush. Why does she have to be so innocent and get me into all these situations?  
“Jethro?” Alice ask me as she turns to face me completely, her head resting on my shoulder as she looks into my eye.  
“It’s something people are into… a dom is the boss while the sub is supposed to be an obedient worker who does what the boss wants sexually,” I explain to her the best I can making her node.  
“Emma was a dom and she is talking about her sub is a fake. She keeps going on and on about how she’s been betrayed by this guy,” Alice explains to me. She continues, “She is working up the carriage to tell her husband that she wanted a divorce because she can’t be married to someone who is a fake and a lier. That he is nothing a drunk, gambling lier who can’t fulfil her sexually needs. She’s ben rambling for a couple of pages. She’s also spoke about the different lawyers she has spoken to about the pending divorce.”  
“Okay. We’ll look into that in the morning. Is there anything else? Or is that it?”  
“I’m on the last log from the night before she died,” Alice informs me as she continues to read the diary entries.  
“Okay, baby,” I mumble as I kiss the top of her head. She snuggles into my chest as she continues to read the diary, looking for something useful.  
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“I can’t believe you found that… she looks too sweat to be a dom,” Tony complains in the squad room the next morning. Alice is wearing a red, singlet that crosses at her back under a whit jacket. And a pair of well fitted jeans and her combat boots, with her horse belt that I replaced when Tony and Kate destroyed it.  
“Well, you could have found it if you read the diary,” Alice reminds Tony.  
“Did you find anything else?” I ask her.  
“Yeah. She found a new sub… she’s been talking to him on the deep web. She’s apparently been talking to him for six months but recently she became scared of him. She was saying something about him knowing her real name when she used a fake name, she cut it off, but she swears that he was outside her house the night before she died,” Alice informs me.  
“What about the missing person report?” I ask Ziva who has taken over that investigation.  
“Um… she went missing when in 83. Mike investigated it but there was no leads or reason. The case quickly went cold. It is still open, but we only had her DNA,” Ziva informs us.  
“Boss, this is Mr and Mrs Marks are in interview room one,” McGee informs us as he walks into the squad room.  
“Come on, Alice. McGee, I need to see what’s on that computer,” I order him as we walk out of the squad room and down to the interview room.  
“Good morning, Mr and Mrs Marks. I am Agent Alice Todd, and this is Special agent Jethro Gibbs,” Alice introduces us as we sit down across from the elderly couple.  
“Did you find my daughter?” Mrs Marks begs of us.  
“We did. And I apologise from the bottom of my heart, but she passed away,” Alice informs her softly, making Mrs Marks cry into her husband’s chest.  
“How?” Mr Marks demands of us. He continues, “How did my daughter die? Where has she been for the last twenty-three years?”   
“We’re looking into both of those questions now. Can you help us understand what happened twenty-three years ago?” I ask them.  
“I feed her… and put her to bed before going to bed myself. I work up in the middle of the night to feed her and she was gone. I don’t know when she was taken or how… I slept through it,” Mrs Marks informs us.  
“Did you ever have a suspicion of who might have taken her? Or why?” Alice asks them softly.  
“My… I was having an affair. I ended it when Mary got pregnant. She swore to destroy my family when I broke it off with her. I told the NCIS agent, but she disappeared, and no one could find her,” Mr Marks informs us as he nodes to his wife, Mary.  
“What is her name?” I ask him.  
“Liz Smith… I’m not sure if that’s her real name anymore.”  
“What did she look like?” Alice asks him as she takes notes.  
“Um… it was a while ago.”  
“Anything you can remember. Please.”  
“She had black hair… I remember she was shorter than me, I could and would rest my chin on her head. Um… she was sick… yeah that’s right, she was always sick. It was a permanent disease and she was always at the doctors and hospitals.”  
“Do you remember why?” I ask him.  
“There was something wrong in her brain that makes her collapse at random. That’s all I remember. I’m sorry.”  
“That’ll help… would you like to see your daughter?” Alice asks them making them quickly node. She gets up and leads them out as I pick up her note book to find something useful. I walk into the squad room to talk to my team.  
“DiNozzo, find this woman,” I order him as I hit him in the back of the head because he’s talking on his phone again. I drop the note book on the table before continuing over to my desk.  
“Who is she?” Tony questions me.  
“Someone who was a person of interested in Emma’s kidnapping back in 83.”  
“Okay. Is this all there is?”  
“Yes… check the hospitals. Morgues, I want to talk to her.”  
“On it, boss.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do we have?” I ask Abby and McGee as I walk into the lab with Alice.  
“We’re in,” Abby answers me without looking away from the computer.  
“We got into the computer. She was into sexual roleplaying online,” McGee adds as he continues to work at the computer.  
“Anything useful?” Alice asks them.  
“Yes. She was talking to this guy by the name of sub-eight-five. Her name is Mistress black. Not a very original name but it’s working for her. It was getting heated until,” Abby begins.  
“She cut it off last week,” Alice cuts Abby off.  
“Yeah… that diary give you that?”  
“Yep. Anything else?”  
“Yeah. He was creepy, he calls her by her real name. Talks about what she was wearing that day and how her husband was a bum. She ended it, but he kept messaging her every day until an hour before she died.”  
“This is the last message,” McGee informs us before putting it on the plasma screen to read.  
‘I WILL KILL YOU BITCH… YOU WOULDN’T LEAVE ME AGAIN.’  
“That sounds like a solid suspected,” Alice comments.  
“Do we have a name?” I ask them.  
“We traced the user name,” Abby begins.  
“We got an IP,” McGee continues.  
“From there we were able to get a location.”  
“Then we got a name.”  
“McGee, Abby. Name before I die of old age,” Alice cuts them off.  
“Um… right… Dave Marks,” Abby informs us making Alice and I exchange looks before leaving the lab for the squad room quickly. We rush up into the elevator and hit the button for the squad room, as Alice bounces on the spot. This elevator has never felt so slow. The door is only cracked open when I rush out with Alice hot on my tail, we run into the squad room.  
“Where is the Marks?” Alice demands of Tony and Ziva.  
“They left,” Tony answers her making Alice grab her phone to stop them at the gate.  
“Stop the Marks out the gate,” Alice orders the gauds before informing us, “They’re gone.”  
“I want Mr Marks back in here now,” I order them making them get to work on getting them back.  
“What’s going on?” Tony asks in confusion as he follows Ziva out to get them.  
“Alice, can you?” I ask her as I point to Tony’s research on Liz Smith.  
“Yeah, I’ll look for the missing mistress,” Alice promise me as she takes Tony’s notes to look for him. I sit at my desk, looking for information on Emma by reading her work and training history that Ziva got for me. Alice continues to look for the missing mistress but it’s not going to be easy, if possible at all.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Their gone, boss,” Tony reports when he returns to the squad room.  
“What’s going on?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Dave Marks was having an online sexual relationship with his own daughter,” Alice informs them making Tony blink.  
“That’s messed up,” Tony comments.  
“IT gets worse. He was stalking and threatening her.”  
“I’ve put a BOLO out on them,” Ziva informs us.  
“You got anything else?” I ask Alice.  
“No… well maybe not. I looked into Liz Smith, but I couldn’t find her, so I went through the old birth, death and marriages in the newspapers and found this,” Alice reports to us as she puts up an old newspaper on the plasma screen above her desk reading.  
‘Young women mysteriously disappear from her boyfriend’s house.’  
“Check the date,” Alice informs us as she zooms in on the date, 14 February 1984. She continues, “Her body was found five days later, stabbed to death. Seventy-nine times.” She clicks the button showing the case file photo of the victim. She looks like Emma physically and the stabbing pattern was the same. She continues, “I know. When I first saw it, I thought I was looking at Emma. They look the same right? Anyway, I spoke to the ME. He remembers this case like it’s yesterday. She was tortured and starved before she was murdered. She was ten weeks pregnant. Ladies and gentlemen meet Liz Smith. Identified by her mother and husband. She’s been dead for years.”  
“DO they know who killed her?” I ask her.  
“There were many suspects. Most got cleared but for the boyfriend and the boyfriend’s best friend,” Alice informs me as she puts up two photos, Dave Marks and an unknown man.  
“Who’s he?” Tony asks her.  
“Dave Marks best friend, and best man at his wedding. Ensign James White in the us Navy. Now Admiral James White, Emma’s commanding officer.”  
“That’s more than a coincidence that her father’s best friend is her boss,” Tony comments.  
“Bring him in,” I order them.  
“On it, boss,” Tony exclaims as he rushes off with Ziva to get the admiral.  
“McGee find the Marks,” I order him next.  
“On it, boss,” McGee exclaims as he gets to work.  
“Alice, coffee please,” I ask her making Alice node before grabbing her coat to go get coffee for me. This is a confusion case, and it’s seems to be getting worse.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Good morning, Admiral White,” Alice greets him as we walk into the integration room where he is hold. James White was a balding older man, the hair he does have is grey. He has glasses and beady eyes. He is wearing his NAVY uniform.   
“What is good about it? I have been waiting for over an hour,” White snaps at us.  
“How well did you know Emma Jones?” I ask him as we sit down across from him, ignoring him angry glare.  
“She worked under me for three years. I know her as well as a commander can now anyone.”  
“Did you know she was the missing daughter of your best friend?” Alice asks him next.  
“No… if I did, I would’ve told Dave.”  
“Do you want to know something interesting?” Alice asks him.  
“What?”  
“She was murdered… it was identical to Liz Smiths murder back in 83,” Alice informs him.  
“You’re not pinning this one on me too… I didn’t kill Liz back in 83 and I didn’t kill Emma Jones now,” White snaps at us angrily.  
“Where were you between 1300 and 1500 two days ago?” I ask him.  
“Working… I was in a meeting,” White snaps at me.  
“Anyone able to prove that?”  
“Yeah… we were going over the final plans for the deployment.”  
“Emma Jones ID was missing… has anyone entered using her ID lately?”  
“No… why am I only just hearing about this?” White demands of her.  
“Because you didn’t need to hear about it until now… are you sure or is there something your lying about? Because your leaking on the desk,” Alice snaps back at her making him blink and wipe his head.  
“I’m telling you the truth,” White snaps at Alice but I just stare at him. He’s lying and we all know it. After a long silence of us staring at him, he finally admits, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“What’s making you feel guilty? Something in your past or something know?” Alice demands of him, but he just sits in silence again.   
“I told him that I thought she was his daughter,” White mumbles.  
“Who?” I demand of him.  
“Dave… I told him that I think Emma Jones was his daughter. He came to me, saying how he was talking to her online and needed something to keep her interested until he worked out how to tell her his suspicions and ask for a DNA… I told him everything I know about her, but I… I don’t know who killed her. She was so innocent,” White informs us, almost crying.  
“Why would you do that? You could have ordered her to talk the DNA test,” Alice states.  
“I didn’t want to get involved… more then I already was…”  
“What is that supposed to mean?” I demand of him.  
“Back in 83, I helped him fake her kidnapping. I watched the house when he was deployed and took her when no one would notice. He paid me to leave Emma on a step of a couple who couldn’t have a baby three towns over. He said that the baby was destroying his marriage and getting rid of her would fix it. I picked the couple because they would love her like their own.”  
“You’ve known this all these years?” Alice asks me as she blinks in surprise. How can someone lie about that to his best mate’s wife for twenty-three years?  
“Dave said if I told anyone he would kill me… just like he did Liz… you have to believe me,” White yells in fear for his life.  
“Why would he kill his mistress?” I ask him.  
“Because she worked it out. She was an investigator, some small-town newspaper. She began investigating him some time after Emma disappeared and worked out he planed it. She confronted him, and he killed her… please, he’s going to kill me next.”  
“Why did he take his wife with him when he ran?” Alice asks him next.  
“Who do you think cleaned up the blood of Liz? Probably Emma too?” White snaps at Alice like she’s stupid and after a moment he continues, “Poor Emma… she was so excited to be deployed again, she loved her job. Such a sweet little thing, when she was a baby and still now… I was supposed to protected her, that’s why I gave her to that couple… I failed her,” White rambles to himself, releasing he helped this happen to the poor women.  
“Do you know where Dave and Mary Marks would be hiding right know?”   
“I don’t know… he’s different to the man I grow up with. Somewhere isolated where he can kill anything coming. He used to do that when we played army as kids.”  
“Stay here,” I order White as I lead Alice out of the room and storm in the squad room.  
“Have you found the Marks?” Alice asks my team hopefully as we enter.  
“Not yet,” Tony answers her.  
“They have a summer house in Vegas, but the local police checked it. It’s empty, they have a car standing on it,” Ziva informs us.  
“Sitting, not standing,” Tony corrects her. He continues to ramble, “You know this reminds me of a movie where…”  
“DO we have anything on them?” I demand of them as I cut Tony off.  
“I looked into the Marks… nothing besides Liz Smiths death.”  
“I looked into Emma Jones… she was given away at her marriage by her adoptive father, Harry Clark and her adoptive mother Kathrine Clark… I attempted to talk to them, but a car accident killed them last year,” Ziva reports as she taps the button on the remote for the plasma between each fated, on the plasma between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“Anything else?” Alice asks them.  
“Cole Jones, drunk, has gambling debts up to his eyeballs but no enemies to speak off. Meet Emma in high school and married her when he turned eighteen… he has one child to an ex-girlfriend when he was sixteen. Spent time in prison for DUI and illegal gambling,” McGee informs us next as he uses the remote to change the information.  
“Okay, amateur hour is over. Time for the professional. Emma Jones… also known as Mistress Black. Abby was able to get into her PM history, not only was she talking to her biological father online, but she was talking to another dom by the name of NAVY-83. She has been talking to NACY-83 about how hard it was being a dom without your co-workers finding out. They seem to be online friends, the only type McGeek can make. She was only talking about the dom lifestyle and different things to try with her sub until recently when she started talking about how she was left on her parents’ doorstep, and how that makes her wonder why her real parents didn’t want her. He seems to talk to her at all hours of the night… talking about his job, vaguely, and his wife who is his sub. He was encouraging her to find her real parents, and to get a divorce from her husband, so that she is free to find a better sub. But she wasn’t going for the second, while all for finding her parents and asking why. He offered her to send him a DNA sample and he will have it ran through AFIS… but he wouldn’t tell her how he had access to AFIS. The last message was right before she died, informing her that he wouldn’t be able to talk to her anymore,” Tony reports to me as he snatches the clicker off McGee and puts up his own information on the plasma.  
“I want an ID on this NAVY-83. Now,” I order them.  
“Abby is working on it know,” Tony informs me.  
“And I want the Marks back here,” I snap at them, how long does it take to find one couple?  
“We’re working on it, Jethro,” Alice informs me as she pulls up the BOLOs but there aren’t any hits. She continues as she takes the clicker and shows me what she has located on them before the integration of White to informs me, “No activity on their cards, phone, or passport since they left here. No one has seen them. Their car was located at their house, and everything looks like they were getting ready for dinner before just vanishing.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Well, that would be why no ones seen them since they left NCIS,” Alice comments as we all stare at the Marks dead in a cars boot. Their throat is slashed, so much that Mary’s head is no longer on her shoulders but sitting on her stomach. They are both still wearing the clothes that they were wearing when we spoke to them at NCIS this morning. The car is abandoned at a shopping mall that is closed for renovations.  
“Yeah,” Tony agrees with her.  
“How did you find them?” Alice asks the local LEO who called us in.  
“A 911 call about the smell… we popped the boot and my new partner lost his lunch,” the LEO informs us.  
“Do we know who owns the car?” I ask them.  
“NO… and we don’t know who called it in.”  
“Thanks for your help,” Alice says to the young officer with a smile, making me clench my fist, why is she smiling at him? He didn’t do anything.  
“No problem… listen, I have to get back to the office. Are you alright with this case?”  
“We’ve got it,” I inform him tightly when he obviously checks my girl out.  
“Okay, see you around,” he says before handing Alice a card with his phone number on it. On his way out of the scene, he passes Ducky walking over to us.  
“Duck, what can to tell me?” I ask him as Alice looks around the crime scene and Ziva moves away from the boot to allow Ducky access to the bodies.  
“I just got here Jethro. I need more time,” Ducky reminds me as he pulls out his liver prob for the victims.  
“The car was rented to a John Smith last night… the address give belongs to this parking lot,” McGee reports to me as he finishes looking into it.  
“They weren’t killed here. There isn’t any blood, or a sign of struggle,” Tony reports to me as he finishes casing the parking lot.  
“Do we have anything useful?” Alice begs of them.  
“Well, we have our missing couple,” Ziva reminds Alice making Alice whine.  
“But this isn’t how I wanted to find them… I wanted answers, not more questions.”  
“IT seems that these couple expired around the time that they left NCIS,” Ducky reports to us after checking the liver probs.  
“That explains why no one has seen them since then,” I comment as Jimmy helps Ducky move the bodies onto the body beds.  
“I think the course of death is obvious… but I’ll know more when I get back to autopsy,” Ducky informs us.  
“Thanks dad,” Alice says to him as Ducky gets ready to leave with eh bodies as we process the crime scene. Ziva is shoot and sketching the crime scene while Tony is bagging and tagging. McGee is searching the front of the car and Alice is searching the parking lot for anything of use.   
“Jethro,” Alice calls me over three parks where there is fresh oil puddle on the ground with a bit of ripped clothing.  
“Bag it,” I order her as she gets Ziva to photo it before swabbing the oil and bagging ripped clothing. McGee found in the front of the car, a few hairs on the driver seat, and the seat is pushed all the way to the back, meaning a tall person was driving the car.  
“How eats this much Chinese food?” Tony asks us because now the bodies are gone we can see six boxes of empty Chinese food.  
“Besides you? And Jethro?” Alice asks Tony.  
“Well, yeah... that’s a given,” Tony teases her back as she continues to move around the car parking lot.  
“Then McGee. And Kate.”  
“Besides the FEDs.”  
“Okay… then anyone who can’t cook… and likes to survive. And Chinese food,” Alice informs him.  
“Tony, transfer the car back to the garage for Abby,” I order him.  
“On it, boss,” Tony exclaims.  
“McGee find that nine-one-one caller.”  
“On it, boss,” McGee jumps in.  
“Ziva, see if you can find anyone who wanted the Marks dead, and if they have an alibi.”  
“On it, Gibbs,” Ziva agrees with me.  
“Alice look over their finances and phone records,” Gibbs orders me.  
“Will do,” Alice answers me with a node.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“How are you going?” Tony asks me as he continues to lean back on his desk, staring at the roof of the squad room.  
“Great… I hate looking through other peoples bank records, it’s depressing. I mean, they might be living it up, but they don’t have enough money to buy a coffee, let alone paying their bills,” I complain as I take a sip of coffee, making Tony laugh.  
“You know what this reminds me of?”  
“We don’t care,” Ziva hiss at him as she continues to work at her computer.  
“You should be working, Tony,” McGee adds from his own desk.  
“I am working,” Tony informs us.  
“On a reason to be autopsy isn’t working,” I inform him without looking up.  
“Okay. You’re snappy today, what’s up, not getting laid enough?”  
“Get back to work DiNozzo,” Gibbs orders Tony as he walks into the room and hits Tony on the back of the head for the comment.  
“Gibbs, I have found all the Marks enemies. There are three, Liz Smiths father. He is dead. Another is Admiral White, but he was in a meeting when the Marks died. The last is his wife, but she is I England,” Ziva reports to Gibbs as she uses the clicker to give the information on the plasma above my desk.  
“I looked into the finances of the Marks, they are dead broke. They have been in arears for everything for six years. Next week, the bank was going to take the house back. The car is in their son-in-law’s name, Cole Jones… and they had been paying him since he married Emma, so I guess they know him,” I inform Gibbs as I take the clicker and us it to put up the financial reports on the plasma before handing McGee clicker.  
“I’m still working in tracing the caller, but he’s turned the phone off,” McGee reports.  
“I got the car rental contract down to Abby,” Tony informs Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs,” Abby exclaims as she runs into the squad room making me look at her from where I am working at my computer.  
“Abby, what’s going on? Is the lab on fire?” I ask her as I move away from my computer and over to the panicking, caffeine high girl.  
“I worked it out,” Abby and McGee say together making us blink in surprise.  
“What do you mean you worked it out? I worked it out,” Abby corrects McGee.  
“No, I just did,” McGee corrects her, himself.  
“What did you find?” Gibbs demands of them but they both answer him together, making it impossible to work out who is saying what.  
“I worked,” Abby begins.  
“Throw time and,” McGee overlaps her.  
“So, I don’t know…”  
“Meaning that…”  
“Weird,” Abby continues making Gibbs whistle to shut them both up.  
“One at a time… Abby go,” Gibbs orders them.  
“First, I looked over the car rental contracted, and I got a fingerprint off it… Second, I also located the mystery dom. Beat that McGee,” Abby explains to us as she puts the photo up on the plasma screen, making me blink in surprise.  
“I located the nine-one-one caller,” McGee explains to us as he points to the photo making us blink in surprise again.  
“Well, I didn’t see that coming,” Tony comments.  
“This is going to be fun,” I complain.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
No one pov  
.  
Alice walks into integration one on her own, sitting across from the suspect without saying a word. She just stares at the suspect for a long moment before looking down at the file in her hand, making a point of opening it and read what it says.  
“You know, you almost got away with it, but you got cocky,” Alice informs the suspect, making the suspect look at her innocently.  
“I don’t know what you mean,” the suspect informs her without hesitation.  
“Murder and rape… you killed Emma Jones for money. And not a lot at that,” Alice informs him as she shows him his bank statement. She continues to inform him, “My partner is talking to your partner right now… who ever breaks first gets the deal.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Second suspect informs Gibbs integration two.   
“You killed them, while the only possible suspect had an alibi,” Gibbs informs him as he places the photo of the victims in autopsy without their heads, and the y incision done, in front of his suspected.  
“I didn’t do that.”  
“Yes, you did… for only a thousand dollars.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I have a bet with my partner, I bet that you’ll not break while your partner trades you in within the hour… he thinks you’ll break first because you have more to loss,” Alice informs her suspected making him sweat.  
“You have no proof that I killed Emma,” the suspected snaps at her.  
“Well, that’s where your wrong… we have your DNA from when you raped her, post-mortem… what, couldn’t get up for her when she was alive?”  
“I didn’t rape Emma… I loved her.”  
“Is that why you pretended to be a dom? So, you could talk to her, but you messed up and she work out who you were… did she call you a freak and threaten your job and marriage? Or did she just threaten to take you for sexual assault if you didn’t do what she wanted?”   
“She was never met to work out who I was, but she was always smarter then I gave her credit for.”  
“SO, you killed her?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I don’t even now these people,” Suspected two yells out Gibbs.  
“Yes, you did. You gave them private information about Emma, that they used to scare her,” Gibbs snaps back.  
“I have no reason to kill them.”  
“You’re a drunk… a thousand dollars with go a long way to paying for your next drink.”  
“I have other ways to make money.”  
“Like whoring out your wife?”   
“She liked it… she got off on humiliating people, I didn’t like that… it worked for both of us.”  
“Then she got dead… where you sad about her death or the loss of money?”  
“I don’t know what you mean?”  
“OR were you happy for the half a million in life insurance that you had on your wife? That would have tripled when we called it a homicide?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We have the emails you sent to the killer, planning both murders,” Alice informs her suspected.  
“What emails?” her suspected demands of her.  
“These emails,” Alice informs him as she hands the emails to him, letting him read them. She continues, “You might have thought you were good, but our geeks are better.”  
“I want a lawyer.”  
“You’ll need a good one. Gibbs has a confession saying that you planned and killed all the victims. That he was an innocent bystander and the emails was a game to him. That you brought your alibi by taking your boss’ cock up your ass.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Alice has already got a confession out of your partner… he said it was all your plan to kill them like this,” Gibbs informs his suspected when he gets a text on his phone.  
“I didn’t plan shit,” his suspected yells as he begs to sweat. He continues, “You don’t even have any proof of that.”  
“We have your fingerprint, DNA and you calling nine-one-one for the bodies,” Gibbs informs him before turning to the door where it opens for Ziva to walk in.  
“Plan is ready for Gitmo,” Ziva informs Gibbs.  
“What? I’m not a terrorised,” the suspected yells in fear.  
“Well, yeah… but that’s what we’ve been told, you killed Emma to take her ID to get into the NAVY base to blow up a destroyer,” Gibbs states.  
“IT was his plan,” the suspected yells at me.  
“Talk or get on the plane,” I order him.  
“He planned everything.”  
“Details… now.”  
“He contacted me last year… he spoke about how the Marks where bad people and abandoned their baby. After a while I beg talking about how my wife was a freak, nothing but a woman who wanted to be in control and to hurt men. He planned to kill the Marks but decided to kill Emma for me and I’ll kill the Marks, so it was harder to prove who killed who because we have no reason to kill them. It was supposed to be the perfected murders,” the suspected informs us.  
“More.”  
“He planned it so that when Emma was killed, I had an airtight alibi, and when the Marks died he had an alibi.”  
“How?”  
“Emails… I don’t know him, he doesn’t know me, but we email each other.”  
“How did you meet?”  
“Emma was talking to him over so website for doms and subs. She left computer logged in, and I saw it. I begin to message him and over to we made the plan.”  
“Something that proves you aren’t going to blow up the ship?”  
“Please,” the suspected beds of them as Gibbs gets up and leaves the room with Ziva. He walks into the observation room where Alice is standing. Gibbs comes to a stop behind Alice, watching as Tony and McGee escorts Alice’s suspected into the integration room two with Gibbs’ suspected. They leave the two suspects together and join the rest of the people in the observation room.  
“And now we wait,” Tony says as he sits on the ledge of the desk, watching the room with everyone else.  
“I hope this works, or else we’re screwed,” Alice complains making Gibbs hum in agreement as he holds her left hip where his team can’t see it. Alice suspected is pacing the room while Gibbs suspect has stayed sitting in the chair watching the other man.  
“What the hell did you tell them?” Alice suspected demands of Gibbs suspected.  
“What did I tell them? What did you tell them?” Gibbs suspected demands in return.  
“What is that supposed to mean?”  
“I’m not going to prison for you… this is all your fault.”  
“You’re not throwing me under the bus.”  
“You planned to kill them… you killed my wife.”  
“You went through with it… we’re in this together.”  
“You said no one will work this out… that I wouldn’t be able to be connected to this, but you just had to take Emma’s ID’s.”  
“Shut up, they still have nothing to prove it.”  
“They have evidence… these boxes are fill of information on us,” Gibbs suspected yells at Alice suspected as he points to the boxes around the room.  
“There is no proof… we were careful. Or at least I was.”  
“You killed Emma… stabbed her, without mercy.”  
“Well, she’s not the first woman I have had to silence.”  
“Show time,” Gibbs states as he grabs Alice hand to pull her back into the integration room.  
“SO that’s it… you both murderer each other’s problems? Just like in 83?” Alice demands of them as she walks over to the desk with Gibbs, sitting down on the chair as Gibbs stands behind her, watching the men.  
“What?” Alice suspected demands of her innocently.  
“You murdered Emma, like you were supposed to do in 83… she worked it out, why you liked her so much… you had her in your sights for years… and you killed her,” Gibbs states.  
“Then you killed her parents because he said please,” Alice adds.  
“Because you’re in love with each other.”  
“What the hell do you know?” Gibbs suspected demands of them.  
“We know that you planned the murders, right down to how you got arrested,” Alice begins.  
“Then you killed her… didn’t you Write?” Gibbs asks Alice suspected.  
“She worked it out, why you were so caring for her. You were being nice to her, so she would invite you over and you could fuck her husband. Threatened to tell your wife you were fucking her husband,” Alice continues.  
“Shut up,” White demands of her.  
“Then you killed her and raped her just to prove that you aren’t gay,” Gibbs states.  
“Then you killed her parents because White asked you too,” Alice says to Gibbs suspected.  
“He need them dead because they know he killed Liz and when they saw Emma’s body, they called him demanding why he killed their angle.”  
“They threaten to tell us the truth about Emma’s death…”  
“They’ve had a guilty conscious since Liz’s death and a year ago Dave Marks stated writing what happened back in 83 for the courts.”  
“That’s why you began planning the murders. Got close the then the rest is history.”  
“Please… you have to believe me, I never thought Emma would really die,” Gibbs suspected cries.  
“Yes, you did, Cole. You just thought you would get away with murder and wouldn’t ever be here,” Alice corrects him.  
“Cole, who can you plan the murder of your wife?” Gibbs asks him as he thinks about his own dead wife and how he couldn’t even argue with her.  
“She was nothing but a slut… a filthy slut… she deserved it,” Cole snaps at him.  
“NO one deserves to be betrayed by someone who is meant to protected her… that’s what you were meant to do, protected her, not end her life… you’re a disgusting piece of shit who need to have what happened to her to you,” Alice yells at him.  
“She was pregnant… did you know that?” Gibbs asks them both.  
“IT wasn’t mine,” Cole snaps at me.  
“No, I didn’t know that,” White admits.  
“Not that it would have stopped you,” Alice comments.  
“IT was yours Cole… we matched the DA,” Gibbs informs him.  
“What? I was going to be a father?”  
“And you took that away when you murdered your wife.”  
“James White, you’re under arrest for the murders of Emma Jones and Liz Smith, and the kidnapping of Emma Jones, for paying someone to kill the Marks and receiving the payment for the murder of Emma,” Tony arrest him as he enters the room.  
“Cole Jones, you’re under arrest for the murders of Dave and Mary Marks, paying for the murder of Emma Jones, and receiving payment for the murder of the Marks,” Ziva arrests Cole as she too enters the room.  
“I’ll be out by lunch time... you have nothing,” White gloats them.  
“We have your DNA inside our victim… we have the emails… and we have the PM,” Alice informs him.  
“You’re going away for a long time,” Tony agrees with Alice.  
“Don’t say anything, Cole.”  
“You’re one to talk... you don’t say anything… idiot,” Cole yells back at him.  
“Moron.”  
“Fuckwit.”  
“Good, their like children. Worse than Tony and McGee,” Alice complains to Gibbs.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums at her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I am working on the paper work with my team as Alice is at the doctors, I offered to go with her again, but she wanted to do it by herself, and so I decided to stay at work. The night has fallen hours ago, resulting in Tony complaining about the paperwork while Ziva and McGee is ignoring him. This case has been hard on me, how could a husband plan the murder of his pregnant wife.  
I would give anything to have my family back, well almost anything, and this man throw it away like it was nothing.   
“There you go boss,” McGee says to me as he hands me the typed report on the case for me to sign.  
“Go home McGee,” I order him as I take it off his hand and begin to read through it, making sure it has everything.   
“Yes, boss,” McGee agrees as he gathers his stuff and leaves for the night. I am half way through McGee’s report when Ziva hands me her, closely followed by Tony.  
“Night,” I say to them.  
“Good night boss,” Tony says.  
“Good night, Gibbs,” Ziva overlaps Tony as they grab their gear and leave for the night. I continue to read McGee’s report, waiting for Ducky and Abby leave for the night, so that I know that they aren’t overworking themselves, or being held hostage. I know I won’t be able to sleep until I see them leave for the night, so there is no point pretending that I will.  
I am finishing reading Tony’s report, the last one I have to read, when I see Abby and Ducky leave together making me node at them in good night. I finish the report before tiding up my desk and leaving myself, knowing Alice will already be home from the doctors.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I walk into the living room at my house to see that Alice has set the table for a private little dinner date, not that I mind.  
“Hey, baby,” I greet her as I place a kiss on her cheek.  
“Hey, Jethro… I thought you’d be at work longer,” Alice complains making me chuckle.  
“What? This not for me?”  
“It’s not done yet.”  
“Looks perfected.”  
“But I’m not dressed yet,” Alice complains making me laugh out loud.  
“Why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll wait down here for you,” I offer her when she continues to pout about not being dressed right for our date.  
“Promise you won’t eat the food?”   
“I swear on my boat,” I promise her making her grin before bouncing up the stairs. I sit down on the couch, and flicking the TV on while I wait for Alice to return so we can eat.  
“Jethro,” Alice calls my attention form the TV to her at the bottom of the stairs. I look over at her and almost swallow my tongue, she looks beautiful. She is wearing a very revealing red dress. It has a strip of fabric across her neck, another one across her breasts only really covering her nipples, and one across halfway down her stomach, in the middle of the fabric is a little sparkly button, holding the fabric together, so that what is covering between her breasts a little bit of fabric smaller then my fingers. The skirt of the ends just below her ass. She has let her hair down, swinging around her ass. I gasp in surprise as I stare at my girl, looking so sexy, all for me.  
“Wow,” I mumble as I force myself out of the couch so that I can slowly walk over to her.  
“DO you like it? Abby helped me pick it,” Alice informs me shyly, making me smirk, oh yeah I like it and I like how shy my girl is.  
“Oh yeah… if you hadn’t spent so much time cooking for dinner, I wouldn’t hesitate to take you back upstairs and out of it,” I inform her as I finally reach her and pull her into a hug, pressing her tiny, sexy body into me. My hands rest on her waist for a moment before I begin to lower my hand to cope a feel of my girl.  
“Come on, the foods getting cool,” Alice exclaims when I grab her ass in my hands, she quickly gets out of my hold, but grabs my hand to lead me back into the kitchen.  
“Food first… grab ass later,” I promise her as I quickly take over her and pull her chair out for her to sit in.  
“You’re such a gentleman,” Alice teases me as she sits in the chair, making me smirk. This is going to be good.  
“I do try,” I inform her as I walk over to my chair across from her and I sit down to enjoy dinner. I finally look over what my smart little baby made for us, she has cooked a couple of steaks, peas, corn, carrots, mashed potato and onions, she has also put a bourbon out for me, while she is drinking a fruit juice. Making me inform her, “Wow, baby, you sure went all out… and not just on the food.”  
“Thank you,” Alice thanks me with a heavy blush, making me smirk. She looks good with a heavy blush.  
“You’re welcome,” I inform her as I pick up my knife and fork to begin eating the delicious looking food she cooked. It’s not that bad, especially because she always says she can’t cook. Alice also begins to eat her food, we don’t talk as we eat but that’s alright with me.  
“You enjoying that Jethro?” Alice asks me with a cute little laugh as she watches me eat my food.  
“That was delicious baby,” I inform her, making her blush again… she blushes to easy but I don’t mind. Once the food is done, I quietly get up and walk around the table, holding a hand out for Alice to get up. She places her hand on mine and I pull her up to her feet, where I place my hand on her lower back, hugging her while swaying to a song only I can hear. Alice continues to laugh as she buries her face in my chest the whole time I am dancing with her. She wraps her arms around my chest, under my arms because she is so tiny. I continue to lead the dancing as she continues to laugh at me but she doesn’t try to pull away, making me smirk.  
“What are you doing, Jethro?” Alice laughs at me, making me laugh myself.  
“Dancing,” I answer her as I continue to dance with her.  
“But there’s no music,” Alice reminds me.  
“DO you want me to stop?”  
“I never said that… but if anyone sees you, they’ll think you’ve finally lost it,” Alice informs me as she continues to allow me to dance with her. I run my right hand down her back, until it rests on her ass, making her gasp in surprise. I drop my head lower as I use my left hand to pull her head out of my chest so that I can kiss her. I lick her lip, but she refuses to open up to me, making me growl. I lightly bite her lip, making her gasp so that I can slip my tongue into her mouth, kissing her deeply as I pull her head closer to mine.  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
*  
Gibbs squeezes my ass, as he continues to kiss me. I move my right hand from behind his back to up into his hair, gently running my finger throw his hair as I kiss him back, fighting for control but he already has control of the kiss.  
Gibbs moves his left hand from my head to run it over the lower part of my breast that isn’t covered by the dress. I move my hands from his hair before grabbing the bottom of his shirt and begin to pull it up to the top of his chest. I break the kiss, making him stand up properly and remove the shirt that he drops onto the ground quickly so that he can drop his head to my neck, where he begins to suck on my neck, making me moan.  
“We should go… go up to the bedroom,” I gasp out as Gibbs continues to suck on my neck.  
“Hmm-mm,” Gibbs hums against my neck without making a move to move up to his room.  
“Jethro,” I begin but he sucks hard on my neck as he suddenly pinches my right nipple between his fingers making me moan in pleasure, loosing my train of thought. I grab a handful of his hair and pull on it until his mouth leave my neck, and I can kiss him heatedly. As I kiss him, I run my fingers up his chest hair until I reach his nipples where I gently flick his right nipple making him groan into my mouth. Gibbs walks me backwards until my back hits the kitchen bench where he lefts me up to sit on it so that I am the same height as him. I break the kiss so that I can kiss down his neck to the spot behind his ear, where I begin to suck on it making Gibbs groan in pleasure.  
Gibbs runs his hand down my back before running it back up into my hair where he entangles it within his fingers, making me moan against his neck. Gibbs uses his handful of my hair to pull my mouth away from his neck so that he can kiss me again. Gibbs continues to kiss me as he moves his hands down my body to the bottom of my dress where he slowly pulls it up over my ass, before moving to grab my underwear but he freezes suddenly as he breaks the kiss to look down in surprise.  
“No knickers?” Gibbs teases me as he runs his fingers through the moister between my legs.  
“Problem?” I ask him as I grab his wrist, holding his hand against my pussy.  
“Surprised,” Gibbs answers me as he slides his fingers into me, making me moan in pleasure. I throw my head back in pleasure, and it hits the wall next to the window. Gibbs smirks at me as he continues to finger me slowly, making me moan louder.  
“Jethro… please, don’t tease me,” I beg of him as I reach out and grab his budging cock that his filling his work pants.  
“Alice,” Gibbs gasp when I squeeze it, making him stop moving his finger for a moment. I reach out with both my hands to remove his cock from his pants. I unbutton and zip them, allowing them to drop to the floor, leaving him in his plain white boxers so that I can rub him through them making Gibbs groan in pleasure. Gibbs removes his fingers from me to push his boxers down while pushing my hands of off him. Once his boxers are off, he strokes himself a couple of times before lining it up with my pussy, and thrusting inside of me quickly making us both moan in pleasure at being joined so intimately.   
“Jethro, move please,” I beg of him when he fails to move for too long for my likings. Gibbs pulls out before thrusting back into me, making us both groan together. Gibbs quickly sets up a pattern that makes me moan in pleasure. I reach down and begin to rub my clitoris as Gibbs reaches up and pulls the strip so that my breasts fall out of the dress so that he can drop his head to suck on the right nipple, making me moan loudly. Loud enough for the neighbours to hear. Gibbs continues to cuck on my nipple and pound into my without hesitation. I continue to rub my clitoris, making my fingers grazes his cock.  
“Alice… baby, I need you to cum,” Gibbs moans against my breast making me moan in pleasure.   
“Jethro,” I gasp out as Gibbs moves his movement making him hit the spot inside of me, making me moan louder again. Gibbs hits that spot again and again until I fall over the ledge, gripping him tightly inside me with my inner muscles. Once I come down from that hill I push Gibbs off of me, make, making him look surprises because he hasn’t cum yet. I jump off the bench as Gibbs continues to blink in surprise, I quickly drop to my knees where I enclose his cock in my hot mouth. I begin to suck on the juice cock, using my hand to rub the part that I can’t fit in my mouth. I suck on the purple end of the cock, making Gibbs gasp as he threads his hand throw my hair again.  
“Alice… baby,” Gibbs gasps out as he continues to gently hold my head but he doesn’t force me to take more then I can. I flick my tongue over the tip of the cock before sinking the cock back into my warm mouth where I bob my head, running my tongue along the vain on the bottom of his cock. I move my second hand to fondle his balls making Gibbs groan in pleasure as he moves one hand from my hair to rest on the bench. I remove his cock from my mouth so that I can suck on his balls as I stroke his cock in my hand, I look up at Gibbs to see that his eyes are closed, his mouth is open slightly so that he can pant in pleasure.  
“Alice baby… please,” Gibbs begs of me making me smirk before I return my mouth to his cock where I suck on it as I continue to rub the last bit of it with one hand and fondle his balls with the other. I feel them tighten as he gets close to cumin’. I suck harder on his cock making him groan loudly.  
“Alice, I’m going to cum,” Gibbs warns me but I continue to suck on him. Gibbs cums with a loud groan, as he release a warm, salty taste into my mouth that is his cum, I watch him the whole time that he is cumin’. I pull of his cock and swallow the cum before standing up between my gasping man and the bench. I smirk at my work when he is still slowly blinking, looks so cute and messed up from the sex and my hands.  
*  
“You alright there, old man?” I ask him as I wrap my hands around his waist.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums as he wraps his arms around my waist, holding me.  
“You want to go to bed now?” I ask him.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums again as he finally stand back up on his own feet and leads me up to the bedroom where he flops down. I grab my sleepwear, NIS sweat shirt and boxers, and I head into the bathroom to change out of my dress and to brush my teeth before I head back to the bedroom to see Gibbs is already sleeping on top of the blanket making me smile. I walk over to the bed and gently pull the blanket out from under Gibbs. It takes me three minutes to pull the blanket out from under him, in doing this I am leaning across him, once the blanket is out from under him, I lay it across him. Tucking him in for a full night of sleep, once he is tucked in I walk back over to my side and climb in, snuggling up into my pillow fort. Before I fall asleep, I feel Gibbs roll over and wrap his arm around my waist.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Morning,” Gibbs mumbles to me the next morning when I walk into the lounge room where he is sitting, drinking his morning coffee.  
“Morning,” I replay before walking over to him and snuggling up into his chest.  
“You want a coffee?”  
“Mm-hmm,” I hum back as I begin to fall back to sleep but Gibbs stands up, waking me up for the moment. Gibbs walks into he kitchen, which has been cleaned up since dinner last night, and makes me a coffee. He makes the coffee how I like it, before bringing it back to me and handing it to me. I take a big sip before moaning at the taste of it, Gibbs makes the best coffee every and it’s always warm enough to drink straight away. At the sound of my moan Gibbs smirks at me. Making me demand of him, “What?”  
“Thinking of when else I hear that sound,” Gibbs, the old perv, informs me.  
“Perv,” I inform him making Gibbs smirk at me again.  
“What did the doctor say yesterday?” Gibbs asks me as he takes a sip of his coffee.  
“My lungs are weakened and I keep being unable to breath is because I have asthma…”


	45. Blowback

“TV drama. Eight letters down,” Gibbs asks Tony the question to his cross-word puzzle he is attempting to finish because I bet him that he wouldn’t be able to finish it. We are all sit in the gulfstream this fine morning. I am sitting next to Gibbs working my way through a great book called NYPD red by James Patterson. Gibbs is wearing a white shirt under a red button up shirt, all held together by a brown jacket over the top. I am wearing a denim shirt with two pockets, one over each breast, and the sleaves fall to my elbows, the shirt isn’t tucked into my pants for a change. On the bottom I am wearing a pair of denim skinny jeans, that are tucked into my boots. I am also wearing my belt and necklace that Gibbs gave me both. To tight the whole look together I am wearing a cream jacket with a sheep wool liner that Abby gave me for my last birthday. Tony is wearing a black button up shirt and a black jacket.  
“Uh… saint elsewhere?” Tony guesses but maths has never been his strong suit. He notice that our prisoner, who is laying across two chairs and handcuffed behind his back, has worked up making him exclaim, “Oh, uh… goof morning, Sunshine!”  
“Where am I?” the prisoner, Goliath, demands of us with a heavy Israeli accent angrily as he looks around in fear.  
“Tenerife, which is the Canary Islands. We’re almost there,” Tony informs him with a yawn.  
“Where?”  
“Hey, what kind of clubs do they have in Morocco?”  
“We’re not going to Morocco, Tony,” I inform him as Goliath looks confused while Tony pouts at me.  
“Come on, on our way back?”  
“On the way back from where?” Goliath demands of us in confusion.  
“Oh, I’m sorry. They only gave you a one way ticket,” Tony informs him, confusing him even more.   
“Who are they?”  
“Here’s the deal. We jump into Casablanca, hit rick’s café for a little cocktail. I could tickle the ivories,” Tony begins making Gibbs chuckle at him without looking away from his cross-word puzzle, Tony continues, “Here’s looking at you, kid. And then we’re back to the D.C. Nobody knows.”  
“Who are you people?!” Goliath demands in fear as he moves his hands making the handcuffs raddle.  
“Couriers. Delivering a package. As a favour to our Israel friends.”  
“Package?”  
“Font take it personal, Goliath,” I inform him.  
“Yeah, can I ask you about that? Every arms deal I meet, they have the cheesiest code names? I mean, Goliath? Did you choose that?” Tony demands of him.  
“You are CIA, yes?” Goliath guess making us all laugh at him.  
“Well, this should be interesting. Goliath, I’d like you to meet one of our Israeli friends,” Tony interduce my bitch as she walks out of the cockpit making me smirk. Ziva is wearing all black today, her shirt is a Tuttle neck sweater.  
“Don’t break him, Bitch,” I warn her before continuing to inform her, “Just bite him… it works wonders.  
“You are a traitor, to our country and our people,” Ziva hisses at Goliath in Hebrew as she slaps him.  
“I never sell weapons to Hamas or Hezbollah!” Goliath hiss back at her in Hebrew.  
“You sell to people who do!” Ziva corrects him in English making me blink, we’re missing half that conversation.  
“You’re lucky she doesn’t have her slingshot,” Tony jokes.  
“Still waiting for clearance to take off. The pilot says we’ll only be on the ground for a couple more minutes when we reach Zaire. It’s much too dangerous to stay there any longer,” Ziva informs us.  
“Zaire? You’re taking me to Zaire?” Goliath demands of us.  
“You sold a shipment of RPGs to their army. They were very disappointed with the quality of the merchandise.”  
“I believe the president of Zaire himself, is eager to discuss how to stiffed him,” Tony reports to him calmly.  
“He, in turn, has some information Mossad needs.”  
“And we owe Mossad a little favour, because they told us you were in D.C. and… so here we are. We deliver you to Zaire, the president give the Israelis whatever information they want and everyone is happy.”  
“Well, not everyone.”  
“Everyone we care about,” I remind Ziva as I wave away her fake concern for Goliath.  
“We are cleared for take-off. Fasten your seatbelts,” the pilot informs us making us clip up for the ride.  
“Please,” Goliath begs of us.  
“Yeah?” Gibbs asks him innocently.  
“I am very wealthy. I have diamonds.”  
“Ooh. You had diamonds. This jet is very expensive, and somebody had to pay for it,” Tony corrects him.  
“I know things.”  
“Yeah. How to trade weapons for diamonds. We got that.”  
“I’ll trade information.”  
“And what could you know that would interest the CIA?”  
“He this we’re the CIA?” Ziva laughs at Goliath making us all laugh again.  
“Well, the CIA, FBI, NSA – what difference does it make? I have information to trade for my life… ARES,” Goliath informs us.  
“Cancer,” Tony says to him.  
“Virgo,” Gibbs states.  
“Leo,” I inform him (I am really a LEO… easy to remember that way… what are you guys?)  
“Scorpio,” Ziva adds as she makes a scorpion sign with her left hand.  
“No, your Navy’s encrypted satellite system,” Goliath corrects us.  
“Not my Navy.”  
“The American Navy, they use it to send target coordinates to cruise missiles.”  
“Did you get that out of Jane’s, Goliath?” Tony demands of him.  
“What if Iran possessed it? Or north Korea? In the way, they can intercept and change cruise missile coordinates. Send them to Tel Aviv. Or even return to sender.”  
“But they don’t have ARES,” Tony reminds him.  
“Sit back, relax, and try to enjoy the rest of your miserable life,” Ziva snaps at him.  
“ARES is for sale. And I know who is selling it,” Goliath snaps at us in fear.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This isn’t Tenerife,” Goliath complains as we exit the gulfstream to see that we’re still in DC.  
“Well, I told them to take a left at Bermuda,” Tony comments innocently.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This is Tony,” Tony answers on of his phones as we walk out of the elevator into the squad room. Gibbs is leading us, with a cup of coffee in his hand like normal, I also have a coffee too but I am walking with Ziva and Tony for a change.  
“Boss, found that email. Harrow has a villa for sale on Santorini. That’s,” McGee rambles. He is wearing a light blue button up shirt under a black jacket.  
“Greek island in the Aegean,” Ziva finishes for him.  
“Right. And he’s asking twenty million, but Goliath doesn’t want to pay more than…”  
“Fifteen,” I cut him off this time.  
“But uh… but I don’t think that the villa…”  
“IS what he’s selling?” Gibbs finishes for him.  
“Right. So I have pulled everything I can find on Charles Andrew Harrow. Age sixty-eight. Civilian encryption specialist employed by the D.O.D. until he retired three years ago. His most notable project was…”  
“ARES. Top secret NAVY encrypted satellite targeting system, named after,” I cut him off.  
“A Greek god of war.”  
“Right. Is that all?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“No. no, I’m also running Harrow’s phone and email records for the past ninety days against databases of known arms dealers. No hits yet, but I did just start.”  
“Two-oh-five Rosewood drive, northwest D.C. is that address still good?” Gibbs asks McGee as he reads it of the plasma screen about my desk.  
“As far as I know.”  
“DiNozzo, Ziva, go get him.”  
“Uh… Gibbs?” Ziva asks when she realises Tony is gone again.  
“McGee,” Gibbs changes his mind.  
“Right,” McGee mumbles as Gibbs walks away with me and we find Tony hiding behind the MTAC stairs.  
“My pulse is racing, doctor. My heart is throbbing. I’ve done a self-diagnosis here, and uh… it’s not good. I need some relief from the good doctor,” Tony says into his phone before he turns around and sees us making him say after a moment, “I gotta go!” he hangs up his phone before informing Gibbs, “I was just… um… I’ve got to get back to work.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Uploading Goliath’s file into the database, Boss,” Tony reports to Gibbs in the squad room.  
“Briefing paper?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Done.”  
“Audio of interrogation?” I ask Tony before taking a sip of my coffee.  
“Being transcribed. You know, Goliath’s right, boss. I ran north Korea. Even some of our allies would pay a fortune to get their hands on ARES,” Tony comments.  
“Do you think, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of Tony like he just said something stupid as McGee’s computer beeps.  
“It looks like McGee’s got a name match off of Harrow’s emails. Trent Kort. He’s on the FBI arm’s dealer watch list.”  
“How old?” I ask Tony.  
“Ag, five days. McGee computer… uh, bio’s thin. Trent Thomas Kort, thirty-seven years old. British national. Believed to have recently joined,” Tony rambles as he pulls up the photo of Trent Kort onto the plasma screen only to freeze.  
“Hey, do you know this guy?” Gibbs demands of Tony.  
“Tony… are you alright?” I overlap Gibbs as I get up out of my desk and rush over to place my hand on Tony’s arm… I bet this has something to do with the director and if Tony gets hurt, I’ll kill her.  
“No, I’ve never seen him before. Those Hawaiian shirts,” Tony lies to us but before we can call him on it, he reads off the FBI file, “’Believed to have recently joined La Grenouille, an international arms dealer, fronting corporations in Paris, Nairobi, Cape town.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You sent for my, Director?” Gibbs demands of Shepard as we walk into the office where Tony already is, interrupting her ordering Cynthia to get us. Gibbs walks straight over to the conference table and sits down turning it sideways so that he is half facing the directors desk, I sit on the top of the table so that my legs are resting beside Gibbs, I am facing the directors desk.  
“Call Ziva and McGee off,” Shepard order him.  
“Off, Madam Director? Off of what?” I ask her innocently as I swing my legs slightly, tapping it on Gibbs leg, making her glare at me, I don’t know if it’s because I called her madam director or because I am ‘innocent.’  
“They are not to pick up…”  
“Harrow,” Tony informs her of the name.  
“Harrow.”  
“Charles Hallow is offering a top secret Navy weapon system to the highest bidder,” Gibbs snaps at her in anger.  
“I could be in the hands of Iraq or,” I continue for him.  
“Damn it, Jethro! This is an order! Call them off!” Shepard cuts me off as she demands of my boyfriend.  
“Why? Do you can keep sending Tony undercover for a personal reason so that you get revenge on someone by blaming NCIS business? This is a federal investigation, not the wild west where you can dictated who get investigated and who doesn’t. this is the united states of America, where every case is investigated to the best of our ability. We have a right to protected our country, and the people who live here. Not wait for you to finish fucking with someone’s life before we protected this country. How long do we wait? Until NRES is sold? Until they attack us? Until everyone dies? How long do we wait for permission to catch this bastard? Because when those innocent people out there die, I am telling everyone we had the chances to stop this but you stopped us because you wanted to finish your personal revenge. Make the right choice because I have no problem hearing the truth about you, Jenny Shepard,” I demand of her making Shepard glare at me because I am not supposed to know about that OR talk to her like that… in return for her glare I simply give her the double bird before Gibbs pulls me out of her office.  
“Why do you have to piss her off?” Gibbs asks me with a small smirk.  
“She pisses me off and I return the favour,” I inform him as I glare at the ground because Shepard is pissing me off.  
“I got that, baby,” Gibbs laughs at me as he pulls me into a tight hug.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You haven’t been straight with me since I,” Gibbs begins saying to Shepard as we exit her office onto the walk way over the squad room.  
“Quit?” Shepard cuts Gibbs off.  
“Retired.”  
“I actually agree with the Madam director on this one… you quit when you couldn’t get your own way, that time. Mike did it, then fast forward a million years, you copied him, quitting,” I state as I lean on Gibbs arm, wrapping my arms around his, just holding him as we walk towards the stairs. This comment making Gibbs hum at me without correcting me because I wouldn’t change my mind about his quitting.  
“When you left on your margarita safari,” Shepard begins as she glares at my hands on MY boyfriend’s arm and because I am still calling her madam director but I still don’t care.  
“Margarita safari?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“This agency didn’t shut down. New operations were put in motion. One sent Tony undercover,” Shepard snaps at him.  
“Tony didn’t have to go undercover. You have plenty of agents just to go undercover but you picked Tony. Because he is the only one who doesn’t ask questions,” I snap at her as we walk down the stairs.  
“Well, I’m back and I won’t have a part-time senior field agent,” Gibbs snaps at her as he give me a look that says not to piss the director off again.  
“It’s your own fault, you know,” Shepard defends herself.  
“For what? Leaving or coming back?” Gibbs snaps at her because she is making excuses as we exit the stairs.  
“For teaching me your rules. Best way to keep a secret, keep it to yourself. Second best, tell one other person if you must. There is no third best. That’s rule four, isn’t it?”   
“Rule one supersedes all of the others… and Tony still didn’t have to be the one undercover… we all know Jethro was coming back but you still chose his senior field agent,” I snap at her.  
“Mm, never screw your partner?” Shepard asks Gibbs as she gets almost chest to chest with Gibbs pointed looks at my arms around his arm, pointing out that I am screwing my partner but I get the feeling that she is more annoyed that it isn’t her screwing him.   
“Never screw over your partner,” Gibbs corrects her making her glare at me as he moves away from her, making it obvious that he isn’t interested in what she is offering.  
“I never screwed you over,” Shepard defends herself making me laugh, resulting her glaring at me.  
“Paris… bombing, just out of the coma and you almost put him back because you couldn’t or wouldn’t trust his team… but you never screwed him over. Then the very person you couldn’t trust as Jethro was in the hospital getting his memory back, you ‘trust’ to go undercover for you… pull the other one or stop lying which ever one is easier for a pathological lier,” I snap at her as I glare at her, she is a lying bitch.  
“AND I’m not your partner. I’m your boss,” Shepard reminds Gibbs as she glares back at me before she walk into the squad room leaving me with Gibbs who is staring out of the window.  
“Are you alright, Jethro?” I ask my boyfriend when he continues to watch the people outside.  
“I am,” Gibbs lies.  
“I know when you are lying… you do know that.”  
“I didn’t do anything wrong but she is blaming me for leaving when it was the only thing I could do,” Gibbs informs me, making me pull him into a proper hug.  
“Well, she can think what she likes… but I don’t blame you for quitting.”  
“That’s because you were able to steal my pillow.”  
“It made you happy. I don’t care what it was, as long as it made you happy,” I inform him before releasing my marine from the hug, grabbing his hand, leading him into the squad room.  
“Hey boss! McGee’s got something. What is it with these wacky code names?” Tony asks as we walk into the squad room.  
“Anonymity deflects more bullets than body armour,” Shepard informs Tony as I lead Gibbs over to his own desk. He sits in the chair as I sit on the ledge behind him, rubbing his back and shoulders to help calm him down from having to deal with the director.  
“Well, this one’s a woman. The black rose.”  
“Rose O’Leary. She runs guns for the IRA until peace broke out. Who’s flagged her?”  
“M-I-Five. They were tracking her in Africa. Lost contact six days ago. They think she slipped aboard a Variq flight to brazil using the name Grace O’Malley,” Tony reports making Shepard laugh and Gibbs tense up under my hands.  
“That’s funny, director?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“Grace O’Malley was a sixteenth century Irish pirate. What’s her bid?” Shepard informs us.  
“Less than La Grenouille. Only eighteen mil,” Tony reports.  
“Unless her bid was in Euros,” I state as Gibbs gets up and storms off.  
“Dollars. It’s in dollars. Think he’ll ever forgive us?” Tony asks the director as I give them a look.  
“You, yes… Shepard, no but that doesn’t matter,” I state as I move back to my desk.  
“Send me a hard copy when the data’s in,” Shepard says without answering him but glaring at me.  
“Yeah, that’s what I think, too,” Tony agrees with me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I am standing in the men’s room taking a leak when Tony walk into the bathroom but he freezes when he sees me. I bet Alice said something to him.  
“Are you following me?” I demand of him because I have only just left the squad room.  
“No. why would I do that?” Tony answers with a chuckle as he walks over to the urinal and pulls his penis out to take a leak himself.  
“I was just asking myself the same question,” I state as Tony begins to whistle without peeing. Making me ask him, “Want me to run some water?”  
“No, I’m all right. I just…”  
“Ah, just say it, DiNozzo.”  
“I’m sorry, boss. I uh… I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time, but the situation is…”  
“Complicated?”  
“Exactly. Director’s got a this really strict rule about…”  
“Secrets.”  
“Yeah. She hated when Alice confronted me about it… the point is, I owe you everything. You taught me how to do this job. I never wanted to lie to you.”  
“Hell, DiNozzo, you were following orders. I would have done the same thing,” I inform him as I finish peeing and shake before putting my penis back into my pants, and doing up the zip.  
“Would you?” Tony asks me in surprise as I walk over to the sink and wash my hands.  
“Yeah.”  
“You would have lied to Mike Franks?” Tony asks in even more surprise, turning to watch me as I dry my hands. I just throw the rubbish into the bin before leaving without answering him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“You were supposed to keep Mister Hallow under surveillance, not chase him into a coronary!” Shepard snaps at Ziva and McGee in anger on the street where Hallow just died when they were made.  
“Director, once he made us, we had to take him into custody, didn’t we?” McGee reminds her.  
“No, the director’s right. We could have let Harrow escape. If he sold ARES, we could have caught Black rose or La Grenouille selling to Iran,” Ziva says sarcastically.  
“Don’t be cute, Officer David. I’m saying there had to be a better way. Right Tony?” Shepard demands of the one person who is supposed to be on her side.  
“Ah, that’s right, director. He could have,” Tony begs.  
“Shot him,” Gibbs and I finish for Tony making Shepard even angrier but I don’t care.  
“That’s right. They could have shot him.”  
“OF course, in high octane situations, Ziva always reverts back to her Mossad training, and probably would have put a round through his heart,” I remind Shepard.  
“Three,” Ziva corrects me.  
“And McGee, not to be outdone, would have,” Gibbs continues for me.  
“Added three more rounds,” McGee finishes for him.  
“Gibbs,” Shepard snaps her disapproval.  
“See? There you go. Six rounds, same result. One dead Mister Hallow… only less paperwork,” I inform her.  
“I signed for the body. Case of death was most likely a… am I interrupting?” Ducky asks as he see the director’s glare and Gibbs smirk.  
“Not at all, doctor. We were just discussing the various ways NCIS could have killed Mister Harrow, besides chasing him to death,” Shepard snaps at him.  
“I am interrupting,” Ducky states before turning around to leave us to fight it out.  
“Doctor, death was most likely caused by?”  
“A myocardial infarction that was probably brought on by a combination of the high fat western diet, little exercise, and the mistake that he could run up all those stairs. Rigorous for most. Rigor mortis for him.”  
“Anything else?”  
“Well, not until I do the autopsy,” Ducky admits making the Director storm away. He asks us, “Oh. What is going on?”  
“Shepard’s chucking a tantrum because she can’t get her own way with Jethro or his team,” I inform my father.  
“I think the director is afraid of Harrow’s family might sue us,” Tony overlaps me.  
“Whatever she’s thinking about, it’s not ARES,” Gibbs states before looking at me and saying, “And you’re not helping.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Sitting in the dark, staring at photo of your enemies could be considered obsessive,” Gibbs informs Shepard as we enter MTAC and sit next to her. Gibbs hands her the coffee he brought for her, breaking her eyes off the La Grenouille for a moment.  
“Kind of like building a fourth boat when you haven’t even sailed the first three,” Shepard snaps back at him.  
“How well do you know the black rose?” I demand of her what we really came in here for.  
“Well enough to know that I’d like her if she wasn’t an arms dealer.”  
“And the Frog?” Gibbs demands of her but she looks at him in confusion making him explain, “La Grenouille means the frog.”  
“I know what it means.”  
“Well, why don’t you call him that?”  
“La Grenouille is his code name.”  
“Well, I’m going to call him frog,” Gibbs informs her before croaking like a frog.  
“Spit it out, Jethro, before it gags you.”  
“You were out of control today. Why? The deal died with Harrow,” I state as I lean around Gibbs to watch her.  
“His copy of ARES might still be in play.”  
“You don’t want ARES, you want him,” Gibbs states as he nodes at the frog.  
“Damn right I want him. I have been trying to decade to bring him down.”  
“So it is personal,” I state.  
“What did he do to you, Jenny?” Gibbs asks her.  
“You have no need-to-know, Special Agent Gibbs,” Shepard informs Gibbs making him get up to leave with me because she’s not giving us any more information.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The software was stored on micro-drives hidden in condoms. And we analysed every detail, the source code to the circuitry of the motherboard,” McGee explains in the squad room about how he and Abby found ARES.  
“McGee,” Gibbs cuts him off because he is completely confused about the words the geek is saying.  
“It’s like PS-three. You can’t play Killzone without the hardware to run it,” McGee explains.  
“PS-Three?” Gibbs asks in more confusion.  
“Gaming console,” I explain to him.  
“Atari? Commodore sixty-four?” McGee continue to try to get Gibbs to understand.  
“The software is useless without the hardware,” Gibbs states getting us back on track.  
“You got it.”  
“Why didn’t you say that?”  
‘You found ARES?” Shepard demands of us as she sweeps into the squad room.  
“Yes. Here is it, director. Live from Abby’s lab,” McGee explains to her as he puts it on the plasma between his desk and Tony’s.  
“You don’t seem happy. You should be happy, we have it,” I state.  
“Any more bids?” Shepard demands of McGee as he ignores me.  
“No. La Grenouille was the high one. Not that it matters, but,” Tony explains.  
“Did Harrow arrange the drop off?” Shepard overlaps Tony.  
“You can’t ask someone a question and then overlap them because they don’t give you the answer you wanted,” I snap at her.  
“I checked his blackberry. This guy writes down every appointment and meeting. Nothing,” McGee reports to her after I am finished lecturing her.  
“No phone calls or emails in the last six hours before he died,” Ziva adds.  
“We were monitoring his… he had coffee,” McGee releases as he rushes back to his desk. McGee explains, “The café had internet access.”  
“Trimana café. Thirty-fifth street,” Ziva reminds McGee.  
“I’ve got it. ISP provider,” McGee exclaims as he begins to hack into the café’s internet.  
“Can you do this to anyone’s email?” Tony asks McGee as he moves over to the geek.  
“No. ‘cause this is highly illegal, and I’m not even doing it now. Okay, we’re in. at one forty this afternoon, Harrow sent two emails from that ISP. One to Black Rose.”  
“Tell her the bad news, no doubt,” Ziva states.  
“And one to La Grenouille. ‘congratulations on a winning big. Upon receipt of your funds, title to the Santorini villa at’ he lists the GPS coordinates ‘will be transferred at midnight Tuesday,” McGee reads to us.  
“That’s ten minutes from now. Same time zone as Israel.”  
“McGee, put that email up on the plasma,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Please,” I add as McGee complies with Gibbs.  
“Those coordinates aren’t Greece,” Gibbs states as he looks at the plasma between McGee and Tony’s desk.  
“IT’s Quebec!” McGee informs us when his computer locates it.  
“We’ve got five hours!” Shepard reminds us.  
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I state.  
“I’m not going to let a few miles of Canadian border stop me.”  
“I was thinking along the line that froggy is expecting a dead guy… and this ones not Ari, he is staying dead,” I state.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Aeroport de Sherbrooke, south-eastern Quebec. It’s thirty miles across the border from New Hampshire. That puts La Grenouille right in our backyard,” McGee reports in the squad room.  
“Did I miss Quebec becoming the fifty-first state?” Gibbs asks him sarcastically.  
“I’m not going to watch that bastard fly array again, Jethro,” Shepard snaps at him.  
“Again?” Gibbs and I asks her.  
“Why don’t we snatch him when he lands, toss him in the back of the trunk and drive over the border,” Ziva asks us.  
“That might work where you grew up, Ziva, not here,” McGee informs her.  
“Why not?” Shepard demands.  
“Because it’s illegal and immoral,” I say to her slowly.  
“Okay, I’m down with the border snatch. What do we charge him with? Bidding on a Greek villa?” Tony asks them.  
“Tony’s right. We’ve got nothing on Grenouille until he buys ARES,” McGee states.  
“Since Harrow’s dead, that can’t happen.”  
“Does the frog know that harrow is dead?” Gibbs asks them.  
“Probably not,” Ziva answers him.  
“And if he never met him,” McGee begins.  
“All we need is a sixty-eight year old Englishman,” Shepard states.  
“No,” I snap at her, I know where her mind went.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Is it pronounced Harrow or Hairrow?” Ducky asks us in the squad room where he is dressed like Harrow, with a pair of round glasses and a fake mustache. I am glaring at everyone because Shepard is going to get my father killed like she did Kate.  
“Harrow, Ducky. Charles Andrew Harrow,” Ziva informs him.  
“Okay, Ducky, now pay attention. ARES,” McGee begins.  
“Are you certain? Because I was in medical school with an Ian Hairrow. He spelled it the same way,” Ducky rambles as he cuts McGee off.  
“Ducky, please pay attention. I am trying to give you a crash course in one of the Navy’s most complex weapons systems,” McGee half begs and half whines at Ducky.  
“Oh, sorry.”  
“You look dashing, dad,” I inform him.  
“Yes, I used to wear a mustache in Singapore when I attached…”  
“ARES is an encryption-decryption system. That means that it’s used to encode and decode information. In this case, GPS targeting information for the Navy’s cruise missiles,” McGee explains to us.  
“It operates by using the algorithm known as IDEA. It’s the same algorithm used for all RSA Legacy keys generated by PGP,” Abby adds.  
“It uses a variable-length key, from thirty-two bits of four hundred and forty-eight bits. Questions so far?”  
“Are you sure it’s not Hairrow?” Ducky asks them again making Ziva laugh at him.  
“It’s a ten hour drive to the Canadian border. We’re going to have to go without a surveillance van,” Tony informs them.  
“I’ve got it covered,” Shepard states making us blink.  
“She’s got it covered? How?” Tony asks us in confusion.  
“Let’s just say it’s a favour you and I couldn’t have called in,” Gibbs explains cryptically.  
“I know it doesn’t look like much, but inside is twenty million bucks worth of ARES,” Abby explains as she hands Ziva the fake portable computer.  
“Guard it with your life,” Shepard orders Ziva.  
“OF course,” Ziva agrees with her before ‘stumbling’ making Shepard jump resulting in Ziva laughing. Ziva informs us, “Ooh! I find a little levity at the start of a mission relaxing.”  
“Boss, we’ve got a problem,” McGee informs us.  
“Just one, McGee? I can see a million before Shepard decided to send an innocent person undercover for her own gain,” I state.  
“Grenouille is sure to have someone there to vet ARES. Now, if someone asks Ducky to explain something, his duck is cooked, no pun intended,” McGee states.  
“Well, if his duck is cooked… Shepard’s duck is cooked,” I snap because this is too dangerous.  
“Well, that’s why you’re going to be there with him, McGee,” Gibbs informs him with a smile.  
“Okay, just remember, Ducky,” Abby begins.  
“Charles,” Ducky corrects her.  
“What?”  
“MY name is Charles Harrow.”  
“Charles, you’ve got a plane to catch,” Shepard snaps at him without letting Abby finish her warning.  
“Yes, and an arms dealer. Mind if I have the window seat?” Ducky asks McGee.  
“Be careful, dad… you’re not allowed to die,” I inform my father as I pull him into a tight hug in fear for loosing someone else.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Gulfstream five. Registration, two-one0right-echo,” Tony informs McGee over the radio as I stand in MTAC with McGee, Gibbs and Shepard tonight as Tony, Ziva and Ducky is on site.  
“Copy you, Archangel,” McGee says over the radio. After looking into the plane he informs them, “Two-one-eight echo is a Sorbonne air charter out of Orly Sud. It’s been refuelled and flight filed. TOD – twenty-four hundred.”  
“Thirty-five minutes. This is your op, director,” I remind her.  
“Bring Ducky online,” Shepard orders us making me roll my eyes, so much for protecting our people.  
“Sound check, Ducky,” McGee says over to Ducky’s radio.  
“Now I know why they call these wretched things earwigs,” Ducky complains.  
“Make the exchange, doctor, and get out. I don’t want you caught in the middle of a firefight,” Shepard orders him.  
“That’s very considerate of you, director.”  
“Don’t get used to it, dad,” I warn him.  
“And Ducky, thank you,” Shepard overlaps me.  
“It’s a pleasure,” Ducky informs her as a car engine starts. Making Ducky exclaim, “Tally-ho.”  
“Six months of undercover work, and it all comes down to Ducky,” Shepard complains.  
“May I help you?” a woman asks Ducky in French.  
“Charles Harrow. La Grenouille is expecting me,” Ducky informs her in French.  
“One moment, Mister Harrow.”  
“Well, that was easy. When this is over, you really should talk to somebody about the security,” Ducky complains to us.  
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Shepard informs him.  
“Yes, a terrorist could hire a car and… wait a minute.”  
“Identification please,” Quinn, a man demands of Ducky.  
“Martin Quinn. He flew in with La Grenouille’s advance party two months ago,” Shepard informs Ducky.  
“Open the trunk, please,” Quinn orders Ducky making him comply with the order. After searching the trunk he orders Ducky again, “With me.” Ducky follow him in his car up to the gulfstream. When they got close he orders Ducky, “All right. Hold it there.”  
“Charles Harrow?” Kort asks as Ducky gets out of the car.  
“You day that as if you’re surprised to see me,” Ducky states.  
“Uh-oh,” McGee mumbles.  
“Archangel, Ducky might have been compromised,” Shepard informs Tony and Ziva.  
“Archangel has him covered,” Ziva informs us.  
“You have ARES?” Kort demands of Ducky.  
“You have the twenty million?” Ducky asks him in return.  
“He’s a natural,” Gibbs comments as he places his hand on my lower back because I am so scared for my father, and he is making sure that I know he is there with me.  
“Maybe, but he’s making me nervous,” Shepard complains.  
“Regina!” Kort calls back into his plane making a girl exit it.  
“Wow… she’s pretty,” I comment as I stare at her.  
“Hello,” Regine Smidt greets Ducky.  
“Ah, you hand,” Ducky mumbles as he takes Regine’s hand places a kiss on it like a true gentlemen.  
“Talk him to hand over the damn laptop, McGee,” Gibbs orders him angrily.  
“Ducky, give her the laptop,” McGee orders him over the radio.  
“May I?” Regine ask making Ducky hands over the computer. She asks him, “This is ARES?”  
“Never judge a computer by its shell my dear,” Ducky informs her.  
“Password?”  
“Raven,” Ducky answers her.  
“Satellite uplink?”  
“Built into the circuit board,” McGee informs Ducky quickly.  
“It’s built into the circuit board,” Ducky repeats.  
“Follow the onscreen instructions to lock onto a satellite.”  
“Follow the onscreen in instructions to lock onto a satellite.”  
“Good,” Regine exclaims.  
“Where’s Grenouille?” Shepard demands, making it known what she really cares about and it’s not my father as Regine walks into the plane again.  
“Aren’t you going to invite me in out of the cold, monsieur grenouille?” Ducky asks Kort as he rubs his hand because it’s cold where he is.  
“I would, but I’m not him,” Kort informs us before the frog walks up to them.  
“Finally,” Shepard exclaims excitedly.  
“I trust you’ll forgive a rather operatic entrance, mister Harrow, but I love theatre,” Grenouille informs Ducky.  
“As do I,” Ducky informs him in French.  
“What is your favourite opera?” Grenouille asks him in French.   
“My favourite opera is Cosi fan tutte. Of course.”  
“I understand.”  
“Yours?”  
“La Forza del Destino. So dark.”  
“Why do they have to speak French?” Gibbs complains from behind me making me laugh at him.  
“Well, we are in Quebec, boss,” McGee reminds him but Gibbs glares at him making McGee turn to the radio and informs Ducky, “Ducky, English…”  
“…A melody formidable,” Grenouille overlaps McGee in French.  
“Please.”  
“Yes, well, ugh… she we step out of the wind?” Ducky asks him in English.  
“Of course. Perhaps your car, huh? Too much time with even the most beautiful woman can be boring,” Grenouille explains before leading Ducky back to Ducky’s car.  
“I… I wouldn’t know, monsieur Grenouille,” Ducky admits.  
“Ah, my nom d’guerre is for rivals and enemies. I choose to believe you are neither… call me Renee,” he orders Ducky.  
“Ducky.”  
“Ducky? What an interesting nickname.”  
“Yes, it’s an unfortunate one I picked up as a lad during the blitz. Please.”  
“Ah, merci,” Grenouille exclaims as they climb into the car.   
“Have you ever enjoyed a glass of L’Esprit de Courvoisier?” Grenouille asks Ducky in the car.  
“The spirits of Courvoisier? No, I can’t say I have,” Ducky admits as the door to the car opens and Quinn is there handing Grenouille a bottle.  
“Monsieur?” Quinn states as he hands over the drink.  
“Ah,” Grenouille exclaims as he takes it.  
“Voila,” Quinn continues in French again.  
“Merci.”  
“You’re welcome.”  
“This will be a beautiful way to consummate the transfer of the villa,” Grenouille explains to my father.  
“Le Froggie is more careful than Gotti,” Gibbs insults the two arms dealers.  
“That’s why he’s never been caught,” Shepard states.  
“Kind of reminds me of Ari… same opinion of himself, some love for French things. Some threat to my father, some person protecting them from us,” I complain making Gibbs hum behind me because he has noticed that too.  
“Oh, what a pleasure,” Ducky exclaims as Grenouille pours then a drink each.  
“Do you have children, Ducky?” Grenouille asks my father.  
“Sadly, no,” Ducky lies because Harrow didn’t have children, but his answers does hurt me because I am alive and his.  
“He’s acting,” Gibbs reminds me as he moves closure so that he is hugging me from behind, whispering into my ear.  
“I know,” I whisper attempting to be strong like it didn’t hurt.  
“He’s not Mrs Todd, Ducky loves you and wouldn’t disown you, even when you finally kill Jen.”  
“One of life’s great gifts. I have three. And two grandchildren now. A girl and a boy. Everything I do now is for them. I am provider and protector in equal part. Napoleon… napoleon was the first to drink this cognac at his coronation in eighteen hundred and two. And since then, only the very best vintage has been added to that. Two hundred years of empires, revolutions and war,” Grenouille rambles to Ducky.  
“History in glass,” Ducky comments in French.  
“Salud,” Grenouille agrees with him before they both take a sip as we hear the jet engine throw Ducky, Ziva and Tony’s mics.  
“They’re starting engines,” Tony informs us like we can’t hear that.  
“This Courvoisier is astonishing,” Ducky comments.  
“Oh, excellent. It’s been a pleasure, Ducky,” Grenouille says to Ducky before getting out of the car,  
“Yes, for me, too,” Ducky agrees with him.  
“Get the diamonds, dad,” I remind him.  
“Renee? Aren’t you forgetting something?” Ducky reminds him.  
“Oh, my bottle of history is yours, my friend. Add to it well,” Grenouille explains.  
“I don’t know what to say.”  
“Give me the diamonds!” we all tell him what to say.  
“Oh, yes. Well, uh… yes hate to be crass, but the diamonds?” Ducky asks him as he gets out of the car too.  
“Yes, Kort has them,” Grenouille informs him.  
“Ah, very well.”  
“Archangel awaiting instructions,” Ziva demands of Shepard.  
“This was to be a snatch, wasn’t it? Or did you have something else in mind?” Gibbs demands of Shepard as a phone begins to ring.  
“Good bye,” Grenouille says to Ducky in French.  
“Good bye,” Ducky returns in French.  
“See you soon.”  
“See you soon.”  
“Director Shepard,” Shepard answers her ringing phone.  
“About to lose target. Target will be lost in five seconds,” Ziva reminds us about the quickly passing time.  
“Archangel requesting instructions,” Tony adds.  
“Director?”   
“Madam director, answer them,” I snap at her.  
“Stand down, archangels! Stand down!” Shepard finally answers them.  
“Tell me you got the call,” Kort demands of Ducky.  
“What call?” Ducky asks in confusion.  
“Yes, I got the damn call,” Shepard hisses at him.  
“Your diamonds, doctor mallard,” Kort says as he hands over the diamonds before returning to the plane and leaving on the plane.  
“He knew my name!” Ducky exclaims in fear.  
“He’s not getting near you… no one is,” I promise him.  
“He’s CIA,” Tony explains to him.  
“So was Harrow,” Ziva adds.  
“It was a sting,” McGee continues.  
“We got stung.”  
“We’re being screwed over again and this time it’s not Fornell,” I hiss at everyone.  
“No, we got screwed,” Shepard overlaps me.  
“One question. What do I do with these?” Ducky asks us as he holds up the diamonds.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ah, how many are you keeping?” Gibbs asks Shepard as we walk into her office to see her sitting at her desk that is covered in diamonds.  
“Did Ducky fix Harrow’s time of death?” Shepard demands of him without answering his question.  
“Yeah, on record, he will drop dead of a heart attack tomorrow,” I inform her as I pick up a tiny diamond to look at it.  
“Good. I wouldn’t want Grenouille to discover he’d met a dead man. Harrow altered the ARES unit. Installed a trojan-horse. If the Iranians even try to use it, they’ll be targeting their own defence systems. Quite a strategic advantage.”  
“We didn’t need to know that,” Gibbs states as he makes a hand motion between himself and me.  
“Neither did I. but somebody thought they could trust me. I will get him, another time, another deal. I will be there, and I will get him.”  
“Are you sure you want to?” I demand of her.  
“Of course I want to.”  
“Some people need to have someone to hate,” Gibbs states.  
“Not me.”  
“Then you should have let Ziva take the shot… not freeze up and fall to answer them,” I snap at her in return as Gibbs drops a file onto her desk before I leave with Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey dad,” I greet Ducky as I walk into his living room that night.  
“Hey, Alice,” Ducky greets me as he pulls me into a hug.  
“You can’t do that again… you scared me,” I inform him as I hold him tightly.  
“Sorry.”  
“You said that you didn’t have children,” I mumble what has been bouncing around my head since he said it earlier.  
“I’m not letting another arms dealer, terrorist or another bad guy now that I have a daughter. Ari know and look at how that went, it almost destroyed you,” Ducky explains to me as he release me from his hug before sitting down on the couch with me.  
“Jethro said that would be the reason but…”  
“But… I know where you are coming from. I promise, I am glad to have you as a daughter,” Ducky promises me as we sit down.  
“I know… I, it just reminded me of when mother used to say that I wasn’t her daughter,” I mumble making Ducky node with a small smile as he sits beside me.  
“How’s going on between you and Jethro?” Ducky changes the conversation.  
“Good. It’s good,” I mumble with a small smile and a little blush because it’s better than good. I look around the room before I ask Ducky, “How is Mrs Mallard?”  
“She is well. She hasn’t degraded much which is good,” Ducky answers me.  
“She’s so sweet, I just wish that she would recognize me when I visit her, but that’s not something that can be changed.”  
“Yes. But she doesn’t reacted to you like she does Tony,” Ducky reminds me making me laugh because she hates Tony.  
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” I continue to laugh as I lean back in the chair.


	46. NEW POLL again...

The old poll has finished about who is to walk in on Gibbs and Alice but I have a new pole up today...

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if you can use the poll but it only works on the computer and a table of some kind... I tested it on my IPad and that works but just like last time, not on the phones...

My question is the following...

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what is your favourite ship name?

alis

aliby

gibs

gice

gibbe

tibbs

todds

gial

gibe

gialic

gice

gali

gito

GTO

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Thank you for your time and votes... let me know if you come up with one I haven't added too


	47. Friends & Lovers

“Okay. Right by my ear,” Lee says to Ziva in the NCIS basement, she throws the knife but instead of the target in front of her, she almost kills Gibbs and me as we walk up behind them. The knife slides right past my cheek, I reach up and place my finger on my cheek before removing it only to see blood. Lee cut my cheek. Gibbs is wearing a white shirt under a dark shirt and a black jacket today. I am wearing a white shirt, tucked into bell, bottom, blue jeans that are tight around my ass and become loose around my knees. The tops of my combat boots are under my pants and I am wearing the leather jacket Ducky gave me for my eighteenth birthday, I am also wearing my horse belt that Gibbs gave me.  
“I thought you said you grew up around weapons?” Ziva asks Lee in confusion without noticing us yet.  
“I did. I didn’t say my father actually let me touch any of them,” Lee defends herself as I pick up someone’s towel and hold it to the cut. The knife wasn’t really sharp but it was sharp enough to cut me shallowly. I don’t think it’s going to need stitches but Lee will when Gibbs’ notices.  
“Okay. Uh… it’s my fault, Gibbs. I was,” Ziva begins to defend Lee as she notices us.  
“Save it! We’ve got a dead sailor in Georgetown. Grab your gear,” Gibbs overlaps Ziva as I pull the knife out of the wall and returned it to Lee.  
“Thank you,” Lee says to me as I leave with the team.  
“Are you alright Alice?” Tony asks me as I put the towel down on the floor before Gibbs can see but Gibbs hears Tony as we step into the elevator, making him look at me and see the cut.  
“I’m fine,” I answer Tony but Gibbs isn’t listening to me, he gently grabs my chin so that he can turn my head to look at the cut.  
“You’re bleeding,” Gibbs states as he looks it over.  
“It’s fine… Jethro, I have had deeper cuts when I shave my legs,” I dismiss the cut but Gibbs isn’t having any of it. I glare at Tony for calling attention to the cut. This is going to be a long case, Gibbs is going to be impossibly over protective.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Pulled his I.D. Found our victim was a sailor. Call you. Couple found him here last night. Supposed this is where they had their first date. Guy got the keys from the landlord, and wanted to propose,” Morris, the local native American detective, informs us in the abandoned restaurant where the body was found.  
“Well, nothing says I love you like a rotting corpse in an abandoned crap hole,” Tony comments.  
“What did she say?” I ask the detective.  
“She says she wants this back before he changes his mind,” Carson, another Caucasian detective, informs me as he hold up the ring, before looking me up and down but I don’t notice because I am looking over the crime screen.  
“Yeesh. And they say romance is dead,” Tony jokes.  
“It is… best you can do is find someone who drinks the same poison as you,” I inform Tony as I continue to look around.  
“Wallet was found next to the body. No money, no credit cards. Just a military ID and driver’s license,” Morris informs us.  
“Robbed,” Gibbs asks him.  
“I’d be curious to know how he died, Agent Gibbs,” Morris informs him.  
“When we know, Detective Morris, you will know,” I promise him.  
“I appreciate it.”  
“I got the statements we took from the couple in my car,” Carson informs us but he doesn’t remove his eyes off of my chest.  
“All right, you’re on sketching detail there, probie. I’ll tell you, this is making me nervous,” Tony comments as I leave the restaurant for a moment, walking back to the truck to get a something for the maggots to go into.  
“Hey, wait up, red,” Carson calls out to me as he runs after me, I wait for him. Once he has caught up, I begin to walk to the truck again.  
“Can I help you?” I ask him as I open the back of the truck.  
“My name’s John,” Carson reintroduces himself as I shake his hand.  
“Alice,” I introduce myself before leaning into the truck.  
“What’s someone as pretty as you, working with all these guys?” Carson asks me as he continues to stare at my ass.  
“They’re not that bad,” I defend my family as I continue to look but Tony’s packing is shit.   
“What are you looking for, anyway, beautiful?” John asks me when he releases that line of questioning is over, making me pull a face where he can’t see it before answering him.  
“Looking for something to collect the witness.”  
“Why don’t you just put them in the back of your car?”  
“Not those witnesses. The other ones,” I state as I finally find a big enough bottle for them.  
“You’ve lost me. What are you one about?”  
“Wait and find out,” I answer him as I straight up but when I do my ass grazes his crutch making me pull a face again, why is he so close. I demand of him, “DO you mind backing up?”   
“Why?” He asks me with a smirk at he looks down at me, or more to the point down my shirt..  
“Back up,” I repeat with more venom but instead of listening to me, he leans on the truck, trapping me.  
“Why? You tell me you don’t like this?” Carson asks me as he smirks at me, making me return the smirk before kneeing him in the balls, making him collapse to the ground.  
“I told you to move back,” I remind him as I calmly step over him, only to see Gibbs storming back into the restaurant, making my heart freeze. I quickly rush after him but he seems to stay just out of reach until we’re surrounded by the team, meaning I confront him and when I try to get close to him, he just moves away from me like I’m Y pestis and he doesn’t have the vaccination.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The larval stage of the Musca domestica, a common housefly. A nuisance to most, but invaluable to the trained investigator,” Ducky rambles about the maggots on the victim, I have stopped trying to get near Gibbs because he keeps moving away from me, and I can’t keep forcing that rejection on myself. Gibbs is standing on one side of the room while I am on the other, nearer to the body with the team spread out between us.  
“Not to mention a great source of protein. I saw it on discovery channel. A documentary on survival training,” Jimmy explains happily making me pull a face, that’s disgusting.  
“Ah, as I was saying, they should prove helpful in determining the time of death. Unless of course, my assistant decides to eat them first.”  
“Temperature and current size, Duck? These eggs could have been laid in his mouth more than a week ago,” Gibbs states while showing off making me blink because he normally doesn’t do that, even when he is flirting with the local detective, sheriff, FBI agent or M.I.D.  
“Very good, Jethro. It’s surprisingly warm in here. I’d estimate he’s been dead somewhere between four and five days.”  
“Any idea how?” I ask Ducky next.  
“Many, but with no obvious signs of trauma or injury, that will have to wait until we get him home. Let’s get the gurney, mister Palmer.”  
“McGee, what is you make of this?” Gibbs asks McGee about something he just found.  
“The word disgusting comes to mind,” McGee comments as he looks at the maggots.  
“I think he was talking about the card,” Ziva corrects him as she nodes to the card Gibbs found.  
“Oh, uh… maybe some kind of ticket.”  
“Find out what. Ziva, photos. McGee, you find any more maggots walking around, you bag ‘em. They’re evidence,” Gibbs orders his team before leaving. I rush after him but he gets into his car and drives off, leaving me at the crime scene. I stare after the car, wondering what I did wrong, why is Gibbs acting like a two year old who just had his toy taken of him.  
“Alice, would you like a ride?” Ducky asks me when he brings the body out only to see I am still here.  
“Yes, please, dad,” I agree with him as I try to hide the hurt that Gibbs leaving me behind has coursed to me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Our dead sailor is Petty officer Evan Davidson. A corpsman stationed at the basic school at Quantico. Reported UA four days ago,” Ziva reports to us back in the squad room.  
“Last seen Thursday night at a Georgetown bar. His marine buds said he hooked up with a girl left before closing. Marines ever leave before closing?” Tony asks making Gibbs hit him on the back of the head and he gets back in topic, “I’m going to head down to Quantico and get her description.”  
“McGee, tell me about the card we found on the body,” Gibbs orders McGee only to release McGee has disappeared making Gibbs snap, “Where is he?”  
“Apparently not here… I’ll find him,” Ziva promise before walking off to find McGee for a change. I walk off to get coffee as everyone else works. I quietly walk down the street to Gibbs coffee shop where I walk in to see Mark on.  
“Morning, Mark… how’s it going?” I ask him as he begins to make my coffees.  
“Morning Alice. This James, the new coffee maker I was telling you about,” Mark introduces me to another young man, which I look up and down before informing Mark.  
“A month and he will be gone.”  
“I give him two,” Mark informs me as I hand him the money.  
“Got a boyfriend again, yet?”  
“Actually, I do.”  
“Oh, do too.”  
“James…”  
“No way, you’re dating someone who you work with now?” I ask him in disbelief.  
“Says the girl dating her own boss.”  
“Thanks for the coffee,” I say with a laugh as I take the coffee and continue to walk back to the office. Where I place a coffee on everyone’s desk, but what hurts is when Gibbs gets up and leaves to get his own coffee.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He’s an alcoholic?” Jimmy asks Ducky as I am exiting the elevator with Gibbs who is drinking the coffee he got himself.  
“Was, Mister Palmer,” Ducky corrects him as we walk into autopsy.  
“Is that what killed him, Duck?” Gibbs asks him.  
“No, but it was certainly a contributing factor. His blood alcohol level was five times the legal limit. I’m surprised he could stand, never mind break into an abandoned restaurant. And his preliminary tox screen also shows traces of ecstasy and other chemicals in his blood. Quite a volatile cocktail.”  
“What kind of other chemicals?” I ask him in surprise.  
“Abby’s running them right now. It appears our young man went on a bender on Thursday night, one from which he could not recover.”  
“He O.D. ed?” Gibs asks in surprise.  
“That would explain the multiple organ failure we found. We won’t know more ‘til we finish the autopsy,” Jimmy informs us.  
“Very good, mister Palmer. Anything else you’d care to add?” Ducky asks his assistant.  
“There’s a very good chance that this is an accidental death, doctor.”  
“Nothing accidental about it, Palmer,” Gibbs corrects him before we leave autopsy together but he’s still ignoring me. We take the elevator up into the lab silently.  
“Well, Abs, I’ve got to tell him something,” McGee reminds Abby in the lab with Ziva.  
“Tell him you love him, McGee. It works for me,” Abby inform him.  
“Not all the time,” Gibbs states.  
“Hi, Gibbs, Alice. Just in time. This is the mass-spec on the mystery compounds in Petty Officer Davidson’s blood. It’s organic and it’s definitely what killed him. Meet neriin, oleandrin and oleandroside,” Abby explains as she puts the results on the plasma screen.  
“Friends of your, elf lord?”  
“No, Gibbs, they’re not characters from lord of the rings. They’re compounds from in the oleander plant.”  
“What drug is made from that?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“None. It’s pure poison.”  
“Our petty officer didn’t O.D,” McGee states.  
“He was murdered,” I add, sadly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Abs,” I greet her when she opens her door tonight. I am wearing Gibbs NIS shirt and a pair of jeans with my combat boots with my dog under my arm holding Ugly Tony.  
“Alice, what are you doing here?” Abby demands of me as she pulls me into her room. She is wearing her sleepwear, a funeral gown.  
“What? I can’t come and see a friend?”  
“It’s almost midnight. Why aren’t you with Gibbs?”  
“I wanted to see my friend.”  
“Alice, don’t lie to me, I am one of the few people…”  
“Who can kill me without leaving any evidence. Yes I know.”  
“Then tell me the truth,” Abby begs of me as she leads me over to the couch where we sit down and I place Ugly Tony on my lap, patting her.  
“I did something bad.”  
“What did you do?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“Alice, spit it out.”  
“Jethro’s mad at me… and I don’t know what I did,” I admit as I fight not to cry, I love him and he’s angry at me.  
“What makes you think he’s angry at you?” Abby asks me in confusion.  
“At the crime scene, he… he kept moving away from me, and left me behind. And I got him a coffee, he refused to drink it, to the point where he went and got himself a coffee.”  
“Oh, Alice… did you try talking to him?”  
“Hmm-mm… he won’t talk to me, even at home, he’s ignoring me. He never ignores me. He wouldn’t eat dinner or even come to bed.”  
“Do you came here?”  
“If I’m not there, maybe he’ll eat and go to bed,” I explain making Abby node at me.  
“You really love him don’t you?”  
“More than anything… I, I wish I know what I did to piss him off so I can fix it,” I beg of her for help.  
“What was happening before he started ignoring you?”  
“Umm… I was looking for something to collect the maggots in the truck.”  
“Anything out of the usual?”  
“I was talking to the local detective, but I have to do that at every crime scene,” I state in confusion because I really don’t know what I did wrong in Gibbs eyes.  
“I don’t know… we’re work it out, tomorrow. Go to sleep,” Abby orders me as she moves to her room with the casket while I lay down on the couch to sleep. I lay on the couch, hearing Abby fall to sleep as I lay there, wishing to be in bed with Gibbs, but I can’t because he’s mad at me. I close my eyes but I know I won’t be sleeping tonight.  
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“Shakira. That’s who this police sketch reminds me of. Shakira, yes? You know, the singer? The one who dances like this,” Ziva says as she dances like Shakira the next morning in the squad room after staring at the police sketch on the plasma between Tony and McGee’s desk for half an hour. After dancing for a moment she releases Tony’s not listening and exclaims, “You’re not even listening to me, are you?” Today I am what I wore to Abby’s apartment last night. Ugly Tony is running around the squad room, growling at regular Ugly Tony, the human one, McGee and Ziva.  
“Uh-huh,” Tony mumbles without looking up from his computer.  
“Look at this police sketch. The marines said this woman left the bar with petty officer Davidson. She could be the caller… hey!... where are we going?” Ziva asks Tony as she looks at the computer to see Tony is looking at travellers websites on his work computer.  
“We’re not going anywhere,” Tony answers her.  
“Who are you take? McGee?”   
“Agent Gibbs around? I brought him an early valentine’s day present,” Morris states as Carson and him walk into the squad room with a junky handcuffed with him. Making me pick up my dog as she goes to bit them, not that I care about that but I don’t what them to hurt my baby.  
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“He’s a junkie. Hangs out in the area where we found your dead sailor. Morris thinks he saw something,” Carson informs us in the observation room as I rock my rat, dog, thing.  
“What do you think, Detective Carson?” I ask him.  
“John, please… has anyone told you that you have beautiful eyes?” John asks me making me blink in surprise. What does that have to do with anything?  
“Um… thanks,” I say slowly in confusion.  
“I could stare into them all day and not get tired,” Carson continues making me move away from him, he’s creepy and staring into my eyes.  
“Back to the question. What makes you think he knows anything, John?” Tony demands of him overlapping his latest compliment.  
“Well, um… mostly this, Tony. He had one of your petty officer’s cards on him,” Carson explains as he holds the card up and Tony snatches off of him.  
“I’ve got somebody that I want you to meet, Frankie. This is special agent Gibbs. Wants to ask you a few questions,” Morris informs Holtz, the junky, as they walk into integration room making me gasp, Gibbs looks great and he’s still not talking to me. I wish I know what I did wrong. Gibbs is still wearing what he was wearing yesterday.  
“Look, I didn’t do nothing wrong. I mean, I didn’t even use the card,” Holtz snaps at them.  
“No problem. I just want to know how you got it,” Gibbs demands of him as he shows him the photo of the card.  
“Oh, I found it, you know, in the street.”  
“Where do you keep your credit cards, Detective Morris?”  
“Oh, like ninety-nine percent of the people on this planet, a wallet. You?” Morris asks Gibbs.  
“Yeah. Same. Same. You see, we’ve got a problem here, Frank, because Petty Officer Davidson’s wallet was found lying next to his body,” Gibbs states.  
“And his body wasn’t in the street.  
“Well, you ever stop to think uh… the guy could have dropped it?” Holtz demands of the men.  
“Man does raise a valid point.”  
“Mm. yeah? Yeah, works for me,” Gibbs agrees with him.  
“So I can… I can go?” Holtz asks them hopefully.  
“Ah, no. I think we’re going to charge you with murder instead.”  
“Wait I didn’t murder nobody! Look, he was still breathing…”  
“It’s almost unfair to interrogating junkies,” Tony comments.  
“It’s like shooting fish in a pond,” Ziva comments wrongly.  
“I um… I think you mean a barrel,” Carson laughs at Ziva.  
“Why would a fish be in a barrel?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Um… I um… it’s a good point. I never really thought about it before.”  
“So that you can shoot them easily,” I inform her.  
“Mm-hmm,” Ziva hums at us.  
“Frankie, Frankie, Frankie,” Gibbs begins in disappointment.  
“When I found your guy, he was pretty wasted,” Holtz explains to Gibbs.  
“Where?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“In an alley behind one club.”  
“You saw him coming out of there?” Morris demands of him.  
“No. No, he was lying over by some dumpsters. Right? So I decided… I decided to keep an eye on him. You know, make sure that… he don’t hurt himself.”  
“I think you need to find a new line of work,” Gibbs begins.  
“He’s dead, you re-tread,” Morris adds.  
“Well, not when I saw him! I mean, all I did was help him into that restaurant and I just… I just waited for him to pass out,” Holtz explains to them.  
“So you could rob him,” Gibbs asks him in disbelief.  
“Well, yeah. But I didn’t. I didn’t kill him.”  
“No. but you just left him there to die.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“One club’s been on our radar for the last year. Drugs, illegal gambling, prostitution,” Carson explains to us in the squad room as I continue to rock and pat my rat, dog thing.  
“Why haven’t you breasted them?” Ziva asks him.  
“He’s the police, not the plastic surgent,” I explain to Ziva calmly.  
“She means busted,” Tony corrects her like normal.  
“Oh, yes. Yes, busted. Sorry,” Ziva agrees with the change.  
“It’s a private club. We can’t get in to get enough evidence for a warrant,” Morris informs us.  
“Why not raid it? If they’re doing half od what you think they are, you’ll find evidence,” Ziva reminds them.  
“Not without a warrant. Last time I damn near lost my badge.”  
“So? You lose the badge, joint he FBI,” I state.  
“Club’s lawyers ripped into the department big time. Owner’s a smart guy. His name’s Scott Pell. Knows hot to protect his clients. If you’re a member of one club, you can get away with just about anything. It’s not the kind of club you’d expect to find a sailor. you’ve got to be rich or famous to step through that door,” Carson explains to us.  
“Yeah, or you have something they want. Are you two waiting for an engraved invite?” Gibbs informs us as he walks through the squad room to the back elevator, carrying a caf-pow means that he is going to see Abby.   
“On the surface it’s a moderately priced Italian knockoff. But on the inside of the heel, a portable pharmacy. Twenty-four tablets of Ecstasy,” Abby explains to us in the lab.  
“Well, that could have gotten him through the door,” Morris comments.  
“That’s a good job, Abby,” Gibbs complements her as he places a kiss on her forehead while handing her the caf-pow and turning to leave, making me pout because he’s still ignoring me and it hurts to see Gibbs being nice to Abby while he doesn’t even drink the coffee I brought him. He’s never done that before.  
“Oh, that was just the warm-up act, Gibbs. The real show is in here with McGee,” Abby explains as she grabs Gibbs and my arm, pulling us into the inner lab where he sitting desk is.  
“Boss, this card was definitely planted at the crime scene,” McGee informs us as Abby steps around me so I am standing next to Gibbs who moves as far away as he can.  
“They wanted us to find it.”  
“Well, how do you figure that?” Morris demands of them.  
“Well, the blood stain was intentionally put underneath the lamination,” Abby begins.  
“A human blood stain,” McGee adds.  
“Well, that doesn’t prove that it was planted,” Morris states.  
“They wanted us to take the card out of the plastic.”  
“And who’s they?”  
“We would know if you stopped interrupting and let the geeks talk, we’ll know by now,” I snap at him.  
“Stop interrupting and listen,” Gibbs overlaps me.  
“They being the person or persons who killed Petty Officer Davidson,” McGee begins again.  
“Okay, here’s where it gets weird. And when I say weird, I mean like the sick and creepy kind of weird. Not the good weird, because I’m a big fan of that,” Abby rambles.  
“Abby,” Gibbs snaps at her.  
“Um… al right. You’re going to need these. All right, McGee!” Abby exclaims as she hands us the glass for her use of the UV lights. Once we have the glass on, Abby continues, “Hit the lights! We sprayed the card with luminal to look for more blood splatter. And instead, we found this.”  
“It’s written in blood,” Ziva says in surprise as we look at the wording.  
“I’d say that’s creepy,” Tony comments.  
“Do you think, DiNozzo?” Gibbs snaps at him as I hold Ugly Tony tightly against my chest.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Abby analysed the contents of our Petty Officer’s stomach. We now know how the poison was administered. The oleander plant leaves were first reduced to fine powder, and then ingested. Judging by the absorption rate, it had to be in the form of a liquid,” Ducky informs us in autopsy.  
“What’s this stuff taste like, dad?” I ask him.  
“Oh, extremely bitter. In order to disguise it, you’d have to use something equally strong, such as…”  
“Booze?” Gibbs finishes for him.  
“Yeah.”  
“Someone spiked his drink?” I ask him in surprise.  
“Well, considering his blood alcohol level, I’d say more than one.”  
“How many shots of this before you end up like he did?” Gibbs asks him next.  
“From that concentration? No more than three or four. Which brings me to the real reason for this visit. The not found on the body…”  
“Expect more?” I ask him.  
“Yeah. An average bottle contains twenty-five shots, enough to kill even people. But an entire case?”  
“More than sixty. A few cases, you wipe out the entire night club,” Gibbs states.  
“Well, bars and discotheques have been terrorist targets overseas. It’s only a matter of time before they try it here.”  
“Terrorists don’t leave shiny pink clue cards for us, dad… besides Ari but he doesn’t really count anymore,” I remind him making Gibbs give me a look for getting off topic which I ignore because I don’t know what his problem is.  
“No, they don’t. Nor do they leave threats that can only be read in a forensic lab. I believe the killer is trying to show us how clever they are.”  
“Expect more. He’s planning to do it again,” Gibbs reminds him tightly.  
“Or she. Poison has been the weapon of choice for women for centuries. Except they tend to hide it in food, rather than drink.”  
“That would explain why my last ex-wife spent so much time in the kitchen,” Gibbs comments as we leave autopsy making Ducky and me laugh at him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“If Petty Officer Davidson was drinking in this neighbourhood Thursday night, it had to be here,” Tony informs us in the squad room as he has a discreet building on the plasma screen above my desk.  
“It doesn’t exactly look like a celebrity hangout,” McGee states.  
“That’s why celebrities like it, probie.”  
“Ordinary people don’t even know one club exists,” Morris informs us.  
“DiNozzo, find me that woman he was with and McGee, get the warrant,” Gibbs orders us making my heart clench when I see that he is standing as far away from me as he can.  
“On it, boss,” McGee exclaims as he moves over to his desk.  
“On what grounds?” Morris demands of us.  
“Dead sailor’s work for NCIS… always does,” I states.  
“Metro doesn’t look like that.”  
“Then don’t,” Gibbs snaps at him.  
“To late. We’ve involved. I need grounds, agent Gibbs,” Morris snaps back.  
“Your witness places the victim at the club at the time of his murder,” Gibbs snaps back.  
“Outside the club. And he wasn’t exactly a witness, he let him die so he could rob him.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Agents Gibbs, Todd and Lee to see you, Director,” Cynthia informs Shepard as she opens the door into the office to inform her boss we’re going to barge in.  
“Let them in, Cynthia,” Shepard orders her as we storm in anyway, making Cynthia shut the door behind us. Shepard looks at us and demands, “What’s the problem?”  
“Jurisdiction issues with Metro Police,” I state as I sit on the conference table attempting to ignore how Gibbs doesn’t walk anywhere near me instead staying with Lee.  
“They’re insisting on a warrant,” Lee informs her innocently making me roll my eyes, she is such a tattle tail.  
“And this… legal person won’t get me one,” Gibbs adds as he looks Lee over making me want to hit him, he is mine and he’s angry at me while looking over another agent.  
“I’ve tried, director. We don’t have probable cause. I can’t get a judge to sign off on it.”  
“We have a dead sailor. We’ve got a killer leaving us messages in human blood, Lee,” I remind her as I lean back onto one of my hands.  
“But we need to get a warrant, Alice. Sir. Not sir. Gibbs. Special… special agent Gibbs.”  
“Where did you find her?” Gibbs demands of Shepard in distaste for the lawyer.  
“Harvard law school,” Shepard answers him.  
“Can we leave you there?” I ask Shepard making her and Gibbs glare at me for getting of topic but I don’t care.  
“We need a witness who saw the Petty Officer inside of the club,” Lee informs us, while getting us back on topic.  
“We’ve got one!” Gibbs exclaims in annoyance that no one is listening to him.  
“Is there a witness?” Shepard asks us.  
“Yes.”  
“Metro Detective Morris informs me that he’s a drug addict that no judge would find reliable, director,” Kee explains.  
“SO? That is how Ari got to kill my sister, because you lawyers and madam directors were too busy covering your ass. Not protecting the people we are supposed to be protecting, this time it is a sailor, next time I hope it’s one of you that’s life can’t be saved because of the feds, metro police, or just because a lawyer is not doing their job,” I snap at the two women that is making me life harder than it needs to be.  
“Who’s running this agency? Metro police?” Gibbs snaps at Shepard.  
“You know damn well who,” Shepard snaps back.  
“Yeah, whoever you decide to sell out to this week,” I snap back.  
“Find me a witness and I will get you that warrant, sir… special… agent… Gibbs,” Lee stutters out as Gibbs storms out making me blink.  
“I do hope that no one dies because of you two… because this is bullshit, and you don’t care,” I snap at them as I follow Gibbs out of the room but he has already run away from me, making me hurt in pain again because I don’t know what I did to make him hate me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We need to talk, Gibbs,” Morris snaps at Gibbs as he walks into the squad room, making Gibbs node before walking over to the elevator for a private talk.  
“Should we call the paramedics?” Carson asks us.  
“No need. If they fight, it will be to the death,” Ziva answers him.  
“That’s why we have the M.E.’s in the same building… saves on the fuel when the FBI arrives,” I explain to him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Talk,” I order Morris in the elevator when I stop the elevator between levels. I need him to hurry up because I left Alice with that Carson who is interested in her, and I won’t let him take MY girl.  
“I used to be like you, Gibbs,” Morris begins slowly.  
“You were never like me,” I state as I glare at him, waiting for him to finish so I can stop anyone from flirting with Alice because I don’t trust anyone with my girl.  
“I got the dirtbags any way I could. Let the lawyers sweat the paperwork. About a year ago I went into a hole down on eighth. The bastard in there was a bad-ass. Rapist. Podophile. Scum you gotta take off the street to get sleep at night. I don’t have a warrant or a probably cause. But I knew. So I took him down. Hard.”  
“IS that it, or should I get a refill?” I ask him as I finish drinking my coffee that I got myself… I wouldn’t drink the coffee Alice keeps getting me when she is openly flirting with another man that isn’t me.  
“His lawyer said it was a bad bust. No warrant. Judge agreed. Bad-ass walked. A month later… he raped and strangled a six year old girl. I’m never going to make that mistake again.”  
“Not getting a warrant, or not killing the bastard?” I ask him because I really don’t know which one was his mistake in his eyes because in mine it is not killing the guy. Worked great with Ari and a hundred other bad guys.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Boss using the elevator as an office again? I had to take the stairs. All right, look-y what I found. The marines gave a pretty good description of Davidson’s last date. Lisa Delgado. Age twenty-three,” Tony complain as he walks into the squad room and puts the girl’s photo on the plasma above my desk again.  
“Where’d you find her?” Carson asks him as he finally gets of the ledge of my desk where he was talking to me. I walk around the desk and sit on the edge of Gibbs desk, looking at the poor girl who is the last known person’s to be seen with our victim.  
“There’s only two parking lots within… stumbling distance of the club,” Tony inform us.  
“Wow, Tony… that took less time then it took for you to work out who I was dating,” I tease my friend.  
“So you sowed the police sketch to parking attendants?” Ziva asks him overlapping me.  
“Yeah. And they I.D.’d her. She’s a regular at the One club. Arrives alone, and usually leaves with a Porsche, or a Ferrari, or a Mercedes SLR,” Tony informs us.  
“Good thinking, DiNozzo,” Carson compliments him.  
“Did you think to pick her up?” Gibbs demands of him as he appears in the squad room making me blink, when did he get back.  
“Ah, I did. Roommate hasn’t seen her since Thursday. Not unusual. She can be gone for days. She is, after all, in the escort business,” Tony informs us as he turns to face Gibbs as he says the last two words.  
“The club owner, Pell, lets some of the escorts stay overnight,” Morris informs us.  
“If you know that, why don’t you pick the girls up and get them to flip on the club owner?” I ask Morris in confusion because that makes sense to me.  
“So she could be there now,” Ziva exclaims when Morris just glares at me without answering it.  
“If she is we’ll be there when she comes out,” Gibbs states tightly.  
“And if she’s not?” Morris asks him.  
“We’ll be there when she goes in.”  
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“This is really weird,” Abby exclaims as I walk into the lab with Ziva to see the room is decorated for Valentine’s day. Tony is with Carson on the stakeout for the moment.  
“I would agree. What exactly is this?” Ziva states.  
“Abby, who is blackmailing you this time?” I tease her as I move further into the room.  
“It’s a chick-e-baby. My friend makes them,” Abby informs us.  
“Which friend?”  
“Why?” Ziva overlaps me.  
“For Valentine’s day.”  
“I think I may be confusing this holiday with another.”  
“What do you got, Abs?” Gibbs demands of us, as he sweeps into the room, looking determine and hot at the same time making me blink at him because he didn’t even look at me.  
“Oh, I’m not sure, yet. I got a partial match on the blood the killer used to write his calling card,” Abby informs him as she rushes back over to her desk.  
“Who is he?”   
“He’s a she,” Abby corrects him as I walk over to them, ignoring how Gibbs moves further away from me.  
“Out Petty Officer’s murderer is a woman,” Ziva asks her in surprise.  
“I don’t think so.”  
“Abby, what?” I ask her because she is not making sense… less than normal anyway.  
“You don’t think a woman can kill and leave a calling card?” Ziva demands of her.  
“Not this one. She was murdered two months ago,” Abby finally explains.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Sandra Thompson. Age twenty-four. Arrested seven times for prostitution. Found murdered in Canal Park. December twenty-fourth,” Morris reports in the squad room with the girl’s photo on the plasma above my desk. I am standing with Abby near Gibbs desk, listening to the report without commenting for the moment but that is going to change.  
“Ah. Christmas eve. Sad,” Abby comments.  
“No day is a good day to be stabbed twenty-two times, Ms Sciuto.”  
“She means for the family to get the news, Directive,” I defend my weird sister.  
“At least she didn’t feel anything. All the wounds were post-mortem,” Ziva states.  
“What killed her?” McGee asks in confusion.  
“She O.D.’d on something called neriin,” Morris informs us without knowing what the drug is.  
“Neriin. An oleandroside. That’s the same thing that killed the petty officer,” Abby exclaims in surprise.  
“That’s more than a coincidence, detective,” I state in annoyance.  
“That would have been nice to know two days ago, detective,” Gibbs snaps at him, overlapping and agreeing with me.  
“Hey, don’t bite my ass. This isn’t my case,” Morris defends himself.  
“Did you ask whoever’s case it was if they found a pink card on the body?” I demand of him.  
“I dis. They didn’t. the only clue here is a bloody show print.”  
“Is there a photo in the file?” Gibbs asks him.  
“It is the case file, Gibbs,” Morris snaps at him.  
“McGee,” Gibbs orders his agent.  
“Excuse me, Detective,” McGee says as he sneaks behind Morris. He opens the file on his computer and puts up the bloody shoeprint.  
“All that blood, and just one print? You killer is really smart or your detective is really slow… slower than Tony,” I state as I look at the blood bath.  
“It was his only mistake,” Morris stated while ignoring my second comment.  
“McGee,” Gibbs orders him making McGee continue to work the photo, resulting in us releasing it wasn’t a mistake.   
“It wasn’t a mistake… your detective is just slow,” I state as I stare at the bloody boot.  
“Here. Look at the outside edge. Did you ever read MAD magazine?” Gibbs asks us after pointing out a part of the photo of the boot print.  
“No,” Morris and Ziva answer him.  
“Until my mum found them and burned them in the yard,” McGee and Morris admits.  
“Oh, my god! It’s exactly like the back cover of MAD magazine!” Abby exclaims as she pulls up the copy she is one about.  
“Dead whore?” Morris reads off of the plasma screen.  
“The show print’s not a mistake, J.D. it’s a message,” Gibbs states.  
“Like expect more written on the pink card,” Abby adds.  
Which was also written in Sandra Thompson’s blood,” Ziva adds.  
“We’re dealing with a serial killer,” I complain.  
“If it’s a serial killer, shouldn’t your dead sailor be a whore?” Morris asks us.  
“Only women who sleep around are whores, men are players and loved for it.”  
“We’re going in,” Gibbs says into his phone where he is talking to Tony who is still on the stake out. He continue, “No. No, we’ve got somebody rich and famous… No. A very famous novelist. Thom E Gemcity…”   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
McGee steps out of the limo at club one, followed by Abby, Ziva, Lee and then me tonight. We are all dressed up to the nine. McGee is wearing his suit with a white scarf hanging around his neck, and his hair is slicked back. Ziva is wearing a very short, black dress, it shows the top of her breast with thick strips with a silver belt buckle and ends at the top of her thighs. Her hair is pulled up into a bun. Abby is wearing a black, thin strapped dress with a square neckline that also falls to the top of her thighs. Her hair is loose and she is wearing red lipstick for a change. Lee is wearing a black dress that falls to the top of her thighs but doesn’t show any cleavage. Her hair is also down. I am wearing a black leather dress, that is strapless and there is ribbon crosses from each breast to the bottom of my dress that is at the top of my thighs. My hair is down for a change, and I have red lipstick.  
“McGee, if Delgado’s inside, you get him our quietly,” Gibbs orders us over the radio in each of our ears.  
“How?” McGee asks in confusion as Ziva and Abby latch onto his arm and I follow them with Lee who I am gripping her arm so we don’t lose her.  
“Well, she’s a hooker, Tim. Use your imagination.”  
“Lee, can you please pretend you want to be here with us?” Ziva asks her.  
“I’m trying. Please, I don’t know where your sig is, but I’m having trouble walking,” Lee complains.  
“You get used to it, Lee,” I promise her as I pull her under my arm, holding her closure.  
“Snuggle up, Lee. It’s fun,” Abby orders her as she steals my lawyer and I wrap my arm around Ziva, making us look like an open relationship.  
“Names?” Barrows, the bouncer, demands of us.  
“Thom E Gemcity,” McGee answers him.  
“I thought I recognized you. Deep six, right?”   
“That’s the one.”  
“I’m a big fan. Go right in.”  
“Thank you,” McGee says as we walk into the club and begin looking around.  
“Tony, that’s Delgado in the alley. She’s got company! Move! Now! Move!” Gibbs orders over the radio.  
“Officer down! Six-six-one-eight Chillum Road Northwest,” Morris voice comes over the radio over a long time of silence. Making my heart stop, who is hurt… is it Gibbs or Tony or Carson or someone else. It can’t be Morris because he made the call.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I should have caught this, guys,” Abby complains back in the squad room tonight. It turns out that the owner of the club killed the girl. Carson and Tony killed the owner but not before the owner shot and killed Carson. He is who was being called for the ambulance and I feel so bad that I am glade that it wasn’t one of my friends.  
“Metro had the bloody print for two months. They didn’t catch him,” McGee reminds her.  
“Yeah, but I had Petty Officer Davidson’s boot the whole time.”  
“You thought the Petty Officer was the victim, not the killer, Abby,” Ziva reminds him.  
“There’s no excuse,” Abby hiss while angry at herself.  
“It’s ironic, isn’t it? Serial killer forced to drink his own poison. That could make a good book,” McGee says through a sigh making Ziva and me laugh at him.  
“Abs, go home… a killer is dead. Doesn’t matter how long it took you to work that out. No matter what the madam director is going to say in the coming days,” I promise her as I shift Ugly Tony onto my other arm so I can lead everyone out of the lab for the night.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I walk down the stairs into the basement in Gibbs house where he is working on the boat, ignoring me still. I am still wearing my dress from the club.  
“Jethro, I have had enough of this,” I state as I reach the bottom of the stairs but I don’t step off. He continues to ignore me making me roll my eyes. I continue, “Jethro. Stop acting like a child.”  
“Oh, I’m acting like a child?” Gibbs finally answer me.  
“Yes you are… I… you have been ignoring me for the whole case and I demand to know why.”  
“Oh, you don’t know then?”   
“Jethro, if I know… I wouldn’t be asking… please?” I beg of him as my eyes fill with tears but I hope he doesn’t notice.  
“Alice, you were flirting with another guy right in front of me,” Gibbs snaps at me as he drops his sander into the workbench as he turns to face me.  
“What?”  
“I saw you at the crim scene, flirting with Carson.”  
“I don’t know what you mean. Why would I flirt with someone besides you?” I ask him in confusion.  
“I saw you at the truck, flirting with him.”  
“You mean when I was looking for a container for the maggots?”  
“Yeah, then. When you were leaning against the truck, flirting with him.”  
“You didn’t see what happened next, obviously… he was creepy, and wouldn’t move away from me so I kicked him in the balls,” I inform him.  
“Right…”  
“Jethro, that guy was creepy… I am sorry he is dead but he wouldn’t leave me alone. No matter how many times I told him I have a lovely boyfriend?” I inform him as I wipe my eyes, trying to stop the flow of tears. I continue, “Jethro, why would I flirt with another name? I had the perfect opportunity when you quite but I didn’t because I love you… you idiot.”  
“I’m being stupid,” Gibbs releases as he walks over to the stairs and just stare up at me.  
“Mm-hmm,” I hum as he reaches up and places his hand on my arm.  
“I just don’t want to lose you,” Gibbs explains to me.  
“I didn’t know that he was flirting with me… I was looking for a container in the truck,” I defend myself making Gibbs smirk at me.  
“Sometimes your too innocent,” Gibbs informs me as he pulls me into a hug.  
“Nah, you’re just easily jealous,” I laugh at him as I hug him tightly.  
“Well, you’re too hot for me,” Gibbs defends himself while making me blush.  
“Jethro, I love you. Why would I risk having you in my life for any reason?” I ask him because he is being really stupid.  
“I know that. But I also now that he was flirting with you and you might have liked the pretty boy more than me.”  
“Why have a pretty boy when I have a handsome marine turn NCIS agent?” I tease him before placing a kiss on the open part of his shirt, onto the bottom of his neck.  
“I’m sorry, baby. I wasn’t thinking properly,” Gibbs informs me before leaning down and placing a kiss to my lips. Gibbs runs his hand down my back so that he can grab my ass, as he deepens the kiss. I fight for dominance in the kiss but Gibbs takes control like normal. He turns my body slightly so that he can pin me to the railing for the stairs. I raise my hand from his back to tangle it into his hair. Gibbs removes his mouth from my lips so that he can kiss down my neck and begin sucking on the point that makes my knees go weak.   
“Jethro,” I moan when he lightly bites my neck, creating a mark so that it is clear that I am his girlfriend.  
“Alice, I didn’t tell you earlier, but you look beautiful in this dress,” Gibbs complements me as he runs his hand over the leather dress I am wearing.  
“I do too,” I admit making Gibbs smirk at me before placing a kiss on my lips.  
“Why don’t we go to bed?” Gibbs asks me as he continues to hold one hand on my hip while the other is holding my ass.  
“Hmm… you going to actually join my tonight then?” I ask him because that hurt.  
“Yeah. I’ll join you, don’t want to have another cold shower. Beside we have to finish what that dress started in my pants,” Gibbs informs me as he releases me ass and pulls me up the stairs with the hand on my hip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please go back to the previous Chapter and vote for me...  
> thanks


	48. HELP ME! HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP

Help me please… the transcription I have been using to write your NCIS stories with such high stands has suddenly because no good… the transcription has suddenly stopped telling me who is talking. season 4 episode 21 onwards please...

Can you please send me a link with a transcription… I need one that tells me who is talking if possible…

I have been using NCIS transcript or forever dreaming

and if you can, send me the name of the site because fanfic doesn't let site address be set, even in pm...

Thank you and sorry for having to asks this.


	49. Dead Man Walking

“How much?” Tony asks Ziva about McGee’s latest new thing, which is a new jacket. We are sitting in the squad room. I am sitting at my desk, looking over cold cases without really paying too much attention to the two children across the room from me. I am wearing a red shirt tucked into blue, flare bottom jeans held up with my horse belt. I have my combat boots on and my black leather jacket is sitting over the back of my chair.  
“Don’t know,” Ziva answers him.  
“Come on! Take a guess.”  
“I don’t know.”  
“Then we’re just going to have to settle this with facts. I am googling ‘men’s jacket.’ What would you say it was made of? It felt like butter,” Tony asks as he moves over to his computer to google it.  
“Lambskin,” Ziva answers him.  
“Who’s the designer?”  
Why do you assume I know?”  
“Because…”  
“Because? Because I’m a woman? Because I am Jewish?”  
“Because you’re a great detective.”  
“Because you have a photographic memory thing,” I overlap Tony.  
“True. McGee flashed the label when he showed us his lining. Armani,” Ziva informs Tony as she moves over to her desk and sits down.  
“Anything else?” Tony asks her.  
“Lizard-embossed trim, a two-way zipper, and a chest pocket.”  
“Found it! It’s from the Armani Two thousand seven resort collection. You can purchase it for…”  
“Two thousand dollars. They say the clothes make the man.”  
“Hmm. He’s not a man, he’s a McGee.”  
“Either way, where is he?” Gibbs demands as he makes his way over to his desk and sits down. Gibbs is wearing a white shirt under a navy shirt, with a grey jacket and another black jacket over his chair for when we leave the building.  
“Um… over there. Overdressed,” Tony points out the geek who is quickly walking over with a sickly looking man.  
“Jealous you can’t afford the coat too?” I tease Tony as the sickly guy begins coughing. McGee talk to the man softly and the sickly man grabs McGee’s arm and new jacket to hold himself up on his feet.  
“Who is McGee escorting?” Ziva asks us in confusion.  
“I don’t know. Never seen him before,” Tony admits.  
“SO it’s not your new girlfriend then Tony?” I tease my friend.  
“Not this time,” Tony answers me with a fake smile.  
“This is Special Agent Gibbs,” McGee introduces the sickly man to Gibbs.  
“Lieutenant Sanders, sir. I need you to investigate a murder,” the sickly man, Sanders, informs Gibbs straight up.  
“Whose?” Gibbs asks as he leans back in his chair.  
“Mine,” Sanders answers us after a moment as he removes his hat, showing us that his hair is falling out.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ducky figure out what’s wrong with Lieutenant Sanders, Boss?” Tony asks us as we return to the squad room from autopsy.  
“No, he’s still examining him. Thinks it could be radiation poisoning,” Gibbs informs them.  
“Do we know how he was exposed?” Ziva asks us hopefully.  
“No. but he’s got a high-risk job as an inspector for the IAEA,” I inform them as I move over to my desk.  
“International Atomic Energy Agency,” Tony states.  
“Wonder if he’s ever been to Israel? I feel like I know him from somewhere,” Ziva informs us.  
“DiNozzo, check his travel,” Gibbs orders him.  
“IS this guy contagious, boss?”  
“McGee better hope he’s not,” I state.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Until your hair started falling out. Ah, Jethro! Alice! We have to wait for radiobiology to find out exactly with what we’re dealing,” Ducky informs us as we walk into the squad room.  
“Containment?” Gibbs asks Ducky.  
“Minimal. Abby’s preliminary finding show that they’re alpha emissions which, unlike gamma-rays and x-rays, can be blocked by a simple layer of dead cells on the skin. Just avoid contact and exchange of fluid.”  
“So he can’t have sex,” I ask him as I snap my fingers in fake disappointment.  
“Is he fit to answer questions?” Gibbs asks Ducky as he gives me a look but I just smile at him innocently.  
“I’m right here. I can hear you,” Sanders exclaims from where he is laying on the autopsy bed.   
“I’m sorry. It’s force of habit,” Ducky defends us.  
“You’re around uranium in your job. What makes you think this was murder and not accidental?” I ask him softly as I walk closure to him and he holds up a badge of some type.  
“A radiation badge. It’s a thermoluminescent dosimeter.”  
“I wore it to inspect the power plant in Brazil where we discovered violations. When I returned four days ago, the film from my badge was processed,” Sanders explains to us.  
“And the glow curve?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Detected no exposure. Said everything was fine.”  
“Brazilians aware of your findings?” I ask him next.  
“From my line of questioning, I’d say they knew they were busted. Brazil has a history of covert attempts to secure nuclear weaponry with Germany’s aid.”  
“Yeah, it’s an unsavoury partnership. It goes back to the fall of the Third Reich,” Ducky agrees with him.  
“We’ll need access to your offices and your inspection team,” I inform him.  
“I told transport I want to move him to AFRRI. That’s the armed forces,” Ducky begins to inform Sanders.  
“Force radiobiology research institute. Although in my line of work, we call in something else,” Sanders finish for Ducky as he cuts of Ducky.  
“What’s that?”  
“The last exit.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ow!” Tony exclaim as we walk back into the squad room to see Ziva hit Tony.  
“Ziva, you find out how you know the Lieutenant?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Not yet. He’s been to Israel twice in the last decade. We’ve never been in the same city,” Ziva reports.  
“He’s also been to Iran, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Kuwait, Croatia, Korea and Slovenia,” Tony adds.  
“Guy gets around,” Gibbs orders us.  
“I left out Canada.”  
“Dad’s transferring him to AFRRI in Bethesda,” I inform them.  
“Ziva, go with him,” Gibbs orders her.  
“Protection detail?” Ziva asks him.  
“Not sure yet,” I answer her calmly.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs begins.  
“On it. Tracing his phone calls, bank accounts, everyone he’s ever met in his entire life,” Tony exclaims.  
“Leave that to McGee. You’re with me,” Gibbs corrects him as he puts his jacket on.  
“Uh, McGee’s not here,” Tony stutters out.  
“Where the hell is McGee?”   
“Abby is testing my clothes for radiation and it’s taking longer than we thought so,” McGee informs us as he walks into the squad room in blue scrubs.  
“Pick you where Tony left off.”  
“Please,” I add.  
“Got it, boss,” McGee agrees.  
“IF clothes make the man, what does that make McGee?” Tony whispers to Ziva as we turn to leave.  
“Male nurse?” Ziva guesses.  
“No, Aqua Smurf,” Tony corrects her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Okay, well, the sooner the better because the cancellation fees,” Holly, Sanders’ boss’ secretary, reminds him as we walk into the field office.  
“I understand. Just leave the itinerary,” Sadowski, Sanders’ boss, overlaps her before turning to Gibbs and informing Gibbs, “I’m Mark Sadowski. We spoke on the phone.” He turns back to another woman and he informs her, “Diane, NCIS is her.”  
“Which one is Lieutenant Sander’s desk?” Tony asks him.  
“It’s clean,” Sadowski informs him as he points out the tidiest desk in the whole office.  
“I can see that.”  
“He means they swept the office, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him stupid agent.  
“When Roy said he was throwing up, we checked the radiation levels. They’re within normal limits,” Sadowski informs us.  
“I’ll gather his things,” Tony says as he gets to work.  
“Hi, I’m Diane Russio. How’s Roy?” Russio asks us.  
“Transferred to AFRRI,” I inform her.  
“We were hoping it was just food poisoning,” Sadowski says to us.  
“Radiation,” Gibbs states.  
“Do you know where eh was exposed?” Russio asks us.  
“No, not yet. But we’re working on it,” I inform her.  
“Well it couldn’t have been Brazil. We toured the facility together, and Diane and I aren’t sick,” Sadowski states confidently.  
“Could someone have done this on purpose?” Russio demands of us.  
“We’ll need your radiation badges,” I inform him.  
“Of course,” Sadowski as he unclips his off his shirt and hands it to me.   
“After hours in Brazil, did all of you stick together?” Gibbs asks them.  
“Uh, we stayed in the same hotel. Ate the same food. Roy would get up early and run. Oh, the night before we left, we hit the local bar for a cerveja and a cigar. Roy left early.”  
“Alone?” I ask him.  
“I was with him. We just went straight back to the hotel,” Russio says defensively making me blink because I bet they we’re having sex on work time.  
“I’m thirty years older than both of them, and they’re the ones who are too tired to party,” Sadowski teases his co-workers, even if only one of them is here.  
“I’ll go get my badge,” Russio states as she walks off making me node in confirmation, they went back early to have sex and her boss doesn’t know it.  
“So can we visit Roy?”  
“Yeah, if he wants to see you,” Gibbs answers him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Answers, Abs,” Gibbs orders her as we sweep into the lab.  
“I’ve got them, Gibbs. I took Lieutenant Sanders’ dosimeter apart and I discovered that it is hinky. I might even call it hinky-dory. On come on, Gibbs. That’s a little cute. Okay. Um… if you follow this red bean, you can see there’s no clear path between the photomultiplier tubes and the crystal lattice. This little piece of plastic is blocking the light emissions,” Abby informs us quickly as she shows us the radiation badge.  
“Sabotage?” I ask her in surprise.  
“Or faulty manufacturing. I mean, it’s a state-of-the-art life saving device, but it’s still made from injection-moulded plastic. Just like a happy meal toy. And you know how sometimes you get one of those and there will be a little blob of plastic on the leg and you have to ed it back and forth and back and forth?”  
“Abby?” Gibbs snaps at her.  
“Somebody needs a happy meal,” Abby teases my boyfriend making em laugh at the idea of Gibbs eating a happy meal.  
“What about these?” I ask as I point to the other two.  
Um… these are operational. No globs. Their reading was a true positive. My conclusion is that Sanders had a bad batch. There was no foul play. If he hadn’t gotten sick, he wouldn’t have even noticed.”  
“I need to talk to Ducky,” Gibbs states making Abby call Ducky on the monitor.  
“Hey Dad!” I greet him with a wave.  
“Jethro, Alice, I was just about to call you,” Ducky informs us over the monitor.  
“Lieutenant Sanders wasn’t poisoned at the power plant,” Gibbs states.  
“I know. The radiobiology lab identified the isotope in his blood. It was thallium.”  
“Wow. That is nasty stuff! Isn’t the non-radioactive form of that used for rate poison?” Abby asks him.  
“Oh, yes. It’s lethal and extremely effective. Colourless, odourless, tasteless and soluble in water,” Ducky informs us.  
“Are you thinking ingestion?” I ask him.  
“Oh, most likely. And no longer than seventy-two hours ago.”  
“Okay, so now we know the when. We just have to figure out why, how, and who,” Abby states before ending the call.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“They catch it in time?” I ask Ziva in the monitoring station where we watch Sanders.  
“Uh, unclear. The next twenty-four hours are key,” Ziva answers me.  
“I’m more interested in the past. I want a list of every sip, every bite, every time he’s hit the head in the past seventy-two hours,” Gibbs informs her as a door closes behind us.  
“Do you think he’s hiding something?”  
“Have you placed him yet, bitch?” I ask her with her age-old nickname that isn’t leaving… ever.  
“No.”  
“You place him first, Ziva. Trust later,” Gibbs orders her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Let’s see what we’ve got in here,” Tony says as he opens the gym bag, that they found in Sanders car in the NCIS garage, and gags at what is inside of it.  
“Body parts?” McGee asks him because he can’t see in the bag like us.  
“Gym clothes.”  
“Get them to Abby. Ziva called with a list of Lieutenant Sanders movements… where he went, what he ate,” Gibbs informs them, announcing our presence in the garage.  
“We’ll star at his apartment, collect these items, sweep for radiation,” McGee agrees as he takes the list off of me.  
“Ziva figure out how she knew him?” Tony asks us.  
“Personal connection,” I inform him.  
“Ziva has personal connections?”  
“Everyone has personal connections… even Ari, and he’s dead.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The higher levels of radiation are due to the concentration of Lieutenant Sanders’ sweat. He made his clothes radioactive, not vice versa,” Abby rambles before slurping the drags of her caf-pow the next morning.  
“Abs, it’s over!” Gibbs informs her as he pinches the straw.  
“Oh, I just hate to see the first one in the morning end. I did get one unexpected piece of information. Lieutenant Sanders had a computerized chip in his left sneaker to log his workouts.”  
“IS that one of those experimental D.O.D things?”  
“Uh, no. You can buy them at any running store. It transmits into this. I was able to access his exercise logs. These are the last two weeks of his workout. He’s a machine. Eight miles everyday in under an hour,” Abby exclaims as she puts the data on the plasma screen.  
“Lieutenant Sanders was poisoned,” I begin.  
“Right around here,” Abby finishes for me as she shows us the slower paces.  
“His last to workouts were only slightly off-pace,” Gibbs comments.  
“Does that tell you something about the case?”  
“It tells me something about the man.”  
“Like what?”  
“Like he would have made a damn good marine.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Someone wanted to finish the job… people preparing his food. Could be a lot…were they alone with him?... one of them could have slipped it in his water… swept Sanders apartment, office, running paths yesterday. All clean. They’ll hit the rest today… Sanders know he’s still being poisoned?... your call. You stick with him, Ziva,” Gibbs orders Ziva who he is talking to on the phone, we are sitting in the squad room alone. I am sitting on the ledge behind him as I rub Gibbs shoulders, while reading the notes he is taking about Ziva’s report.  
“What’s wrong, Jethro?” I ask him as I lean onto his strong shoulders.  
“He’s still getting poisoned… but how?” Gibbs asks me in return.  
“Did he take anything with him into the hospital… coffee, lollies, chocolate, smokes, water or his own clothing?” I ask Gibbs in return again.  
“I don’t know… Ziva should find out.”   
“I hope so. I hate to see a guy die without knowing why.”  
“Mm-hmm… we’ll work it out.”  
“I hope it doesn’t break my bitch in her process.”  
“I hope so too.”  
“Well, I know something for sure right know.”  
“What?”  
“I want a coffee,” I answer him with a grin.  
“Me too.”  
“Okay, I’ll get us coffee. But only if you promise to drink it this time.”  
“I swear baby,” Gibbs promise me as he places a soft kiss on my cheek before I stand up to get the drinks.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How did he ingest the thallium?” Gibbs demands of his team as we walk up to them in the hospital hallway to see Ziva and Tony talking over each other.  
“Well, they ate lunch at the shooting range, and Abby’s combing through the physical evidence, but we still haven’t found the smoking gun,” Tony reports to him.  
“We swept the dumpsters at the shooting range, but the levels were low. Same with the kitchen,” McGee adds.  
“There were two food preparers, two servers. They all scanned clean. So did Dee-Dee… she’s the rather eccentric woman who runs the place.”  
“Then Roy… sorry… lieutenant Sanders must have been contaminated at the point of consumption,” Ziva says.  
“Well, do you think someone spiked his hamburger or is coffee?” McGee asks us.  
“Who got near his food?” I ask them.  
“I watched the security footage and Mark Sadowski is with him the whole time. But you can’t see the table or the food. The cameras are trained on the shooting stalls,” McGee informs us.  
“Oh, believe me. You don’t want to know what that is,” Tony comments.  
“Someone could have come from the back… not been seen.”  
“Sadowski was at the range, and he was here, which places him at both contamination sites,” Ziva comments.  
“Bring him in,” Gibbs orders them.  
“On it, boss,” Tony agrees.  
“I thought I told you to stay with lieutenant sanders the whole time.”  
“Agent Lee’s with him. He’s making out his will,” Ziva defends herself.  
“You can’t die unless you see3 a lawyer.”  
“Hey. He may not die. He may pull through,” Ziva denies what is going to come.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You know a lot about handling radioactive material,” I state as I sit in integration with Gibbs and Sadowski.  
“Sure. For my job,” Sadowski defends himself.  
“You were at the shooting range with Lieutenant Sanders a few days ago,” Gibbs states.  
“We had lunch.”  
“Slipped him a little thallium?” I ask him.  
“I’ve never touched thallium. Look, I had nothing to do with Roy getting poisoned. Nothing.”  
“Skip the denials. Tell me why?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Why?” I ask our only suspected.  
“There is no why,” Sadowski defends himself.  
“Why?” Gibbs demands of him next.  
“I didn’t do it! I would never hurt Roy!” Sadowski snaps as he stands up.  
“Sit down, please!” I order him softly.  
“He’s my friend. We travelled the world together. When I thought I had prostate cancer, he was the first person I called. So if you have any proof I did this, lay it out for me. Let me see it, because I know it doesn’t exist.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Make it fast, Duck,” Gibbs orders him in the hallway outside of integration.  
“We found the smoking gun, with the emphasis on smoking. Abby isolated large radioactive ash from the debris from the shooting range. It wasn’t ingestion. It was inhalation,” Ducky informs us quickly.  
“Someone injected the thallium into he cigar,” McGee asks him.  
“Yes, it’s very efficient, too, because the lungs feed directly into the blood stream.”  
“Sadowski mentioned hitting the bars with lieutenant sanders in brazil for cerveja and a cigar. So,” Tony begins.  
“Wait, boss. I need to show you something,” McGee cuts Tony off when Gibbs attempts to return to the integration.  
“I really hope it’s not the you-tube clip I sent him this morning, because it’s a little,” Tony rambles to Ducky as we enter the observation room.  
“Well, I downloaded the security camera feed from the shooting range. Here’s the isolated footage of Mark Sadowski and Lieutenant Sanders. If you had laced a cigar with thallium, would you stick around to breathe in the smoke?” McGee asks us as he shows us the video of Sadowski doing just that.  
“That’s not likely. It’s like pulling the pin on a grenade, handing it to someone, and then standing beside them,” Ducky informs us.  
“Sadowski didn’t know they were contaminated with radiation,” Tony comments as Sadowski begins choking in the integration room making me move away from everyone on the way to check on them.  
“No! stay here,” Ducky order me as he rushes out of the observation room and into the integration room.  
“That explains why you couldn’t break him. He didn’t do it,” Tony comments as we watch our only suspect get really sick but not die.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Two out of three inspectors poisoned. Someone is targeting the agency,” McGee comments as we walk down the hallway again.  
“Make a lot of enemies wherever they’ve been, boss,” Tony adds.  
“OR wherever they’re going,” I remind Tony of the only other possibility.  
“You stick with Sadowski, DiNozzo. McGee, get Dianne Russio in here. She’s the only inspector who isn’t sick,” Gibbs orders his team.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We do a dozen inspections a year, Agent Gibbs, in a dozen different countries. People don’t like us. But I can’t believe any government would sanction this. Thank you. We all got tested after Roy. My results were negative. Am I still at risk?” Russio asks us in the conference room.  
“Low-level exposure. Lieutenant Sanders was the target. You have an inspection next week?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Roy insisted we still go. But now that Mark’s sick…”  
“Where?” I ask her.  
“That’s classified. We prefer it if they don’t know we’re coming.”  
“Need to know,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Russia, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan,” Russio informs us as her phone beeps on the table.  
“Names of the facilities?” McGee requests of her as Gibbs picks up his own phone.  
“I need satellite time. Now!” Gibbs orders the operator on the other end as Russio gives us the list we’re looking for.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Last one, boss. Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Image of the Tashkent reactor stabilizing. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan was the top producer of weapons-grade materials,” McGee informs us in MTAC, while looking at the area.  
“Yeah, and after?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“They dismantled the centrifuge., but if they wanted to put it back together…”  
“They’d bring the pieces in with heavy equipment trucks like these. A lot of activity,” I state as I point to the screen.  
“Looks like they’re building something.”  
“Or pulling it down. I need a shot from earlier this week,” Gibbs orders the tech.  
“Try the same location ninety-six hours ago,” McGee orders the tech next.  
“Accessing now,” the Technician informs us.  
“Someone’s expecting guests,” McGee comments as we look at the footage from ninety-six hours ago where there isn’t trucks moving anything yet.  
“Get that footage to D.O.D and IAEA headquarters in Vienna,” Gibbs orders them as he dials Tony on his phone. He continues to talk into the phone, “Hey. Someone tipped off Uzbekistan. Ask Sadowski who knew… Lieutenant Sanders, then.” Gibbs hangs up the phone and turns to us and informs us, “McGee, I want bank records for everyone working at the Agency. I want details for every inspection ever done on that facility.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How is he?” Gibbs asks Tony who called to report about who know. We are in the squad room at the moment. After listing to Tony’s answer, Gibbs hangs up on the call.  
“Boss, inspectors have been back to Uzbekistan six times in the past four years. Next week’s inspection would have lucky number seven. Sanders has been at every one of them,” McGee informs us when Gibbs finish talking to Tony.  
“That makes him THE expert,” I comment.  
“If anything had changed, he’s the guy that would have noticed. Explains why they targeted him,” McGee comments.  
“What makes you think it was them, McGee?” Gibbs demands of him. As he rings someone else on his phone, “Hey. Duck. I need you to check something.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ah, Jethro. As per your request, I’ve revealed the reviewed the results of the tests carried out on the agency staff after it was confirmed that Lieutenant had been exposed. And I’ve found what you were looking for. Trace amounts of ferric forrocyanide. Prussian blue. Someone was taking it prophylactically… as a preventative measure, Jethro,” Ducky informs us in autopsy.  
“Who?” Gibbs and I ask him together.  
“Her,” Ducky informs us handing us her information.  
“Send this to McGee please,” I beg of him as we rush out of the room and into the elevator.  
“McGee, dad has sent you the information of our suspected… look into her accounts now,” I order McGee as we ride the elevator that has never felt so slow as now. The second the doors begins to open we rush out and over the squad room  
“Got her, boss. Fifty thousand in cash deposited over the past three months. Closed the account this morning. Shifted the funds offshore. Looks like she’s about to do a runner,” McGee reports us as soon as he sees us.  
“Where is she now?” Gibbs demands of McGee.  
“Just checked. Still in the office,” McGee reports making us all grab our guns and rush off to make the arrest.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“No! I don’t want to travel via London! I want a direct flight. Yes, I know it’s last minute, but I’m… look, there must be other carriers?” Russio snaps into the phone at IAEA field office.  
“Ms. Russio!” Gibbs snaps at her as we rush into he rum and Gibbs hangs up her phone.  
“Agent Gibbs!”   
“Your travel coordinator, Holly Stegman?” I demand of her as I look around the room but I can’t see her.  
“Okay, she just left me here with this mess! Flight plans…”  
“Which way?” Gibbs cuts her off.  
“I’m trying to…”  
“WHICH WAY?”  
“Parking garage,” Russio informs us making us run off.  
“Thank you,” I quickly say before running off with my team. We rush into the parking lot to see her driving off.   
“Stop! Stop!” McGee orders her as we point our guns out of her but she doesn’t listen. We race after the car, Gibbs rushes off to in front of the car, where he calmly points his gun at her without moving. The car continues to rush towards my boyfriend who isn’t moving making my heart drop and raise at the same time. We watch as the car accelerate and then lock up, making the car come to a stop before hitting my idiot. McGee and I rush over to the car, and open the door, pointing our guns into her face.  
“No! NO! wait! Wait!” Holly hiss at us.  
“Out of the car!” McGee orders her as I holster my gun before I pull her out and slam her body into the car so that she can’t get away again.  
“No! I didn’t mean to do it! I couldn’t kill Roy any more than I could run over you! I wanted to make him sick, so he couldn’t travel! That’s all! He would have known. He would have realized that it was either Mark or me! Just tell me! Wait! Tell me it didn’t kill him. No! no! no!” Holly cries as McGee handcuffs her. Gibbs and McGee then holster their guns because she is no longer a threat.  
“She could have killed you, boss!” McGee says to Gibbs before leading her away.  
“Don’t scare me like that Jethro,” I snap at my boyfriend as I walk over to him and smack his chest for it.  
“We couldn’t let her get away,” Gibbs defends himself.  
“We could have shot her tires, or any other thing like that,” I snap at him making him pull me into a hug.  
“She was going to stop.”  
“You didn’t know that,” I mumble into his chest as I hold a fistful of his shirt.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Ziva,” I greet her as I walk over to her in the hospital at midnight. I am wearing a NIS sweat shirt and a pair of sweat pants.  
“Alice… what are,” Ziva begins to ask me by she can’t find the words.  
“I heard he took a turn for the worse… thought you might need a friend,” I inform her as I sit beside her silently.  
“He’s heart stopped. His family didn’t get here in time… I thought he was getting better in the end,” Ziva informs me after a long while of silence.  
“You really loved him?”  
“I did… I never spoke to him, but I looked forward to seeing him every day. I’m going to miss him when running from now on.”  
“I bet that went both ways.”  
“Alice…”  
“It’s alright to cry Ziva… it’s normal to cry when you lose someone closure to you, no matter how you know them,” I inform her as I wrap my arm around my friend-ish person.  
“He was so nice,” Ziva cries as I hold her.  
“He was…”  
“I… way did he have to die?”  
“Because the good always die young. Kate used to say something wise about death. She always told me ‘you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.’ I think she stole that from someone. Mr Roy died a hero, saving lives doing his job, and every hero is stopped by the bad guy. just ask Tony,” I inform her as I hold her.  
“Thank you Alice,” Ziva says when she stops crying.   
“No problem… just don’t go around telling people that I am here, I’m supposed to hate you. Come on, let’s get out of here,” I inform her as I grab her hand to pull her away from the hospital.  
“Roy…”  
“Wouldn’t want you wasting away outside his hospital room. Come on, let’s go,” I inform her. She quietly follows me out of the hospital and back to Gibbs place where we sit on the couch. I have found an old episode of ‘whose line is it anyway?’ which we watch together.


	50. Skeletons

“Give me a dollar!” Abby demands of McGee as she storms into the squad room, clenching a dollar in one hand and a candy bar in the other. I look up from my computer in confusion, something is happening and I don’t know what or if I want to know.  
“Okay. What’s wrong with that one?” McGee asks her when he goes to get his money only to see her dollar in her hand.  
“The machine wouldn’t take it, and I want a candy bar!”  
“What’s wrong with hat candy bar?”  
“It has nougat in it!”  
“What? You hate nougat.”  
“I know!! It was a mistake, McGee! Do you have a dollar?” Abby shouts at him.  
“All I have are big bills.”  
“What is nougat?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“It’s whipped dolphin fat,” Tony begins.  
“NO, that’s the filling in clownie cake,” McGee cuts Tony off.  
“That’s a myth!” Abby corrects them both. She then shouts, “Would someone please give me a dollar?”  
“Sure, I’ve got one,” Tony says after a long beat of silence.  
“Thanks. God, it’s like some kind of crime to not like nougat,” Abby exclaims as she snatches the dollar and storms off without giving Tony her dollar.  
“I don’t even know what nougat is,” Ziva complains.  
“Join the club… just ignore them and they loose interest in not explain it faster,” I inform Ziva as I point to the boys.  
“It’s a cream made from sugar, honey and nots. Grab your gear. We have an explosion at Marine’s funeral in J. Hoover National,” Gibbs inform us as he walks into the squad room.  
“Did anyone else see what just happened there with Abby?” McGee asks us as we get our gear.  
“Yeah. She stole my dollar,” Tony complains as we leave with Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Last one to the party,” Ziva complains when we get to the outside of the mausoleum that the explosion happened at to see everyone from the locals to the bomb squad is here.  
“It’s not really a party until the bomb squad says it is,” Tony informs her.  
“What’d you find?” Gibbs asks the bomb squad boss.  
“We’ve got nothing. No ordnance. No residue. No electronics. No time device. No wiring. No remote. No evidence of a bomb,” Trask, the bomb squad boss, informs us.  
“Except for the explosion,” Ziva reminds him.  
“You’ve got two employees injured. Both bets. They were taken tot eh V.A. with concussions and shrapnel wounds.”  
“You got manes?” Tony asks him.  
“Former Lance Corporal Lloyd Jackson, thirty-six. And PFC Kenneth Dixon, twenty-five.”  
“The veterans keep getting younger,” Gibbs complains.  
“Yeah, the kid they were burying is only twenty-two. It’s a family crypt.”  
“Tandem,” I ask him about the name on the crypt.  
“His grandfather was in the back slot. Still there as far as we could tell.”  
“Are your men clear?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Bio reading are clean. Air’s safe to breathe, not that I would recommend it.”  
“Anything else?” I ask him.  
“Might want to cover your shoes, though,” Trask informs us as we walk into the mausoleum.  
“That is truly appalling,” Tony complains about the room.  
“Chief Warrant Officer Mitchell Waller. Died nineteen seventy-eight. He should be the one in the back of the crypt,” McGee informs us.  
“He appears to be undisturbed,” Ziva comments as he looks into the crypt.  
“He would be the only one. This is really the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. And believe me, that says a lot,” Tony comments.  
“Yeah, the worse thing you can see is Tony’s apartment,” I tease me friend.  
“It’s like porridge,” McGee complains about the goo-y stuff on the ground and in the crypt.  
“The word is effluvium. The results of decomposing human organs and tissue,” Ducky informs us as he walks into mausoleum.  
“This is people?” Tony asks in disgust.  
“Yes, two, I’d say, judging by the volume.”  
“And the two skulls, of course,” Jimmy adds.  
“Mister Palmer, we have to recover all of this.”  
“One wet-vac for the solvent green coming right up.”  
“Somewhat claustrophobic and for all eternity,” Ducky comments as he looks into the crypt as Jimmy runs away to get what he is sent for.  
“Our friend here might agree with you. They obviously needed to get out,” Tony comments.  
“They didn’t belong there in the first place,” Gibbs reminds Tony.  
“Vents are definitely clogged,” Ducky informs us as he looks into the crypt.  
“Be careful, doctor. We still haven’t found traces of what caused the explosion,” Ziva reminds him as he almost climbs into the crypt.  
“Yes, if my suspicions are correct, officer David, the bomb is all around us. It’s a phenomenon in the death industry informally referred to as exploding casket syndrome.”  
“Well, the floor is all your, dad,” I inform him.  
“Thank you, Alice. All bodies contain enzymes and bacteria. Immediately upon death they start to break down tissue. Yes, a body can liquefy within a week, especially if it hasn’t been embalmed. It’s possible that these remains were human in appearance as recently as two weeks ago.”  
“And someone dumped them in here,” Tony reminds him.  
“yes, in such a confined space, as the gases were given off the bodies, with not any proper ventilation, the crypt itself could become a pressure cooker.”  
“The bodies were the bomb,” Gibbs and I say together. That surprises me, who would have seen that coming?  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The mausoleum doesn’t get many visitors, which makes it a creative place to get rid of a dew bodies. But,” Tony begins to talk in the squad room.  
“Whoever deposited them, would first have to know the portion of Chief Waller’s crypt was vacant,” Ziva reminds Tony.  
“That would suggest an inside job,” I state as I take a sip of my coffee.  
“With the knowledge to access a sealed tomb.”  
“Which would point to Jackson or Dixon,” Tony states.  
“If they hadn’t practically blown themselves up.”  
“What do you think, McGee?”  
“She definitely seemed un-Abby,” McGee states making me blink in confusion. Aren’t we talking about the case not Abby?  
“Who?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“Abby.”  
“Abby’s unhappy?”  
“No, Abby’s un-Abby. I need you to focus here, okay? Pitch in. I’ll talk to her when I can,” Tony dismisses McGee’s concern for Abby.  
“Why you?” McGee demands of Tony making me roll my eyes and walk over to my desk. We’re not working anymore so I am going to look into the two vets that got themselves blown up.  
“Because dealing with an angry woman requires a great deal of sensitivity, clearly not an area of expertise for you.”  
“Well, I don’t doubt that you have more experience with angry women.”  
“You see, now that wasn’t very sensitive, was it?”  
“The name has one serious relationship, and all of a sudden he is an expert,” Ziva teases Tony.  
“All right, there is one clear cut undeniable reason why I should be the one to talk to Abby. She owns me a dollar. Now, uh,” Tony freezes when he release Gibbs has just entered the squad room making him report, “We ran down IDs on the remains… got a hit on the woman,”   
“Hm. Classic DiNozzo.”  
“One intact fingerprints of her lift hand matches a driver’s license,” McGee adds.  
“Marilyn Torrance, age fifty-eight, of Tyson’s corner. There’s no case file, because her nephew and his wife never reported her missing,” Tony continues to report.  
“They’re on their way in.”  
“IS that it?” Gibbs asks us right as McGee’s phone begins to ring.  
“McGee… be right there, Ducky,” McGee says into the phone before hanging up.  
“Saved by the bell,” Tony cheers as we walk down the hallway to the back elevator. We ride it down to autopsy in silence  
“They were dismembered. Likely by severing tendons, muscles from ligaments at every joint,” Ducky informs us.  
“Neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle… etc cetera,” Jimmy informs us.  
“There’s very little damage to the bones themselves, except the rib cages. They were cut, probably using a bone saw.”  
“Were they murdered?” Ziva asks him.  
“One of them at least was. Blunt force trauma to the female skull. A blow to the back of the head that was certainly enough to kill a woman of her age.”  
“Fourth rib phase analysis suggests that she was in her seventies,” Jimmy informs us.  
“According to the DMV, Marilyn Torrance was fifty-eight.”  
“Women lie about their age,” Tony reminds us.  
“But this is her hand,” Jimmy says in confusion.  
“Not her head,” I state as I node to the head.  
“Well, maybe that’s her head,” McGee points to the other head.  
“Mo, that’s a man’s skull,” Jimmy dismisses it.  
“Well, maybe you reassembled the pieces incorrectly.”  
“The problem is we can’t reassemble the pieces. We don’t have two full sets of remains,” Jimmy complains.  
“We’re missing pieces?” Gibbs asks them in disbelief and a little surprise. All the piece have to be in that crypted somewhere.  
“Yes, of these unrelated pieces, well, they belong to at least three different people,” Ducky informs us as he shows us the third table with more pieces.  
“Déjà vu,” I state as I look at the beds with multiple meat-puzzles.  
“Three more bodies?” Ziva asks him in surprise.  
“We’re missing a lot of pieces,” McGee comments.  
“This is more than someone just dumping two bodies,” Tony adds.  
“I think you’re looking for a mass murderer,” Ducky informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What do you got, Abs?” Gibbs asks her as we walk into the squad room.  
“Decaying flesh, organs and human tissue. The DNA confirms,” Abby rambles.  
“Five different people,” Tony cuts her off making me pinch his arm, she need her ramble.  
“Well, if you already talked to Ducky, there’s not much I can tell you. You didn’t give me much to work with, Gibbs. There’s barely any blood. The bodies were probably drained.”  
“So what do you think? We’re looking for a vampire?”  
“There were traced of cellulose, fibre, common paper, and string.”  
“The parts were wrapped,” Gibbs simplifies for her.  
“Yeah, but they’re too degraded to get any fingerprints. There was one thing. The screws from the marble furnace piece… they’ve bee collecting rust since the internment in nineteen seventy-eight. But look at the heads. They’re scratched.”  
“That’s from the screwdriver… dislodged the ruse,” Tony reminds her.  
“But look at the other crypts. See the screws?”  
“Yeah, they’re all rusted,” I state.  
“Except for these two crypts.”  
“Ensign Gage, USMC, Colonel Raymond Dalton, US Army,” Gibbs informs her.  
“It might be vandalism, but it might be something.”  
“DiNozzo.”  
“Contact next of kin, and get permission to open those two crypts. On it, boss!” Tony exclaims before we leave him with the sad Abby but I know she’s not ready to talk yet.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Company, boss,” Tony comments as Gibbs stops the car outside of the mausoleum again where Mann and her CID people are crawling all over again. We had to get a warrant because of Tony’s hug mouth, threatening to get a warrant when she wouldn’t sign the permission form.  
“Special Agent Gibbs,” Mann greets Gibbs as we get out of the car.  
“Colonel Mann,” Gibbs greets her back, coolly as I step beside him.   
“Alice,” I exclaim as I greet myself because no one is going to do it for me, making Mann glare at me as I smirk back at her.  
“I got a call your case might be venturing into CID territory,” Mann informs us.  
“That call was premature… and you can tell our madam director that.”  
“Really? Here I thought it was it was four weeks overdue. I understand you were denied permission by the family to access Colonel Dalton’s crypt.”  
“Got a warrant,” Gibbs informs her dismissively.  
“And that got my attention. why don’t you fill me in? wouldn’t want to make a bad situation worse, would you?”  
“That means your leaving then… that was easy,” I dismiss her making her glare harder at me.  
“Don’t look so nervous, Jethro.”  
“Do I look nervous?” Gibbs demands of her as he places a hand on my back to stop me from attacking this annoying thing in front of us.  
“No. you actually look… you look pretty good.”  
“David, DiNozzo, perimeter.”  
“Sure you don’t want us to help you in there, boss?” Tony asks stupidly making Gibbs glare at him and Tony adds, “OF course, not. Because if you did, you would have said, David, DiNozzo, follow me.’ Probie! Stop it! We’re not going anywhere,”  
“Why? What’s I miss?” McGee asks as we walk off, leaving Tony to explain to McGee what is going on.  
“It’s not like you to leave something unfinished. The crime scene. Ever worry you’re slipping?” Mann taunts Gibbs because she thought he was going to fuck her when we went after Sharif but he didn’t, so she is taking it out on his investigation skills.  
“Since you fucked off, the criminals are all been arrested or killed. So that says he’s not too old yet. Unlike a certain CID thing,” I state.  
“Any suspects yet?” Mann changes the conversations when she releases I am going to continue to take cheap shots at her and protect my boyfriend… hear that Mann MINE.  
“Nothing concrete,” Gibbs states.  
“What does your gut say?”  
“That the CID needs to fuck off.”  
“Alice, she said gut not facts,” Gibbs corrects me making me laugh at her.  
“Fine… working theory is it’s an inside job.”  
“But you don’t like that. So how else would he know which crypts are vacant? Ah, read the pace plates. So the warrant didn’t exactly specify what we’re looking for here,” Mann complains as she sends me a glare when Gibbs does look at the faceplate but I just stick my tongue out at her because she doesn’t scare me. Annoy yes, scary please has she met my boyfriend. She’s not scary.  
“No. it’s best to not have expectations,” Gibbs informs her.  
“It staves off disappointment. What are we hoping for?”   
“You throw that ‘we’ word around pretty casually. The last time someone tried to remove one of these it blew up in his face. You want to do the owner. Since this si dangerously close to CID territory,” I offer to her making her openly glare at me even when Gibbs can see it.  
“Oh,” Mann mumbles in fear.  
“You might want to step back a little bit,” Gibbs warns me.  
“Thank you for your concern,” Mann says, thinking he is talking to her. He waits until I am far enough back in his mind before he opens the crypt door. Mann comments, “I see what you mean. Expectations.”  
“Why do they always stink,” I complain as I move closure to the new open crypt.   
“Here it is,” Mann exclaims as she looks in the crypt.  
“Are you going to let me in?” Gibbs demands of her as he places a hand on my back when I try to get a look in the crypt too.  
“I think we should be clear on the implications first,” Mann turns to him, getting uncomfortably close to my boyfriend making me glare at her.  
“You’re interfering with NCIS’ criminal investigation. You don’t get out of the way and we will arrest you… I volunteer to go that honour but there is a bit of a line for that,” I inform her.  
“Is that what I’m doing?” Mann flirts with Gibbs.  
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Gibbs states as he tightly grabs my hand.  
“If there’s evidence in here, I’m going to be obligated to see this through to the end.”  
“And if there’s not?” I demand of her tightly.  
“Then I don’t see why my involvement shouldn’t end right here.”  
“Okay, bye… get lost, drop dead, just leave any way get out of this crime scene.”  
“I follow the orders of the Untied States Army, even when they don’t exactly make sense.”  
“Have they ever made sense. Not the ones when you’re involved,” I snap at her making her glare at me as I glare back making Gibbs tightly hold my hand and I don’t know if it’s for him or me.  
“Five bodies in total. We’ve only recovered portions,” Gibbs informs Mann when it looks like this stare off isn’t going to stop anytime soon.  
“You’re hoping the rest are in here,” Mann asks her.  
“Aren’t you? Or would you rather the poor families don’t have full bodies to bury. Or that poor families need us to open their loved ones up their final resting place,” I snap back at her.  
“Honestly, I’m not really sure,” Mann states as Gibbs opens the next crypt where the goo flows out again, all over Mann’s shoes making me laugh at her misfortune while Gibbs and I am wearing protective boot overs.  
“Is that the answer you were looking for?” Gibbs asks Mann with barely concealed laughter.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“IF the bodies recovered from the mausoleum were, in fact, the result of mass under one might expect a certain modicum of consistency in the manner of death,” Duck informs us as we ride the elevator with him down to autopsy.  
“One might,” Gibbs asks him old friend.  
“Yes, and one would be wrong. Shot, stabbed, strangled, bludgeoned, and poor Miss Undetermined Torrance. Three women, two men. Ages ranging from nineteen to seventy. Three are Caucasian, one Asian, and one black.”  
“No common traits,” I ask Ducky.  
“Not in life. But the blood, however, settled on different surfaces on each of the bodies.”  
“Her left thigh, and back. His chest and buttocks. Meaning,” Jimmy begins.  
“The bodies were moved repeatedly,” Mann cuts Jimmy off.  
“Precisely. They were killed and then moved for some sort of preparation,” Ducky informs us.  
“See the indentations in the ankles here and here… here,” Jimmy points to the marks.  
“Chain link,” Mann guesses.  
“Yes, I believe the bodies were suspended and drained, prior to being, well… there’s only one word for it,” Ducky attempts to say it delicately.  
“Butchered,” Gibbs says the work Ducky is not trying to say.  
“We sent the tissue sample to Abby. Hopefully she can,” Jimmy begins to informs us before the phone cuts him off making him comment as he walks over to it, “Speak of the devil.”  
“What we have here is paradoxical behaviour. On one side we have a,” Ducky begins.  
“An emotional unrestrained murderer, using whatever means at hand,” Mann cuts Ducky off making me roll my eyes, she needs to let people talk.  
“Yes, and on the other, someone tidy, meticulous, and almost flawless in the way he dissected these bodies.”  
“That wasn’t Abby. That was the director. She wants to see you. Both of you,” Jimmy informs Gibbs and Mann.  
“So it was one of the devils... thanks Jimmy, dad,” I say before leaving with Gibbs and Mann. We step into the elevator where I comment to Mann, “What is with you and not letting people finish talking for themselves? But last time you were here you got up Jethro for his team knowing what he wants them to do… make up your mind before I break something… off of your body.”  
“Alice, we spoke about you insulting people,” Gibbs reminds me.  
“No we talked about me insulting the madam director, the bitch, and the bowling ball, not anyone else,” I correct Gibbs with a smirk as I count the people off on my fingers making Gibbs give me a look that says I am splitting hairs. I say innocently, “Nope. You don’t want there to be a select the people but you did.”  
“I am never having a serous conversation with you when I’m drinking or working on the boat. You seem to be able to get me to say things I don’t mean,” Gibbs complains making me laugh at his misfortune.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Okay. Well, thank you, Colonel. I will get her back to you as soon as possible,” Shepard says into her phone as we all stand around waiting for her to finish. First she calls us up here, and then she is talking on the phone instead of the people she called off of a case to have a conversation… why? Shepard finally ends the call and informs Mann, “Your superiors have agreed to loan us your services for the interim. I trust there is not a problem with that.”  
“We don’t need it… you didn’t have to waste the time or get the carpet burn, madam director,” I inform her making Mann and Shepard glare at me but I don’t care, we don’t need Mann’s ‘help.’  
“No. of course not, Director. As long as Special Agent Gibbs continues to be forthcoming with pertinent information,” Mann promise Shepard as she gives Shepard a look.  
“Agent Gibbs?”   
“As long as she follows my lead, I can’t foresee a problem,” Gibbs informs her making Mann glare at him, because she likes to be on top.  
“You two have worked cases together successfully in the past. Nothing’s changed to interfere with that professional relationship, has there?” Shepard asks them making Mann look uncomfortably at Gibbs who just blinks back at Shepard. Nothing has changed for him, but she thinks that she has a possibility to fuck him when everyone at NCIS knows he’s mine. MINE. Shepard continues, “What do we have so far?”  
“Dour confirmed homicides… likely five… and someone who isn’t needed,” I inform her making Mann glare at me because that last bit was about her and she knows it.  
“That’s all you know?”   
“I know we’re wasting time debating jurisdictional protocol, or discussing who is entitled to what,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Well, then why don’t you get back to it?”  
“We would have stopped if you didn’t call us in here to make yourself feel important while really you’re not,” I inform her before I turn to leave with Gibbs and Mann goes to follow him.  
“Um… not you, colonel Mann. I’d like to have a private work with you,” Shepard calls out making Mann stop as Gibbs and I leave together.  
“That was fun. We so should do that again,” I say sarcastically.  
“You really thought Jen would help us keep Mann away from our cases?” Gibbs asks me in disbelief.  
“No… but I was hoping that she would pull though for a change and do the right thing.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“HE’s a jack-of-all-trades. Basically a guy with a big van,” Tony reports in the squad room where Len Grady’s, the guy who Tony, Ziva and McGee sent away at the crime scene when he had flowers to leave on a crypt, and the son of one of our identified victims, photo is on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“And a little initiative. Something of an amateur entrepreneur,” McGee adds.  
“That’s not easy to say. Carpenter, plumber, gardener, electrician, TV installation, snow shovelling.”  
“But most importantly pool cleaning,” Ziva reminds them.  
“I that supposed to mean something?” Gibbs demands of them.  
“Well, he’s not just any pool man. He’s the Torrance’s pool man. Grady’s got his own key. Heated. Indoor. Regular monthly maintenance. I looked into it,” McGee reports to Gibbs.  
“Royalty checks burning a hole in the pockets, McGee?” I tease my friend.  
“Already tied Grady to his mother,” Ziva informs us when McGee fails to answer me.  
“Body number one,” McGee informs us.  
“And now Torrance,” Tony adds.  
“Body number two,” Tony informs us.  
“Let’s bring him in,” Gibbs orders him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Nobody’s home, boss. Neighbours said he went out about an hour ago. What do we do?” Tony asks as he gets into the back of the car on the street at night.  
“We wait,” Gibbs answers him simply.  
“Okay. Colonel Mann still in with the director? What do you think they’re talking about?”  
“How most women climb the chain of command,” I inform her.  
“We wait… silently,” Gibbs informs us making me stick my tongue out at him but it’s too dark for him to see me.  
“Okay,” Tony mumbles as we watch the house and street closely. After half an hour Tony suddenly exclaims, “I got him!” we all jump out of the car and rush over to Grady. We draw our guns as Tony orders the man, “Len Grady! Freeze!” Grady looks at us for a second before turning and running away. We give chase without hesitation.  
“Federal agents!” I call out to attempt to stop him but he continues to run until he trips over Ziva’s foot that she just stuck out from her hiding spot. The second he is on the ground, McGee jumps into action by pinning him down, and cuffing him.  
“Up! Up! Up!” McGee orders Grade as he pulls him to his feet.  
“What?! What?!” Grady demands in confusion as Gibbs and I drag him back to the car while Ziva, McGee and Tony have to search his house.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You got our guy in there,” Mann demands of Gibbs in the hallway the next morning.  
“Maybe,” Gibbs half answers he with a strange look on his handsome face… she stinks of bourbon.  
“What?”   
“Nothing.”  
“It seems like you were thinking of something.”  
“That’s been known to happen, sometimes,” I inform her without missing a beat.  
“Something about me.”  
“Thinking highly of yourself, your highness,” I exclaim with an over exaggerated bow.  
“I thought I recognized your perfume,” Gibbs states without commenting on my sarcasm for Mann.  
“I don’t wear perfume,” Mann states.  
“Must have been something else.”  
“Yeah, bourbon at this time of the day… that’s the sign of a drunk,” I state as Gibbs opens the door and Mann glares at me because she didn’t think anyone would have the balls to comment. Especially because Gibbs didn’t comment but she shouldn’t be surprised that I did, I always tell the truth.  
“So can I just go ahead and pay the fine and get out of here?” Grady demands of us as we enter the room to see Ziva is standing against the two-way window.  
“Fine?” I ask him in confusion… murder doesn’t result in a fine. I walk over and sit down on the chairs across from Grady and Gibbs sits next to me.  
“I know I shouldn’t have cashed my mother’s social security checks.”  
“We’re not the IRS. She went missing last march,” Gibbs states.  
“She had dementia. It was getting worse. She must have gotten out one day.”  
“We’re talking about a person here, not a dog,” Ziva snaps at him.  
“I keep hoping she’ll come back.”  
“You already know where to find her,” I inform him.  
“How do I know that?”   
“You went to visit her,” Gibbs informs him next.  
“Brought her flowers,” Ziva adds.  
“My mother’s at the cemetery?” Grady asks in surprise.  
“What’s left of her. She was dismembered,” Ziva informs him as Gibbs lays the photos out on the table facing Grady.  
“I didn’t do that. T took care of my mother. I fed her. I cleaned up after her.”  
“You must have been praying for it to end.”  
“I loved my mother,” Grady shouts at Ziva at as he slams his hands into the table.  
“Maybe you were right the first time. It must have been like putting down a dog. Only no one ever noticed. Getting away with it must have been the most shocking part.”  
“And a new career is born,” Gibbs adds.  
“You did it again. And again. Kelly Camarda. Wade Carlin. Marilyn Torrance. Gloria Grady.”  
“Okay stop,” Grady breaks.  
“You have something you want to tell us?” I ask him softly, that’s why I’m in here. The one that the suspect feels cares about them as Ziva and Gibbs drill out their souls.  
“All of these people were chopped up? That’s disgusting. What kind of person do you think could do that? I mean, you’re looking for a monster. What do you want me to say? It’s not me,” Grady informs us while throwing the photos at us making the whole room fall silent. After a long time of silence he asks us, “What now? Want me to do a lie-detector test or something?”  
“You just did,” Ziva informs him as we get up and leave. We walk into the hall and then into the observation room where Mann is.  
“He’s telling the truth,” Mann informs us like we don’t already know that.  
“You think I’m wrong?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“No. but he was relieved hen you connected her with the rest of the bodies. He has no feelings about them at all.”  
“It doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved,” I state as Gibbs opens the door and lets me out in front of him before he releases the door, making it close in Mann’s face. Mann opens the door for herself to follow us down the hallway to make her point.  
“Maybe. But that doesn’t look like a man who feels trapped. That looks like a man who knows he has a way out. There’s something much worse than Len Grady out there. Only he knows what it is. We’ve got to push Grady harder to tell us what he knows,” Mann snaps at us as we walk into the squad room.  
“He won’t,” Gibbs informs her.  
“You think he’s protecting the real killer?”  
“Protecting himself,” I correct her.  
“eel, I can prove that he’s not acting alone.”  
“Trying to run down Grady’s van. No luck so far,” Tony reports while ignoring Mann’s comment about what she ‘knows.’  
“He was on foot when you apprehended him.”  
“Really… I didn’t notice when we chased him down… I thought it was a car I was chasing,” I exclaim in fake surprise making Mann glare at me.  
“So what did he do with his ride?” Tony asks Mann.  
“And when did he do it?” Mann asks Tony in return.  
“What? You don’t know?” I ask her in more fake surprise.  
“After he spotted us at the cemetery,” Ziva informs Mann as she ignores my sarcasm, fake surprise.  
“What? He just happened to be visiting? There’s no such thing as a coincidence,” Mann informs Ziva as she glares at me heatedly but also Gibbs team for not knowing why Grad was really at the crypts in her eyes.  
“Well, he wanted information.”  
“He was there to watch us,” McGee releases.  
“But, he got there as quickly as I did, so how did he know abut the investigation?” Mann asks us.  
“You tripped him off, maybe,” I inform her making Mann glare at me.  
“He’s got a friend on the inside,” McGee overlaps me.  
“A-ha. One person’s a psychopath. Two people’s a conspiracy. so who is talking to? Grady doesn’t leave here until we know everything about him. You start with yesterday and work backwards,” Mann orders Gibbs team but like well trained pets, they all look at their master.  
“Go,” Gibbs orders his team after a long moment of silence where Mann starts to glare at him for not straight away following her lead.  
“Forensics?” Mann asks Gibbs.  
“Boss,” McGee begins.  
“Yeah?”  
“He meant the real boss. Not the slut who is trying to take my boyfriends team off of him, which isn’t going to happen. McGee go,” I snap at Mann making Mann glare at me again.  
“Um, if you’re going to go see Abby, I think you should know she’s going through something and I’m not,” McGee rambles to Gibbs.  
“Not going empty-handed, McGee,” Gibbs informs the geek before turning to me, “What one?”  
“IS Fornell annoying and bald?” I ask him because that is a stupid question. My answer making Gibbs smirk at me as he turns and walks away while Mann looks really confused, I guess she hasn’t met the bowling ball yet.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Gibbs. Alice. And Lieutenant Colonel Mann,” Abby greets us as we walk into the lab. Gibbs is carrying a caf-pow and a coffee for himself while I have my coffee. Mann is empty handed and annoyed that Gibbs didn’t buy her one but I don’t care.  
“Abby,” Mann begins but Abby cuts her off making me smirk, about time someone did that to her.  
“Can I interest you in some knives? I’ve got kitchen knives, pen knives, pocket knives, swiss army knives, Razor blades, Exacto blades, scissors, saws, scalpels, hedge clippers, an adze, an awl, a fish scaler, and even a golf-hole cutter,” Abby exclaims as she walks over to the evidence table where the knives are placed.  
“All recovered from Grady’s pig sty?”  
“Reflected in the care he used to maintain his cutlery. There’s ding and nicks and dull edges. None of these correspond to any of the precise incisions used to dismember the corpses. For such a slob, he certainly is careful when it counts. There wasn’t a single trace of human blood anywhere.”  
“Human blood?”  
“Our boy Grady is something of a carnivore. For the remnants on his silverware, I could pretty much tell you every meal he had for a week. Liverwurst, pastrami, roast beef, rack of lamb…”  
“Abs, you’re making me hungry,” I complain making her give me a look without her normal smile making me pout at my failure of making my friend happy.  
“Which leads us to… this,” Abby exclaims as she shows us a photo of the meat that Tony, McGee and Ziva found.  
“The pork chop from his freezer,” Mann states.  
“Probably his next mean. When I blow it up, it gets real interesting.”  
“It matches the incisions on the bodies,” Mann releases when Abby shows us the blown up photo.  
“Tool mark analysis isn’t a precise as say fingerprints or ballistics, but I can conclusively tell you that none of the blades in Grady’s possession carved that pig.”  
“Well, why would they? He probably had it carved at… his partner’s a butcher!” Mann exclaims before storming out of the room. Gibbs moves closure to Abby so he is staring at the side of her head.  
“Don’t you have work to do? Look, it’s not something you can fix in the classic Gibbs hit and run style. Okay?”   
“I’ve got time, Abs,” Gibbs promise her without us moving… she needs someone and I’m not going to leave her this time.  
“It’s stupid. It’s just… the guy. I’m not going to start spilling my guts just ‘cause you keep standing here,” Abby exclaims making us wait as she stares at her computer. After a while she breaks, “All right, apparently I am too much for him. Can you imagine that? Me? And it’s not what you think. It’s not like this. He likes… he likes small women. I got dumped because I’m too… too big. Don’t even bother with the… ‘no, it’s him. He’s too small.’ Or ‘if he can’t accept you for who you are, then it’s his problem.’ He just doesn’t think that we could make it work. And I’ve done everything I can to try to convince him that he’s wrong. So I guess I’m just going to have to accept it. And let it go,” Abby releases making me close my eyes. That has to hurt and I can’t fix it for her… we stand in silence as I pull Abby into a hug, just holding her. After a moment she informs us, “Thanks, Gibbs, Alice. You always know what to say.”  
“I know something that’ll make it even better,” I whisper to her.  
“What?”   
“Let’s get drunk off our asses when this case is over. Drunk enough for you to make out with DiNozzo,” I offer to her making her node at me.  
“He’s not my type.”  
“Well, well have to get really drunk then.”  
“But we’re die of alcohol poisoning.”  
“SO?”  
“Let’s do it.”  
“You tell the bitch. I’ll summon Kate and we’re have a great time,” I pretend order her before leaving with Gibbs. We step into the elevator.  
“Am I invited to this night of getting drunk?” Gibbs teases me.  
“IF you have a cock, no… girls only,” I inform him with a quick kiss on his lips. Before I can pull away, Gibbs places one hand on the back of my head, holding me in the kiss, and the other on my hip, pushing me back against the wall of the elevator. He deepen the kiss as I grip the label of his jacket, enjoying the kiss. Gibbs continues to kiss me until the elevator binges on our level making Gibbs release my lips.  
“Guess we have to close this case quickly then,” Gibbs laughs as releases me as we walk into the squad room where Mann is attempting to order Gibbs team around but it’s not working.  
“Do we have anything on the BOLO yet?” I ask Tony making Mann glare at me because she just asked that and not no answer.  
“Metro P.D. responded to the BOLO on Grady’s van,” Tony informs me.  
“SO far thirteen possible and counting,” Ziva informs us.  
“McGee,” Mann snaps at him because she’s pissed at me for being able to get a report when no one was listening to her.  
“Supermarkets, slaughterhouses, any place with a butcher on site within a twenty block radius of Grady’s residence,” McGee reports.  
“Narrow the search to boutique shops. They’d need their privacy.”  
“There’s just one.”  
“Just one?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“Boutique butcher’s a dying industry,” Tony informs her.  
“Le Cochon, mass Avenue,” McGee informs us.  
“All right, get a list of employees, owners past and present.”  
“Let’s roll!” Gibbs orders his team as we all get out gear to leave for the take down.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ms. Dalton,” Gibbs states as we walk into Le Cochon to see Dalton, the granddaughter of the second crypt, cutting the meat.  
“I thought you said you didn’t need me,” Dalton taunts Tony.  
“What’s your relationship with Len Grady?” Mann asks her.  
“Lenny’s my boyfriend. Why? What’s going on?”  
“You told Grady you spoke with us earlier.”  
“Yeah, I mentioned it,” Dalton admits before looking at the all of us making her exclaim, “Is this about the investigation?” we don’t answer her fast enough so she demands, “Where is Len?”  
“In custody,” Tony calmly informs her.  
“We suspect he’s committed at least five murders,” Mann informs her.  
“That’s impossible. Len would never hurt any… five?” Dalton asks when she releases the number.  
“At least.”  
“Where’s your freezer?” I ask her making her lead us to the freezer where Tony, Ziva and McGee search the store room.  
“Nothing in here, boss,” Tony informs us from inside the freezer, making me remember the time I found the body without legs used to frame Tony in a walk in freezer like this one.  
“Just pork, beef and lamb,” Ziva adds.  
“What else would there be?” Dalton demands of us.  
“Human blood,” McGee informs her.  
“Human?”  
“What’s in here?” Gibbs demands of pointing to another freezer.  
“It’s a freezer I use for overflow to store geese and turkeys in the holidays.”  
“Got a key?” I demand of her because it’s looked making her hand us the key and I unlock it. I life the lid only to see it has human remains in it making Dalton rush off gagging and processed to vomit outside. I comment, “I thought they would be smarter. We already integrated her once, why wouldn’t she dump the body bits?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“He was a regular customer. Every week like clockwork. It was the only time that he could get away from his mother,” Dalton informs Ziva and Gibbs in integration as we watch from observation room.  
“HE felt trapped,” Ziva states.  
“I could tell that he needed to get on with his life. It started with a few words here and there. And then before long we were…”  
“Together.”  
“Not fully, no. we didn’t trade keys until… after she um… disappeared.”  
“He learned your trade.”  
“I taught him. He always wanted to try new things. I never suspected that… how could I not have seen it?”  
“Love makes you blind,” Gibbs states.  
“No. I must be some kind of monster.”  
“Is she the monster you were talking about?” Mann asks Grady who is watching with us.  
“No. she loves me,” Grady defends his girlfriend.  
“How?” Tony asks him.  
“We’re in love.”  
“Well then she had to know about it. She had to know the real you,” Mann states.  
“She didn’t do anything.”  
“Sometimes that’s worse,” I inform him calmly.  
“You’re right. She could have stopped you,” McGee comments.  
“She should have stopped you,” Tony corrects McGee.  
“Well, if it was real,” Mann continues.  
“She didn’t know! I hid I! I hid everything! Just leave her out of it!” Grady orders us before shouting at the mirror, “Natalie, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Natalie! I’m so sorry! I’m sorry.”  
“Let’s try this again. Marilyn Torrance,” Gibbs demands of him as he walks into the observation room with us.  
“She was swimming in her pool. I drowned her.”  
“Wade Carlin,” I ask him next.  
“Natale was at the wholesale market. He came in for a sandwich. I stabbed him. She was a hooker. I was lonely. Natalie was out of town! I strangled her. And the kid was nobody. Nobody. I just shot him!” Grady exclaims with every photo Gibbs shows him.  
“You kept him in the freezer for over a year? Why’s you move the bodies? Why’d you move the,?” Mann demands of him.  
“He needed the space,” Gibbs states.  
“No one could have stopped me,” Grady exclaims.  
“You were going to kill again,” Mann releases.  
“He already did,” I exclaim when he looks proud of himself.  
“What’d you do with the body?”  
“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter,” Grady exclaims as they move Natalie out of integration making him struggle. He exclaims as we walk out of observation, “No! no! no! no! no, Natalie!!!”  
“Find the van, find the body,” Mann states.  
“Let her go,” Gibbs orders the agents.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“With the right partner, you can make the perfect monster,” Mann comments as Gibbs drives the car looking for Grady’s van and latest victim. We have been looking all afternoon and it’s well into the night know but we haven’t had any luck yet.  
“Oh, yeah. Give me a little old time romance,” Gibbs states making Mann laugh because he’s just so funny.  
“Someone’s got hidden skeletons of his own. You know, if I ever find myself in a dire situation, the proverbial body I need to get rid of, I think I would tell you.”  
“Yeah?” Gibbs asks her without paying too much attention to what she is saying.  
“Yeah.”  
“There,” I exclaim as I point to the van in an abandoned parking lot making Gibbs turn hard to make the drive way. We park close to the van and get out of the car without hesitation.  
“What makes you think I wouldn’t turn you in?” Gibbs asks her as we quickly walk towards the car.  
“If there’s one thing you’re good at, Jethro, it’s keeping your mouth shut. You made the right call letting the girl go. It seems you always make the right call when it involves a case,” Mann says while taking a stab at my relationship but I ignore it. I reach over and open the van to see Dalton cutting up the victim with a meat cleaver. Making Mann exclaim, “Oh, son-of-a…”  
“Why is it always the woman?” I demand of everyone or the universe in whole.  
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“Jethro,” I call to him as I walk downstairs to see him working on the would be boat.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums as he looks up from the boat to see I am dressed up to go out with the girls. I am wearing the leather dress from when I went out with Thom E Gemcity, Ziva, Lee and Abby. Gibbs looks me over twice before smirking at me.  
“What?” I ask him innocently, what is he thinking?  
“Are you sure I can’t join you? I’ll make it worth or while,” Gibbs promises me making me laugh.  
“Nope… you have to pay your wife some attention,” I inform him as I walk over to him and place a gent kiss on his lips before I turn and leave.  
“Tease,” Gibbs calls after me making me laugh all the way out the door.  
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Us girls get out of the taxi and stumble up the driveway towards Gibbs house, I trip up the stair onto the ground in front of the door making me groan, while Ziva and Abby laugh at me as I move to lean against the door.  
“Shh… don’t want to wake up Jethro, he need his sleep. He’s old,” I hiss at the girls as the door opens, making me fall inside, looking up at a pair of sleep blue eyes. Making me smile happily up at the owner.  
“How drunk are you girls?” The owner of the eyes asks us, with a very deep voice making me giggle on the ground while the other girls laugh at the base of the steps.  
“Very,” Ziva answers blue eyes making him chuckle as he pulls me back onto my feet, where I fall against his hard, body.  
“Come on it, it’s cold out,” he orders us as he pulls us into the house where Abby stumbles over to the couch where she falls onto it making me laugh again. He gets Abby settled on couch, before leading Ziva and me up to the second floor where he settles Ziva in his spare room before leading me into the master bedroom where the bed was unmade and looked slept in.  
“We didn’t mean to wake you up,” I inform him, while looking over his delicious sleepwear.  
“Bed was cold anyway,” Gibbs informs me as he finds my sleepwear and walks over to help me into it.  
“Sorry,” I mumble with a little laugh as Gibbs unzips my dress that zips up under my right arm. Gibbs pulls me up onto my feet, where I stand, almost rocking on my feet as he lifts the dress over my head. He drops it on the ground before quickly replacing it with his NIS shirt. He helps me out of my shoes before sitting me down on the bed and lets me lay down on my pillow fort. He gently tucks me into the bed before placing a kiss on my head. He leaves the room quietly while I quickly fall to sleep.  
I stir when the bed moves behind me, but I release it is just Gibbs when he holds my hip.  
“Alice, baby, it’s just me. Go back to sleep,” Gibbs whispers to me making me fall to sleep again, with Gibbs protecting me. 


	51. Ice man *

“There is nothing lucky about waking up during your own autopsy, probie,” Tony exclaims in the squad room after Ducky’s ‘guest’ work up before he started the autopsy.

“Least you know you’re not dead,” McGee states.

“Ducky’s the one who’s lucky.”

“The not dead victim is the lucky one… if I was down there, I would have shot him. I learnt from Ari. If they come back to life, shot them, their up to know good,” I comment as Ziva walks into the squad room. Late.

“Why is Ducky lucky?” Ziva asks us, letting us know that’s what she heard, and she heard the comment about Ari by the look she gave me but I shrug without a care. She is wearing Roy’s orange hat over her hair.

“Well, well. Look who’s finally here,” Tony taunts Ziva.

“Oh, like you’ve never been late, left early or gone mysteriously missing.”

“Oh no, that’s my point exactly tardiness is my middle name. in fact, it’s expected of me. You, on the other hand, have become the poster girl for punctuality,” Tony informs her making Ziva laugh at her. 

“Late night?” I ask her.

“Early morning. Run. New route. Took longer than I expected. Will run faster tomorrow. Now why is Ducky lucky?” Ziva demands of us as she places her stuff at her desk.

“We found a dead man walking,” Tony half explains.

“I’ve had enough of dead men walking.”

“Join the club. First walking dead person was Ari, when he came into autopsy in a body bag… left by shotting, Gerald, Jethro and me… then there was Jane Doe who dug herself out of her who grave,” I remember.

“No, this one was really dead. Ducky was about to start the autopsy and he came back to life… like Lazarus,” McGee informs us.

“No, like Liam. Liam O’Neill. Corporal,” Tony corrects McGee as he places the corporal’s photo on the plasma above my desk.

“Who was communication specialist attached to Marin supply division/combat support hospital in Baghdad,” McGee continues to update Ziva.

“On a fifteen day leave for his unit in Iraq. Third tour,” I inform Ziva.

“Hardcore Marine,” Ziva comments.

“Due to fly back to Baghdad day after tomorrow,” Tony informs her.

“How does a man who is not dead, end up on Ducky’s autopsy table?” 

“Ari did… and lived three more years, until he crossed the line. The last line anyway,” I remind her.

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“It was the Metro police. They reported a dead man, not an unconscious one. You know, there’s an old paramedic saying, ‘they’re not dead until they’re warm and dead.’ Can’t really blame them. Face down in a snow drift, core temperature twenty degrees below normal. No discernible heartbeat. Could have been there for hours. It’s not an unreasonable conclusion under the circumstances,” Ducky informs Gibbs as I walk into autopsy.

“CPR?” Gibbs asks him as he accepts the coffee I am offering him, before I had Ducky the tea I brought him.

“By their estimation, he was long dead. CPR is for the recent dead. Never crossed their minds. You know, the physiology is very interesting. Faced with imminent death, the brain begins to switch off the lights to preserve the last flicker of life and hope.”

“Prognosis?” I ask him.

“Well, children have been known to make a full recovery after being pulled from freezing rivers, ooh, two hours after they’ve apparently drowned. Adults are rarely so lucky. He’ll be on a ventilator, and the hospital will constantly check his condition.”

“Got nothing for us here, Duck,” Gibbs asks him.

“Well, on the contrary. He had a lump on his left temporal area, and bruising on the back and side of his neck. He didn’t fall into that snow drift. No, he was struck on the side of the head. His face was pushed into the snow, violently held by his neck and the back of the head. Probably until he stopped thrashing. How’s that for starters?”

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“Not much to see,” McGee comments as we search the van that brought the not body in.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ziva comments as Tony talks on his phone to the latest girlfriend, still the doctor that Shepard ordered him to date.

“He sure calls her a lot.”

“Oh, she calls him more often than he calls her.”

“Meaning?”

“Commitment issues. She is. He’s not.”

“What time? Okay. Are you going to give me a clue about this mystery date? Jeanne, gym shoes is not a clue. Naked is a clue. You want me naked? All right, you don’t want to see me naked. All right. I’ll bring you gym shoes. ‘bye,” Tony rambles to the girl before hanging up on her.

“Glad you could join us,” Ziva comments as he walks over to us.

“Well, there’s not much to see,” Tony comments.

“Appreciate it,” Gibbs says into his phone before turning to us to informs us, “Corporal O’Neill was wearing a light shirt, and no jacket. What’s that tell you, McGee?”

“Jacket was stolen?” Tony guess.

“Or he left close by,” Ziva offers.

“OR someplace warm,” I state.

“There’s no houses nearby. Service road’s close, though,” McGee reminds us.

“Car!” Tony offers to McGee.

“Silver ninety-seven mustang. License plate delta Zulu on five lima three seven…”

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We search the parking lot near where the body was found until we find the victim’s car with the engine still on.

“Bingo on the jacket. The motive wasn’t robbery. Sequentially numbered bills. Freshly minted. Five hundred dollars,” McGee exclaims as he pulls the money out of the car.

“Heater is set high, ignition is on. Must have sat her with the engine running,” Ziva exclaims as she searches the car.

“Guess he left in a hurry,” Tony comments.

“Well, he didn’t leave fast enough,” Gibbs states.

“Would have been fast in the car then on foot,” I state.

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“Good afternoon, Gibbs, Alice,” Abby greets us without looking at us as we walk into the lab.

“Well, good morning, Abs. how did you know it was us?” Gibbs asks her in confusion, she didn’t have to look. 

“Because I found something. And whenever I find something, you always know. Then you come see me,” Abby informs us as we walk over in front of her.

“We do?” I ask her.

“Well, yeah. If I didn’t then you wouldn’t be here. Have you been listening?”

“You found what, Abs?” Gibbs asks her.

“This. In his left trouser pocket. It’s organic,” Abby explains as she holds up a green powder substance.

“Illegal?” I ask her.

“We could smoke it and find out.”

“And people say I’m the bad influence,” I exclaim when Abby says that as Gibbs give her his soft glare that is only for her and me… used to be Kate too.

“Kidding. I’m going to let the mass spec smoke that. But I also found this, a receipt from a restaurant in Baghdad.”

“Corporal’s on his third tour, Abs,” Gibbs reminds her.

But he’s been on leave for three weeks. So what was he doing Baghdad three days ago? See the date? I think he had a falafel…”

“That’s a good catch, Abby,” I exclaim in surprise. That is a great question.

“Do you think it’s ESP? I mean, that you always know when I find something? And if it is ESP, are you reading my mind or am I sending you some sort of weird brain thoughts out of my head and into yours? Come back, Gibbs. Come back, Gibbs,” Abby calls after us as we walk off.

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“Boss, I got it. I cross-checked it with ICE. O’Neill left the country eight days ago using his own passport. He was traveling as a private citizen. Arrived back in the country two days ago,” McGee reports back in the squad room.

“Record of travel?” Gibbs asks him.

“Direct to Frankfurt, then on to Baghdad. Came back the same way.”

“Wouldn’t call Baghdad one of your top ten tourist destinations,” Tony states.

“Especially if you’ve just come from there, and you’re going back.”

“And people shooting at you,” Ziva reminds them.

“Or trying to blow you up,” Tony adds.

“Airline?” I ask them because their off topic.

“He didn’t fly commercial. Flew there and back with an air freight company called Fast Flight. Operates out of the warehouse near Dulles Airport,” McGee informs us.

“Address. Ziva?” Gibbs demands of her.

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“You do that!” Taylor, a worker at the warehouse, says into he phone before turning to us and demanding, “Who are you?”

“Federal agents,” Gibbs answers him, while we flash our badge.

“NTSB?” Taylor demands of us because he didn’t read the letters on the badge.

“NCIS,” I correct him.

“Right. You gotta love those acronyms. Maybe that’s what this company needs. Huh? An acronym.”

“Bad day, Mister Taylor?” Ziva asks him.

“I guess that depends on what you want. Excuse me.”

“Liam O’Neill. You flew him to Baghdad and back this week,” Gibbs states.

“All legal. Had a passport, cleared customs. Filed the paperwork.”

“Why did he fly with you?” Ziva asks him.

“Fast flight. Oh, F.F. there’s an acronym for you. Stands for free flights.”

“You flew him free of charge?”

“Ex-Royal Air Force, a good deed for a serving Marine. Don’t get a lot of people hitching a ride to Baghdad.”

“Why was he going to Baghdad?”

“Ah, said he was on leave. He just found out his unit had been hit. One of his buddies was wounded. Wanted to see him. What’s he done?”

“Someone tried to kill him.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Taylor asks us after a moment of silence.

“Maybe.”

“Something you want to add?” I ask him.

“Some guys met him outside Baghdad International Airport,” Taylor informs us as Ziva’s phone begins ringing.

“What guys?” Gibbs demands of him.

“Yes,” Ziva answers her phone.

“B.A.G.s bad ass guys. With guns,” Taylor explains to us as Ziva quietly speaks into her phone.

“Plenty of them in Baghdad. You ask him about it on the flight home?” I ask him.

“Wasn’t very talkative. His buddy didn’t make it.”

“Someone’s with Corporal O’Neill at the hospital,” Ziva informs us know she is off the phone.

“Next of kin?” Gibbs ask she.

“He has no next of kin.”

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“Hello, Probie,” Franks greets Gibbs as we enter the hospital room to see him with our victim.

“Hello, Mike,” Gibbs begins.

“Hey Mike. Jethro’s not quitting again… or going back to Mexico… just saying,” I inform Mike as I grip Gibbs’ arm so he can’t leave me again.

“You know this marine?” 

“He’s my son,” Franks informs us.

“I thought you were married to Gibbs. How can you have a son?” 

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“Here you go. Black. No sugar,” Ziva says as she hands Franks a coffee.

“You never told me you had a son,” Gibs states.

“Didn’t find out ‘till a couple of years ago. Got a phone call one day. It was him. He tracked me down. We met. Had a few beers. He was just about to deploy. Didn’t hear from him again until a couple of days ago. Said he was in trouble.”

“Why is that the only reason anyone calls you?” I ask Franks because that seems to be the truth. In trouble, call Franks… 

“What kind of trouble?” Gibbs asks Franks while giving me a look for getting off topic.

“Didn’t say. You wouldn’t know it now, but he’s got his mother’s har. Used to blow across her face and get in her eyes. She’d get so pissed! And I’d laugh. She died a few years ago. We were only together the six months. Didn’t even know she was pregnant when she left,” Franks informs us.

“What do the doctor say? He getting better or going to pull a Jethro?” I ask Franks making him smile at me for that joke.

“What doctors always say. Not much that makes any sense. Doing tests/ brain waves and reflexes. All that neurological stuff. Do you know who did this, probie?”

“Not yet,” Gibbs informs him old boss.

“Guess you would tell me if you did.”

“No. you need a place to stay tonight, Mike?”

“Might just stay here with my boy.”

“Hospital beds and chairs aren’t comfortable to sleep in. I speak from experience, waiting for sleeping beauty to wake up. And I’m young, so your old body isn’t going to be able to handle it,” I warn him. Before I follow Gibbs out of the room to see the nurse.

“IS there any hope?” I ask the nurse.

“As I was just explaining to your colleague, the patient is unresponsive to external stimuli,” Leisten, the nurse, informs me.

“His name’s Corporal O’Neill,” Gibbs informs her because no one deserves not to have a name.

“Corporal O’Neill. There’s still more testing to do, which will determine if there’s any cerebral circulation present. But at this point, it would be wrong to offer any hope.”

“When will you know for certain?” I ask her.

“Tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Ziva says to her.

“Sure,” Leisten says before walking off.

“He knows?”

“He knows,” Gibbs agrees with her.

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“Company is Owned by Jalil Shaloub. Known to his friends and enemies as ‘Jimmy.’ Small times investment advisor, big time loan shark. Also on homeland security’s watch list. Iraqi father. Lebanese mother. Moved here after the first gulf war,” McGee reports in the squad room about O’Neill’s calls to Iraq before flying over there.

“Any active surveillance?” Ziva asks McGee.

“None that anyone is admitting to. Shaloub channels money into a Beirut investment bank, which ay or any not support Hezbollah.”

“Hezbollah? He walks a dangerous path.”

“What’s the connection with Corporal O’Neill?” Tony asks them.

“Could be software, hardware, troop deployments, timetables. O’Neill could be a seller.”

“OR a buyer,” McGee adds.

“Wither way he keeps back company… and Mike’s going to kill us,” I state as I take a sip of my coffee.

“You think Franks knows?” McGee asks me.

“I think Mike knows more than we do… just not about this case. Jethro’s life, hell yeah and I need to get him to talk about it,” I answer them.

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“Know him, Mister Shaloub?” Ziva asks Jimmy Shaloub in his office.

“Marine Corporal Liam O’Neill. He came to see me,” Jimmy Shaloub informs us.

“When?” Gibbs asks him.

“Two days ago.”

“About?” I ask him next.

“What all of my clients come to see me about, Agent Todd. Money.”

“You give him any?” Gibs asks him.

“NO, I decided he was too risky a proposition.”

“What interest rate do you charge?” Ziva asks him.

“Why? Do you need a loan?”

“Fifty per cent? One hundred percent? Two hundred percent? I would say the risk si theirs. How much did Corporal O’Neill want?” Ziva asks him with a chuckle.

“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“For?” I ask him.

“MY policy is not to ask.”

“Maybe you didn’t have to,” Ziva states.

“We met, we drank coffee, we did not do business. He told me nothing about why he needed the money.”

“How soon did he need it?” Gibbs asks him.

“Immediately.”

“Cash?” I ask him.

“Of course, all my clients prefer cash.”

“Even the ones in Beirut and Baghdad?” Gibbs asks him.

“I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. From all the questions you’re asking, I can only assume that Corporal O’Neill is involved in some criminal activity, Agent Gibbs.”

“You mean like you?” Ziva asks him.

“If you believe that, Officer David, we would be meeting in your office, not mine.”

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“IS there someone you can call?” Gibbs asks Ziva as we return to the squad room where Jimmy Shaloub’s photo is still up on the plasma screen.

“Might have a friend in Tel Aviv,” Ziva informs Gibbs.

“Make it happen, Ziva.”

“Shared intelligence.”

“I’ll settle for any. McGee? Turn over the rock on this guy: company records, IRS, back details.”

“I’ll check the homeland Security file. What am I looking for?” McGee asks us in confusion.

“You’ll know it when you see it,” I inform McGee as the elevator dings and opens to show Mike Franks standing in there.

“How is he?” Gibbs asks his boss.

“They’re done testing. Liam mixed up with him?” Franks asks us he nodes to Jimmy Shaloub.

“McGee,” Gibbs orders his agent, making McGee shut down the plasma screen.

“Who is he?”

“Can’t say… can’t pronouns his name,” I inform him.

“Whatever he’s done… good or bad… he’s still my boy.”

“Well then it’s bad because he has your genes.”

“Nothing else I can tell you,” Gibbs reminds Franks while ignoring my comment about Mike Franks genes.

“It’s not why I’m here,” Franks informs us before leading us down to the back elevator.

“Are you alright Mike? Or do you need a drink?” I ask Franks in the elevator.

“I’m fine…”

“Don’t lie, it’ll make your wrinkles get bigger,” I warn him making him laugh at me. We silent ride the elevator down in to the lab. We walk out to talk to Abby.

“That’s everything… apart from his clothing, and his car. We’re still checking that for prints,” Abby informs Franks about his son’s items.

“Said it belonged to his mother. Her religion… and mine. It’s war and peace. Can you release these?” Franks asks us as he picks up a necklace with two charms on it. Abby nodes and signs it out of the to Franks. Franks than asks us, “I need one more thing, probie. A witness.”

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I am standing at the nurses desk with Gibbs while Franks in the in the room with his son as the doctors remove the life support. I grab Gibbs hand as I hear the heart monitor flat line in O’Neill’s room. I turn and hide my head in Gibbs chest because I don’t like death, I might be surrounded by it every day but I really don’t like it.

After a moment a moment, Gibbs pulls me from his chest, leaving his arm around my shoulder and walks me into the room to check on Mike Franks who just lost his family. But when we enter the room Franks is already gone like normal. That guy is a magical, disappearing and reappearing without a sign or sound… reminds me of someone else.

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“I waited for you, Gibbs,” Abby exclaims as we walk into the lab.

“You got something,” Gibbs asks her.

“I do. And you’re not going to like it. The print on the left was lifted from inside Liam’s car. The print on the right is a match from our data base. Franks was in the car, Gibbs,” Abby informs us making me blink in surprise. I thought he was in Mexico before O’Neill was hospitalized.

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“How much did Franks know?” McGee asks in the squad room.

“Not enough to save his son,” Ziva reminds us.

“Maybe not much at all. You ever tell your did what you were up to, Probie?” Tony asks the wrong person.

“Every day,” McGee answers, proving me ring.

“Wrong person to ask.”

“Liam Flew to Baghdad, met some bad guys. Flew back, and someone tried to kill him,” Ziva states.

“Succeeded.”

“Deal gone wrong, maybe?”

“Dealing what?” I ask them.

“He was communications specialist… equipment, software, secrets.”

“Only had limited access. Didn’t know any secrets,” Tony reminds her as Gibbs phone begins ringing.

“Yeah. Gibbs… could be,. Mike. Come on in. I’ll brief you… where?... I’ll be right there,” Gibbs talks to Franks before hanging up the phone.

“Need any backup, Boss?” Tony asks Gibbs as Gibbs grabs his gun and badge.

“Friend, not for, DiNozzo,” Gibbs reminds him as I grab my gun and badge to follow him.

“Want me?” I ask him.

“DO I really have a choice?”

“Nope, I was just being polite,” I inform him as we leave.

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“Found your prints in his car, Mike,” Gibbs informs his boss in an industrial area.

“Figured you probably would,” Franks comments as he takes a smoke out to smoke.

“You should have mentioned that you say him… would have made this investigation easier,” I inform Franks.

“Didn’t want you asking me to many questions.”

“We have to ask them, to catch the bastard that hurt O’Neill,” I remind him.

“About?” Gibbs asks Franks.

“What my son was involved in,” Franks informs us.

“Are you going to tell us?” I ask him softly, this couldn’t be easy. When Kate died I didn’t have to answer any questions because I worked for NCIS and I could kill the guy, I didn’t but I could.

“I saw him a couple of days ago. He needed money. Just about cleaned me out. But I got it for him. Twenty-five thousand. He took give hundred, asked me to hold the rest. Said it was safer that way. Said he would call me when he needed it. Never called.”

“What’s this about?” Gibbs asks him.

“Wouldn’t tell me.”

“He wouldn’t tell you, or you won’t tell us? Because we will work it out,” I state.

“we’re getting more alike, you and me, probie. Even feeling the same pain. I don’t know how you didn’t go crazy when you lost your little girl. Maybe you did for a while. Maybe you still are. I just know I got to do what’s right for my boy. I own him that,” Franks says to Gibbs while ignoring me. When he mentioned Kelly, I grabbed Gibbs hand, offering him what comfort I can.

“Let us handle it.”

“You got to be somewhere?” Gibbs informs him.

“I want the body sent to my place in Mexico when Ducky’s done with it. Can you arrange that for me?” Franks asks Gibbs.

“I don’t want to have to come after you, Mike,” Gibbs states.

“Then don’t.”

“You’re still not stealing my boyfriend again,” I remind Franks.

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“Ziva, talk to your friend yet?” I ask Ziva as we return to the squad room.

“Shaloub is a person of interest, but that is all. No known terrorist links. More concerned with money than ideology,” Ziva reports back.

“It’s Mike Franks; rental. Put a BOLO on it,” Gibbs says as he hands the page out of his notebook to Ziva.

“Well, if he has been here, he’s probably booked into a hotel or motel.”

“Start checking. McGee,” Gibbs orders him.

“I’m still trying to crack Liam’s voice mail security code. It’s a matter of time,” McGee informs us.

“It’s something we don’t have. DiNozzo.”

“Boss,” Tony asks because he doesn’t know what Gibbs wants for a change.

“You help Ziva,” Gibbs orders him before leading me out of the squad room to go talk to Abby. I step into the elevator before Gibbs.

“Are you alright, Jethro?” I ask him as I stop the elevator.

“I’m fine,” Gibbs lies to me.

“Jethro, don’t lie.”

“I wouldn’t wish the death of a child on my worst enemy, let alone my friend.”

“I know… I wish no one had to experience that,” I whisper as I wrap my arms around his waist, holding my man. Gibbs holds me tightly, gripping the back of my clothing, and I feel where he buries my hair get wet. Letting me know he is crying. I rub his back in an attempt to calm him down.

“I miss Kelly so much,” Gibbs cries making me hold him tightly.

“I know. But she is here with you every day, in your heart,” I promise him, making him node without releasing me.

“I do hope so,” Gibbs mumbles as he continues to hold me, crying into my hair.

“Jethro… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad,” I whisper as I hold him.

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“Gibbs! You shouldn’t be here. I don’t have anything for you, and I didn’t send out any ‘calling Gibbs’ vibes,” Abby exclaims as we finally walk into the lab.

“I’m not psychic, Abs. just checking. Did Mike try to get information about the case?” Gibbs asks her.

“I barely saw him.”

“Hasn’t phoned?” I ask Abby.

“NO. you thought he might try to sneak a peek at the evidence?”

“He did work for NCIS once.”

“I would,” Gibbs overlaps at me.

“Well then why didn’t he… seeing as you two are so much alike? Peas in a pod, Gibbs. Tweedled dee, tweedled Dum,” Abby insults the two old men as her computer beeps with the results making her exclaim, “Whoa, Gibbs! You knew before I knew it knew! Before it knew it knew! This is getting really spooky. The green compound we found in Corporal O’Neill’s pants pocket. That’s what I was going to call you about. This is getting really spooky. Lawsonia inermis. More commonly know as Henna. It’s used in body in art. Mostly in the middle east. It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t last. Not like a real tattoo.”

“Other uses?” I ask her.

“A hair dye. But the tattoos are really cool. They have a lot of intricate patterns and shading. I should probably get one. What do you think? Don’t answer out load. Just think it,” Abby asks making me give Gibbs a look before we walk off without answering her because she is being extra Abby today. We take the elevator down to autopsy, silently this time.

“You’re two hours early, Jethro. I’m only just beginning,” Ducky informs us as we walk in to autopsy.

“I need tattoos, Ducky,” Gibbs orders his old friend as we walk over to O’Neill.

“Ah, a direct inquiry demanding a direct response, which in this case, is a direct no. somewhat surprising for a young marine,” Ducky informs us as his phone begins to ring. Ducky walks to his desk, and answers it, “Autopsy… yes, he is… Indeed.” Ducky hangs up the phone and informs us, “Timothy says to tell you that he’s cracked the code, whatever that may mean.” 

“Thanks, dad,” I say to him before we leave autopsy and head back up to the squad room to find out what McGee found. We step into the elevator silently and I don’t mind. I just stand next to Gibbs, waiting for the squad room. 

“There’s only one message in Liam’s in-box,” McGee informs us as we enter the room.

“Hey, buddy. Your package arrived at the end of the week. If you want to pick it up, the price just doubled,” a voice says over the phone.

“Nick Taylor,” Ziva recognize the voice being the fast flight pilot.

“The last call that Liam made as Fast Flight. Maybe it was to arrange a meeting,” McGee offers.

“They meet. They argue. They fight,” Tony comments.

“Logged int F.A.A, Gibbs. Fast flight… FF… seven-one-six freight service from Baghdad. We have a problem. It landed and hour and a half ago,” Ziva informs us.

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We arrive at the warehouse and begin searching it, moving around the containers.

“Clear!” Ziva calls out.

“Clear!” Tony adds.

“Clear,” McGee agrees.

“Somebody beat us to it,” Ziva comments when we found the bodies on the ground.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Multiple victims. Multiple wounds,” Ducky comments as he looks over the bodies in the warehouse.

“Pray and spray,” Gibbs comments.

“Possible. Bit dead in a matter of fifteen or twenty minutes before you arrived. Jethro, do you think…”

“We’re not speculating, dad. We need evidence,” I inform him.

“Gibbs. Blankets, pillows, water bottles,” Ziva calls out what she found.

“All the comforts of home,” McGee informs us.

“Human cargo.”

“Looks to be three of everything.”

“Bit only two bodies, assuming Taylor was already here at the office.”

“One got away,” I state.

“The shooter?”

“Maybe,” Gibbs answers her.

“Boss,” McGee calls to us as we walk over to him to see a tiny book.

“Arabic,” Gibbs says as he picks the book up.

“That’s a Koran,” Ziva informs us what the book is.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“The FFA says all the paperwork was in order when the flight landed,” Ziva reports back in the squad room.

“Customs?” Gibbs asks her.

“Only checked the cargo manifest. No x-ray, no physical search of air containers. It was unloaded and taken straight to the warehouse.”

“Air crew?” I ask her next.

“Oblivious. Still at the airport overseeing an engine inspection.”

“Got an I.D. on the other two victims here. Peter Tomas McLean, Private, United States Army. Reported missing three weeks ago from the U.A. Army base in Wuerzburg, near Frankfurt,” McGee informs us.

“Missing?”

“Deserted unit was shipped to Iraq two days after he disappeared. Second victim is Franz Bernhard Schuler. He’s a German National wanted by Interpol for murder. Killed a cop. Believed to be trying to flee Europe for the united states.”

“Made it. Almost.”

“Taylor was running a passenger service for bad guys. I wonder how much the tickets were?” Tony comments.

“Too much,” McGee answers him.

“Which leads us to passenger number three, Muslim and missing,” Ziva reminds us.

“Terrorist?”

“Might explain all the dead bodies. Left no one alive to identify him.”

“Or maybe just a frightened witness who got away,” Tony reminds them the other option.

“Anything?” Gibbs asks Tony about Franks.

“Pone company can’t track him. Franks must have his call phone off.”

“He knows we’d be trying to get a hold of him,” McGee comments as his phone rings. He answers it, “McGee… Where?... got it. Thanks.” McGee hangs up his phone before informing us, “Metro Police found Franks’ car.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“We could fall back and set up surveillance,” Ziva offers as we walk towards Franks car on the street.

“Ah, it’s too late,” Gibbs informs her because Franks would have already seen us.

“Must be a dozen hotel within a mile of here, boss. Parked and walked?” Tony informs us.

“That’s what I’d do,” I state.

“I’ll start checking them as soon as we get back,” Tony informs us as we open the car and see a gun out in the open. Tony exclaims, “Oh, boy… recently fired.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“DO you think he did it?” McGee asks everyone in the squad room, hoping Gibbs doesn’t hear him.

“Mike Franks is a very capable man,” Ziva half answers him.

“That extend to murder?” 

“Revenge. Taylor killed his son,” Tony reminds McGee.

“Still murder…”

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs snaps as he walks into the squad room, cutting off this conversation which I am glade of because I like Franks and would hate to see the FBI Sacks again.

“Ah… seventeen hotels and motels within fifteen minutes’ walk of where we found the car. I’m emailing the photo of Franks now.”

“Glock?” I ask them.

“Ah, registered to Nick Taylor. He was licensed shooter,” Ziva answers me.

“McGee, you found anything under that rock yet?” Gibbs asks him.

“I’m still working, boss,” McGee reports.

“IRS?” I ask him.

“Clean bill of health. Shaloub pays his taxes. Files his returns. Pagoda’s got a modest turnover. The more you look, the less you see.”

“He’s got to hide his money somewhere, probie,” Tony states.

“No association with any charities?” Ziva asks McGee.

“I know where you’re headed, but he’s not making any big donations to suspect charities,” McGee informs us.

“Travel?” Gibbs asks him.

“In and out of the country seven times over the last four months. Which is odd because this guy is meticulous with his tac returns. His lists all his deductions. All that travel and he didn’t claim it as a business expense.”

“Well someone must have been paying for him,” Tony states.

“Or he wasn’t paying at all,” Ziva offers the other option.

“Check when and where he flew against FAA records,” Gibbs orders us.

“All that’s going to tell us is what airline he flew. Typing. Same airline every time. Fast flight,” McGee informs us after getting a glare from Gibbs when he said all it would telling what airline he flies.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Sometimes I fly fast flight instead of scheduled commercial flights. I wasn’t breaking the lay, Agent Gibbs. Or any FFA regulations,” Jimmy Shaloub snaps at us in integration room.

“Fast Flight is only registered to carry freight, not passengers,” Ziva informs him.

“I wasn’t a paying passenger.”

“Taylor was doing you a favour?” 

“Let me tell you what you clearly don’t know, Agent Gibbs. I helped finance Fast Flight. What you might call a silent partner. Not one of my wiser investment decisions.”

“When?” I ask him.

“Twelve months ago.”

“How much?” Ziva asks him.

“Initial outlay was half a million dollars. I have pumped in as much again in the last six months. Free flights to Europe were the only return I was seeing on my money. The company is failing. Taylor is incompetent.”

“Was,” Gibbs corrects him.

“Something’s happened?” Jimmy Shaloub asks us after a moment of silence.

“You should know. You were there,” Ziva informs him.

“Where?”

“The warehouse.”

“Three men were shot dead, including Taylor,” I inform him.

“I had nothing to do with this,” Jimmy Shaloub exclaims.

“Why did you do it?” Gibbs asks him.

“I just told you I didn’t!”

“Because Taylor was smuggling people into the country and didn’t tell you?” Ziva asks him.

“NO!” 

“OR you just found out and wanted a cut of the action,” I state.

“No! I had nothing to do with that, Agent Gibbs. You’ve got the wrong man.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Bad,” Abby tells McGee in the lab as Gibbs and I enter.

“How bad?” Gibbs asks her, announcing our presents in the room.

“The striations on the bullets match the Glock found in Mike Franks’ car. It’s the murder weapon,” Abby informs us.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Thanks,” Tony says into his phone before hanging up and informing us, “Found Franks, boss. Booked into a hotel fifteen minutes’ walk from where we found the car. Fails name, paid cash. Manager I.D.ed him from the photo I emailed. Hotel’s at one-one-two-seven Church Avenue. Franks is still there.”

“Will we bring him in?” Zia asks Gibbs.

“It’s glass, boss. Crystalline silica and calcium oxide… used in glass-making. It was all over the Glock. Even in the slide-action. Abby had to clean it before she could fire it. Anyway, there is a glass manufacturer right next to the fast flight warehouse,” McGee reports to us. Gibbs storms of and I follow him to interrogation room where we are still holding Jimmy Shaloub.

“Agent Gibbs,” Jimmy Shaloub exclaims as we storm in to the room.

“Take off your shoes,” Gibbs orders him without any hesitation.

“What?”

“Need to look at your shoes,” McGee informs him making Jimmy Shaloub take the shoes off and hand them to McGee.

“Wallet,” Gibbs orders him making him hand the wallet over. Gibbs looks at the money inside, matching it to the money Franks gave O’Neill.

“Sequential serial numbers,” I state.

“Where’s the rest?” Gibbs demands of him.

“You think you can intimidate me, Agent Gibbs?” Jimmy Shaloub snaps at my boyfriend.

“McGee?” Gibbs turns to the agent looking at the shoes.

“Looks like traces of calcium oxide and crystalline silica in the treads,” McGee reports.

“It’s used in glass manufacturing… if you want to know what that means,” I inform Jimmy Shaloub.

“Hollander Glass Company is right next door to Fast flight. Did you ever notice all that write stuff on the ground behind the back of their building? That is crystalline silica and calcium oxide,” McGee explains.

“You got it on your shoes when you dumped this into the dumpster behind their building. You should have left it at the scene,” Gibbs explains as he holds the gun up.

“IT wasn’t me!” Jimmy Shaloub denies it.

“We’ve got a witness!!” I inform him calmly.

“I had nothing to do with the murder of that Marine. Taylor was out of control. Trying to cash-flow his business by people-smuggling. He wouldn’t let them leave because he wanted more money. Then he pulls that gun on me. I took it off him! I was defending myself!” 

“What about the other two?” Gibbs asks him, making Jimmy Shaloub blink in surprise when he release we have him on murder and he can’t explain any other murders away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hey! We got him,” Gibbs informs Franks on the street where he is getting ready to get into a car on the street.

“I knew you’d figure it out eventually, probie,” Franks informs him.

“Unfinished business. That why you went there?” Gibbs asks while nodding to the girl in the back of Franks car.

“I owed him that.”

“Paid the rest of the cash, picked up the package,” I state what he did.

“Came back to the hotel.”

“But you went back again, didn’t you, Mike?” Gibbs asks him.

“Shaloub was already there. I heard the shots. I saw him come out of the building in a panic. I saw him wipe the weapon, and toss it over into the dumpster.”

“You were going to plant it in his car, then give me a call?”

“That was the idea. But you found my rental, and I didn’t get a chance.”

“Well, you were a witness. You didn’t need to do that, unless you had something to hide, Mike,” I state.

“She’s from Mexico,” Franks lie to us as he nodes to the girl. Gibbs hands over the Koran we found making Franks continue, “We left in a bit of a hurry. They were going to be married. Her family in Baghdad said that she shamed them. She’s been in hiding for six months. He was desperate to get her out. I don’t think any of this is relevant to your case, probie.”

“I guess not, Mike,” Gibbs comments.

“Goodbye… you can take her, I’ll keep this one,” I say to Franks making him smile at me with a node before I walk away with Gibbs. We don’t get even ten steps away when we hear a baby crying and turn around to see the girl soothing a baby with blonde hair in the back of the car. I say, “Well, look at that…”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“I can’t believe Mike’s son had a kid… no actually I can’t believe Mike had a kid,” I say in the basement of Gibbs house because that is so surprising. I am leaning against the workbench, with my hair out of it holder because Gibbs like when I let it down. We are both still wearing our work clothing.

“Me neither,” Gibbs agrees with me.

“I wonder how many kids Tony has.”

“Let’s not go there.”

“Yeah… I can’t count that high anyway,” I exclaim as I take a sip of my bourbon.

“I’m sure you can’t… so what was this last weekend you were saying, that I’m old?”

“You are old… do you even have parents or were you hatched in a lab, from an egg, by dinosaurs?” I ask Gibbs as he pins me against the workbench I am leading against.

“I have parents… I’m not that old,” Gibbs defends himself while stealing my glass of bourbon because he has already finished his own.

“You were old when I met you on that beach, and you are older now,” I tease him.

“Whatever,” Gibbs dismisses it as he places a kiss on my lips.

*

“Old man what to play?” I continue to tease him making him fake glare at me.

“I’ll show you just how old I am,” Gibbs promise me as he leans in, kissing me properly. He pins me against the bench. I run my hand up his back and run it through his hair, kissing him back. Gibbs breaks the kiss and I kiss down his neck. I find the spot behind his right ear, and begin to suck on it, leaving a mark. Gibbs runs his hand down my body until it reaches my ass where he squeezes it making me moan. He used his grip on my ass to lift me onto the work bench. Once I am seated on the bench, Gibbs steps up between my open legs, pushing his growing bulge between them.

“Jethro,” I gasp out as he smirks down at me.

“Alice,” Gibbs whispers in my ear before placing a kiss on my head about the ear, before moving back to my lips for a kiss.

Gibbs continues to kiss my lips while running his hands up my body until he reaches my breast that he palms them making me moan into his mouth. He continues to palm my right breast while he moves his other hand down my body and grabs the bottom of my shirt and lifts it over my head. To get it off of my body Gibbs has to break the kiss, once the shirt it out of his way he drops the shirt onto the dirty floor and drops his head to kiss the top of my breast making me moan in pleasure. Gibbs gently pulls my bra down so that my left break falls out into the cold basement air, which he quickly engulfs into his warm mouth, which is a stark comparison to the air. He sucks on it before releasing it from his mouth and blows on it making me gasp out in surprise because I didn’t expect him to do that.

“Jethro,” I moan making him chuckle as he undoes the bra completely and drops it on the ground as he engulfs me other breast into his mouth. I grip his hair as run my other hand down his back. Gibbs gently bits that nipple making me moan again.

I run my hand up under his shirt over his back. I move the shirt up his body until it is just below his arms because he is running his hand over my body. I pull on the shirt until he finally stops kissing my breast long enough to remove the shirt before returning his attention back to my breasts while I drop the shirt onto the ground. 

Gibbs continues to suck on my breast as he pulls and twist the other with his hand, making me moan again. I grip Gibbs hair with one hand and his back with the other. I pull on Gibbs hair as he lightly scraps his teeth along the nipple, before blowing on it again and then engulfing it in his mouth, teasing me. Gibbs begins to grind his bulge into me, giving us the friction we both need.

“Gibbs,” a voice says from the stairs, followed by the sound of something hitting the ground…


	52. Oops *

Previously: 

*

“Old man what to play?” I continue to tease him making him fake glare at me.  
“I’ll show you just how old I am,” Gibbs promise me as he leans in, kissing me properly. He pins me against the bench. I run my hand up his back and run it through his hair, kissing him back. Gibbs breaks the kiss and I kiss down his neck. I find the spot behind his right ear, and begin to suck on it, leaving a mark. Gibbs runs his hand down my body until it reaches my ass where he squeezes it making me moan. He used his grip on my ass to lift me onto the work bench. Once I am seated on the bench, Gibbs steps up between my open legs, pushing his growing bulge between them.  
“Jethro,” I gasp out as he smirks down at me.  
“Alice,” Gibbs whispers in my ear before placing a kiss on my head about the ear, before moving back to my lips for a kiss.  
Gibbs continues to kiss my lips while running his hands up my body until he reaches my breast that he palms them making me moan into his mouth. He continues to palm my right breast while he moves his other hand down my body and grabs the bottom of my shirt and lifts it over my head. To get it off of my body Gibbs has to break the kiss, once the shirt it out of his way he drops the shirt onto the dirty floor and drops his head to kiss the top of my breast making me moan in pleasure. Gibbs gently pulls my bra down so that my left break falls out into the cold basement air, which he quickly engulfs into his warm mouth, which is a stark comparison to the air. He sucks on it before releasing it from his mouth and blows on it making me gasp out in surprise because I didn’t expect him to do that.  
“Jethro,” I moan making him chuckle as he undoes the bra completely and drops it on the ground as he engulfs me other breast into his mouth. I grip his hair as run my other hand down his back. Gibbs gently bits that nipple making me moan again.  
I run my hand up under his shirt over his back. I move the shirt up his body until it is just below his arms because he is running his hand over my body. I pull on the shirt until he finally stops kissing my breast long enough to remove the shirt before returning his attention back to my breasts while I drop the shirt onto the ground.  
Gibbs continues to suck on my breast as he pulls and twist the other with his hand, making me moan again. I grip Gibbs hair with one hand and his back with the other. I pull on Gibbs hair as he lightly scraps his teeth along the nipple, before blowing on it again and then engulfing it in his mouth, teasing me. Gibbs begins to grind his bulge into me, giving us the friction we both need.  
“Gibbs,” a voice says from the stairs, followed by the sound of something hitting the ground…

Now:

Gibbs removes his mouth from my breast and looks over at the stairs while attempting to hide my body from the visitor. He stands up straight, no longer leaning over me. I cross my arms over my naked breast encase the person can see me, but I hope they can’t because I recognize that voice. I can feel the blush traveling up from under my breast to my cheeks.  
“What?” Gibbs snaps at the person.  
“Um… I need advice,” the person inform Gibbs slowly as he looks everywhere but at me and Gibbs who isn’t wearing a shirt and looks like he could kill the person with a signal look from being interrupted.  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums as he continues to glare at the person unit the person turns around so Gibbs can lean down and pick up his shirt which he hands to me. I pull the shirt on before jumping off the work bench, standing on the ground and kick my bra and shirt under the work bench so that the person can’t look at it. I’m just glade that the person walked in know instead of in a little bit when we were even more undressed.  
“I need advice on relationships,” the person informs Gibbs without turning around making me blink because that is something I never thought I would hear this person say.  
“I’ll leave you two to talk about that,” I say quickly with a heavy blush before rushing past the person and upstairs… that is embarrassing, especially since it was this person. I walk around the spilled coffee that the person dropped on the follow when they released what they walked in on.  
Once I am upstairs, away from that person, I continue to blush as I walk over to the lounge room and sit on the couch. Ugly Tony quickly runs up to me and I pick her up. I pick up the dog brush off of the arm of the chair and begin to brush the dog in the hopes of calming my brush down. I brush my dogs hair for ages before turning the TV on for some background sound as I look after my dogs hair.   
.  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I glare at the person as Alice leaves the basement, waiting for them to start talking.  
“I need advice and I didn’t know who else to go to… there’s this girl I like and she’s said that she loves me, when I didn’t say it back… she told me to work out what I want and that I can’t just say it anymore because it wouldn’t mean anything,” the person explains what his problem is to me.  
“Do something romantic and say it,” I inform him because that’s how I did it with all of my wives, and it works.  
“Like what?”  
“Take her to a romantic restaurants, or on a picnic and say it.”  
“How?”  
“Romantically. Plan it properly,” I inform him.  
“Right… Thank you boss,” the person say with a smile before turning to leave.  
“Tony… don’t mention what you walked in on.”  
“Yes, Boss,” he says with a grin before running upstairs. I shake my head, why did Tony come to me? I have more failed relationships than anyone else… I pick up my sander to work on the boat knowing the mood is gone know, and Alice is probably found something else to do tonight.  
.  
Alice pov  
.  
I am still brushing Ugly Tony’s hair when regular ugly Tony comes up from the basement, making my blush flare up again.  
“So Alice, couldn’t wait to lock the door?” Tony tease me as he walks over and leads against the doorway into the lounge room. I hide my face into Ugly Tony’s hair, because of the blush making Tony laugh at me. He continues, “I wouldn’t have taken you for someone to get in on outside of the bedroom.”  
“Tony,” I complain.  
“I thought Kate taught you better then that… always make sure the door is locked so that no one can come in and have a free show.”  
“Tony…”  
“Gotta asks, what gets you off about the basement that you’re willing to have sex in it?” Tony teases me with a smirk but when I don’t answer, he continues, “You don it anywhere else?”  
“Tony,” I whine, why does he have to be a child about this? Why hasn’t he left yet?  
“You have… where?”  
“Anthony.”  
“Oh, it’s really embarrassing if your turning to my full first name.”  
“Please, stop,” I beg of him.  
“Fine… I’ll stop… for now,” Tony promise me before leaving.  
I blink at where Tony just was... this isn’t over yet and I am not looking forward to work on Monday. I’m just glade we’re not working this weekend because then I’ll have to hear now.  
I put my dog on the ground before I stand up and walk to the stairs up to the bedroom and bathrooms. I walk upstairs into the bedroom I share with Gibbs, I grab my sleepwear and move into the bathroom to get clean. I strip out of Gibbs shirt, jeans and my nickers before turning on the hot water so that I can warm the water up. Once the water is to the correct temperature before I step into the shower. I grab the moisturizing shampoo and put a big glob onto my hand. I begin rubbing the shampoo into my hair, starting at the top and working down the length of my hair. I begin to scrub my scalp making the shampoo become bubbly. Once I am happy that my hair is clean I wash the shampoo out, I then the matching conditioner and put a glob into my hand. I rub the conditioner into my hair, and then I pick up the hairbrush I keep in the shower. I use the brush conditioner through my hair, unknotting it. I twist my hair up into a bun like thing on top of my head and grab the soap. I begin to soap my body up, starting with my face, then my neck. I soap my shoulders and arms before doing my chest, running my hands over my chest washing them. Next I wash my feet and legs before grabbing a cloth that I put soap onto to wash my private areas.  
Once I am completely soaped up, I step under the water and wash the soap off, and then the conditioner out of my hair. I pick up the brush and brush my hair again. Once I am sure that all the soap and conditioner is off my body, I turn the water off and grab my towel. I dry myself with the towel before wrapping it around myself, tucking it back into itself. I step out of the shower and over to the hand basement. I open the cupboard and grab my toothbrush and toothpaste. I put the toothpaste on the toothbrush and wet my toothbrush before cleaning my teeth. Once my teeth are clean, I rinse my mouth and put the toothpaste and toothbrush away. I get dressed then and head to bed for the night, knowing that Gibbs will join me when he’s done with the boat for the night.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, baby… how are you at softball?” Gibbs asks me out of the blue the next morning as I make coffee in the kitchen.  
“Umm… what?” I ask him in confusion, where did that come from?  
“Do you know how to play softball?”  
“No… why?”  
“NCIS have a softball competition is coming up. Agents verse techs… Abby signed us up.”  
“Why?”  
“It’s Abby.”  
“No, I don’t know who to play… never had to learn.”  
“I’ll just have to teach you. Can’t lose to the techs… never doing that again.”  
“When did you lose to the techs?”  
“Mike’s last game, we lost to the techs,” Gibbs explains making me blink.  
“It’s been going on that long?”   
“Mm-hmm.”  
“How good of a teacher are you? I can’t hit a ball with a barn, let alone a little bat,” I warn him making Gibbs chuckle at me.  
“It’ll teach you,” Gibbs promise me as I finish making my coffee and move over to sit next to him on the couch.  
“Better.”  
“What’s your plan for today?”   
“I was going to get my… haircut,” I admit softly, I haven’t had a haircut since before Kate died. I take a sip of my coffee but Gibbs steals it to drink some himself.  
“Really?” Gibbs asks me in surprise as I take my coffee back to drink more.  
“Mm-hmm,” I admit softly.  
“We’ll go to the batting cages tomorrow, and I’ll teach you,” Gibbs promise me.  
“Don’t be surprised if I accidently throw the bat. Or hit you.”  
“I won’t be surprised.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I walk home from the hairdressers, and stop to get pizza for dinner. I carry the pizza down into the basement to see him angrily hanging up his phone.  
“Problems?” I ask him as I hand him his coffee and place the pizza on the work bench making me blush at what happened just last night on this bench.  
“No,” Gibbs answers me as he takes a piece of pizza and places an arm around my shoulder, just holding me.  
“Okay… you know you can tell me anything right?” I remind him as I grab my own piece of pizza.  
“Of course,” Gibbs answers me around a mouthful of pizza. We silently eat our pizza, enjoying each-others company. Once dinner is finished Gibbs returns to the boat as I clean up the mess of the pizza and coffee cups. Once the rubbish is in the bin I grab the broom to clean the dusty floor. I continue to sweep the dust into a pile when I begin start gasping for air, releasing I can’t get a breath in. I drop the broom onto the ground and grab my chest that feels tight. Gibbs looks up from his sanding to see me gasping for air but I can’t get any in.   
“Alice… Baby what’s wrong?” Gibbs asks me as he drops the sander onto the workbench, stirring up more dirt.  
“Can’t breathe,” I gasp out as he places his hand on my back.  
“Baby, where’s your inhaler?”   
“In my backpack…”  
“Where’s your backpack?”  
“Door,” I gasp out making Gibbs node before running upstairs to my backpack. I grab the rib of his boat to hold myself up. I continue to gasp for air, it feels like Gibbs has been gone for hours. He returns and hands me the puffer, I shake it and put it in my mouth. I empty my lungs before breathing in as I compress the end of the puffer. I suck in all the medicine and then take the inhaler out of my mouth while continuing to breath in for five seconds. I slow breath, getting my breath back.  
“Are you alright baby?” Gibbs ask me as he rubs my back.  
“Mmm-hmm,” I hum while trying to ignore the quick beating of my heart and the fear I feel from that.  
“Come on,” Gibbs says as he leads me out of the dusty basement.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I wake up the next morning knowing that Gibbs what’s to teach me today. I get out of the bed and use the bathroom. I get dressed into another USMC sweatshirt and jeans. I sit down on the bed to put my shoes on as Gibbs walks into the room. He grabs his clothes and walk into the bathroom to get dressed. When he walks out of the bathroom he is wearing a red sweat shirt with a hoody and a pair of grey sweat pants with his creamy steel-cap boots.  
I walk into the bathroom and brush my teeth. I brush my hair out and grab a couple of hair ties.  
“Jethro, can you do my hair?” I ask him as I hold out the hairbrush and ties with puppy dog eyes making Gibbs laugh at me.  
“Fine. Get a second tie,” Gibbs orders me happily making me smile as I bounce back into the bathroom and get a second one. I hand it to Gibbs before sitting on the edge of the bed. Gibbs begin to braid my hair. First he splits my hair into two halves, he takes one half and starts at the top and grabs three parts and begin to braid it. He braids each half, once he is done my braids end up below the bottom of my ass but I like the look.  
“Thank you, Jethro,” I exclaim as I place a kiss on his check.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, you said you couldn’t teach me,” Mann exclaims happily before we can walk into the batting cages, making me blink… when did she ask Gibbs to teach her? Is that why he really wanted to come here? Not to teach me.  
“I’m not,” Gibbs answers her without hesitation.   
“Jethro, why else would you be here but to help me? I do need you to teach me how to play softball,” Mann exclaims as she places her hands on MY boyfriend.  
“I’m here to teach my girlfriend softball.”  
“What does she have that I don’t?” Mann demands as she glares at me while moving away from Gibbs.  
“Um… Jethro? Self-respected? Red-hair?” I offer for her making the glare get bigger and deeper. I can’t help myself, “You keep glaring and people will mistake you for the grouch… or an old man.”  
After I said this Mann glares at me with a huff and storms away making me blink, I have another enemy because I wouldn’t let her steal my boyfriend… I am glade she didn’t drop around to Gibbs house last night because I think that would make my life worse with this thing.


	53. Grace Period

“The secret is to keep front shoulder in as long as possible. Both eyes stay level on the pitcher. Weight is back, and you track the ball… and you wait. It’s all about concentration,” Gibs informs me. He is standing in the batting cage without a helmet. I am standing on the other side of the batting cage so that I can’t be hit by a ball. As he explains this to me he takes a couple of practise swings. Then a ball comes haltering towards Gibbs who swings and hits it. The next several balls he also hits without missing one.  
“You know your cute ass is on display when you hit the balls,” I inform Gibbs making him miss a ball, resulting in me laughing at him. I feel bad so I say, “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to ruin your concentration. Just thought you had a right to know.”  
“No. it was a lousy pitch,” Gibbs promise me making me node.  
“Still sorry… wrong time to tell you.”  
“Like that ever stopped you.”  
“True.”  
“Come on, in to the cage,” Gibbs orders me making me pout as I grab the helmet Gibbs got me. I put it on before walking into the cage. I walk over to Gibbs who wraps his arms around me, showing me how to hold the bat… he explains as he goes, “This end here. It goes up.”  
“Thanks. I thought you might hit it with the little end.”  
“All right… you can try that but it doesn’t work… inside of our feet shoulder-width apart. Slightly bend the knees. Hands together, knuckles lined up,” Gibbs orders me as he kicks my feet into place and sitting me up to hit the balls.  
“Do you teach everyone, everything this way? Seems like how I learnt to sand a boat too,” I state.  
“Yeah. Fast or slow?”  
“Which one is easier to hit?”  
“Okay, slow it is,” Gibbs says as he sets the ball pitchers speed before moving over and leaning on the fence behind me, still out of the way of any balls I’ll miss. The first ball flies out and hits the fence behind me. “Alice, you’ve got to swing to hit it.”  
“Right,” I mumble as I watch the balls coming towards me and I swing hitting the first ball. The next ball I swing for and miss. I miss the next four or five balls, but I hit the one after that… with my fingers on the grip making me drop the bat in pain.  
“Alice, are you alright?” Gibbs asks me as he moves over to me while turning the machine off and grabs my hands.  
“That hurts,” I hiss because my right hand fingers really hurt and are already swelling.  
“Sorry baby. I didn’t think you get hit by a ball,” Gibbs mumbles as he checks my hands but I rip my hands away from him when he touches my fingers.  
“Ow,” I hiss in pain making Gibbs place a kiss on the top of my head.  
“Sorry baby… let’s put some ice on that,” Gibbs whispers to me as his phone begins ringing. He answers it while leading me away, “Yeah, Gibbs… Yeah, I’ll be right there.”  
“Whose dead?” I ask Gibbs when he loses all his colour in his face and I know that look in his eyes. I saw it when Kate died and when Pacci dead… I hope to never have to see it again but I know I will. I just hope who died didn’t suffer, no plague or torture. Just a quick, humanin death.  
“Two of Cassidy’s people,” Gibbs informs me as we walk past Mann who is batting without any trouble. He leads me into the office where he gets an ice pack for my hand. We then walk out to the car and drive to NCIS.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Her men weren’t so lucky,” Ziva informs Tony in the squad room as we arrive. Ziva is wearing Roy’s running hat, a green off the shoulder shirt and a dark purple singlet. McGee is wearing his normal suit. Tony looks like a normal person for a change. Gibbs has changed into a set of jean but besides that he is in his weekend clothing, he only changed his pants because it’s not a good idea to wear sweat pants at a crime scene.  
“That’s what we’re going to find out, DiNozzo. Grab your gear,” Gibbs orders them but they don’t move making Gibbs yell, “Grab your gear!”  
“This is going to be a long case,” I whisper to them as I attempted to ignore my swollen fingers. I whisper to the bodies, “He’s being as grumpy as when Pacci or Kate died… behave or he is going to kill you.”  
“Thanks for the warning,” Tony whispers back as we walk towards the elevator.  
“McGee spread the warning around. Ziva, Abby, Ducky and I suppose Jimmy,” I beg of him making him node.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Flags of Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. What type of store was this?” Ziva asks in the retail store where the two NCIS agents met their ends. We are All wearing out NCIS jackets and hats.  
“McGee’s working on it, Ziva,” I inform her without looking around too much, this site reminds me of when I almost lost Gibbs.  
“Their deaths were almost immediate, if that’s any consolation, Jethro,” Ducky informs us making me node, that is better than them suffering but better if they didn’t die at all.  
“No, it’s not, Ducky,” Gibbs snaps at him angrily.   
“No, it never it. All our agents’ wounds appear to have been caused by shrapnel. Specifically, ball bearings and nails. The hallmark of a homemade device.”  
“All emanating from this central point of the floor,” Ziva comments ass he finds the begin of the death.  
“This man appears to literally have been at the heart of the explosion.”  
“He was sitting on the bomb?” Tony asks him because that’s how it happened last time.  
“He was the bomb, DiNozzo,” Gibbs corrects him making Tony look at me because he didn’t believe that I was telling the truth of Gibbs mood.  
“IT’s electrical wiring,” Ziva informs us what she found on the ground.  
“Explosive amputation of legs, arms, and head,” Ducky comments.  
“A suicide bomber,” Tony releases.  
“I don’t suppose any of you have seen the head?”   
“Still looking for it, Ducky. Judging by the holes in the ceiling, I may have to try the roof next,” Ziva reports.  
“Why blow yourself up in an empty store?” Tony asks us.  
“It wasn’t empty, Tony,” Cassidy and I remind him together. I say it more as a reminder because I am tired of Tony’s idiot moments while Cassidy snaps it at him protecting her dead team.  
“She insisted on being part of the investigation. I talked to the landlord. He said he’d just rented this place to a non-profile group. He’s puling the paperwork, calling them now,” McGee reports after a moment of silence as we all stare at Cassidy.  
“Cassidy, go outside. You don’t need to see this, or work this case. Trust me, this wouldn’t help you grieve them, it makes it harder. I speak from experience,” I say to her as I attempted to get her out of the crime scene of her team.  
“It’s my fault! It’s my fault!” Cassidy cries without letting me lead her out of the crime scene.  
“It’s not your fault, Paula,” Tony promise her as he pulls her into a hug.  
“You weren’t here, Tony! I killed my team.”  
“Cassidy, outside, outside. Take it outside. DiNozzo, find me that missing head!” Gibbs orders Tony and Cassidy as I lead Cassidy outside. Gibbs walks with us, leaving his team to find the missing body bits. I lead Cassidy into the NCIS van, and climb in with her and Gibbs follows me. We all sit down, for once I sit with Cassidy and hold her. No one deserves to lose their whole team in on second, or even one agent hurts.  
“I don’t need a lecture right now, Gibbs. I really don’t,” Cassidy cries making me pull her into a hug.  
“I’m just bringing you this,” Gibbs informs her as he hands her a tissue, and sits on the edge of a box.  
“Thanks,” Cassidy says as she wipes her eyes.  
“Tell us about the phone call to the tip line this morning,” I ask her softly.  
“Anonymous. Just a guy saying he had info on a potential terrorist attack.”  
“Did he name the target?” Gibbs asks her.  
“No, but it was obvious it’s us! Oh, I should have gone in with those guys.”  
“Yeah sure… what’s another body for us to info the families about… be smarter Cassidy,” I state.  
“It was an ambush. There’s nothing you could have done,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Would you feel the same way if it was your own team?” Cassidy asks Gibbs.  
“Yes, I would.”  
“I have a tough time believing that, Gibbs.”  
“Cassidy he’s been blown up four times… he’s not going near anymore bombs,” I inform her without care about Gibbs’ feelings being hurt.  
“Yeah, well the difference, Paula, is I wouldn’t stop to grieve until I put the bastards responsible for this in the ground. What about you?” Gibbs informs her making me think about all the times he did do that… Pucci, Kate, Shannon and Kelly. God only knows how many other times. I let Cassidy go to get herself back together as I follow Gibbs out of the van.  
“Are you alright, Jethro?” I ask him as we walk towards the building.  
“I’m fine.”  
“Jethro, don’t bite everyone’s head off. We’re going our best, we just don’t have much yet,” I beg of him as I place my hand on his arm making him glare at me but I just look at him.  
“I’ll try,” Gibbs finally says.  
“That’s all I ask… we’re hurting too. This is personal for ever NCIS agent. McGee know the victims,” I remind him as I allow him to continue to walk towards the retail space.  
“He was a good friend of mine. I hate seeing him like this. It’s almost like,” McGee talks to Ducky in the room as we enter.  
“It could have been you,” Ducky exclaims in fear.  
“It almost was, McGee. We were supposed to work the hotline this weekend,” Gibbs informs them.  
“Boss, you’re serous about that?” Tony asks Gibbs in surprise because he didn’t know that.  
“What happened here?” Walid one of two men, shouts as he walks into our crime scene.  
“Hang on! Hey! Calm down! Who are you?” I demand of him in confusion, this an active crime scene.  
“We work here,” Walid explains to me.  
“For the Muslim coalition for peace,” Jamal, the other man, informs us.  
“Yazeed, was he… was he in here?”  
“We were supposed to help him pant this afternoon.”  
“I found it!” Ziva exclaims as she drops the head onto the ground.  
“Allah, preserve us,” Walid exclaims in Arabic.  
“Do you recognize him?” Gibbs asks them.  
“Yazeed Fahad, our chapter president,” Jamal informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You are not listening to me, Agent Gibbs. Yazeed Fahad was a man of peace!” Walid exclaims in the integration room. We have all taken our NCIS jackets and hats off know we aren’t at the crime scene.  
“HE condemned suicide bombers as cowards, against of evil,” Jamal adds, for once Gibbs has both suspects in on integration room.  
“And now you wish us to believe that he was one?”  
“He was wearing the bomb,” Ziva states as she passes behind two males.  
“Then he was forced to put it on!”  
“By who?” Gibbs demands from beside me as we sit across from the men.  
“Timing was not a coincidence,” Jamal informs us.  
“Yazeed organized a meeting with both Shia and Sunni religious leader for this Friday,” Walid informs us what Jamal means.  
“Clerics and holy men from five different Arab countries will be in attendance.”  
“All of them prepared to issue Fatwas condemning the sectarian violence in Iraq.”  
“Their words could save thousands of lives.”  
“How many will attend if they find the man who planned it was a suicide bomber?”  
“Where were you this afternoon when your president was blowing himself and our agents up?” I demand of him.  
“Lunch. Together,” Jamal informs us.  
“Where?” Ziva demands of him.  
“We don’t have to answer these questions. We’re not criminals!” Walid exclaims.  
“Well, I think you should both get a good lawyer,” Gibbs gives him some sound advice.  
“But we did nothing to…”  
“Grace Street Diner. We were there between one and two-thirty,” Jamal informs us before turning to Walid and informing him, “They’re only doing their jobs, Abdul. When they do, they’ll see that Yazeed was innocent.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’m not even going to ask,” Gibbs comments from where he is leaning against the door into the lab with a caf-pow, his comment is because Abby is squatting over McGee with all their limbs intertwined. Cassidy is with us because she wants to know what is going on and wouldn’t take no for an answer.  
“Um, technically that was a squatting hug, or a ‘squg,’ if you will. But I digress,” Abby defends her hug as she stands up.  
“Yeah, big time,” I agree with her as Gibbs hands Abby the caf-pow and offers his hand to McGee. When McGee takes the hand, Gibbs pulls him to his feet.  
“I have some paperwork to do,” McGee exclaims as he escapes the lab.  
“What have we got?” Gibbs asks Abby.  
“I analysed and compared the two tip-line calls, the one from this morning and the one that Agent Cassidy got on site. Same caller both times, and I’m assuming that it’s this guy. Yazeed Fahad,” Abby informs us as she moves over to her computer and pulls up the information she has found.  
“Can you tell us something we don’t know, Abby?” Cassidy snaps at her.  
“Ah okay, how about this. He was in the navy, and he was honourably discharged in two thousand four.”  
“Our suicide bomber was a sailor?”  
“I wouldn’t be too quick to rush to judgement on that Agent Cassidy. Jethro, could you come down here? There’s something you really must see,” Ducky informs us when his face appears on the video phone.  
“On our way, dad,” I promise him before I hang up the call and asks Abby, “Do you have anything else?”  
“Not at the moment,” Abby answers me.  
“Thank you,” I say before leaving with Gibbs and Cassidy into the elevator.  
The elevator ride is silent, not a sound to be heard and I feel like we’re taking a ride to our deaths. I can’t help comparing this case to Kate and Pacci’s case, then I feel bad about not seeing these victims as an individuals but as a collective group of dead agents.  
We walk out of the elevator and into autopsy where Ducky has Yazeed head on a table in front of him with the brain exposed.  
“It appears we have a bit of a mystery. I’m not entirely certain how our guest died,” Ducky informs us.  
“Well, it’s kind of obvious, Duck,” Gibbs snaps as he points to the head and then the body across the room.  
“Yes, if I base the results solely on the damage to his body. Fortunately we have this miraculously preserved head. The rate of decay of his brain tissue doesn’t even come close to the time of the explosion.”  
“I saw that guy walk through the door, Ducky,” Cassidy tightly reminds him.  
“Well, Agent Cassidy, I don’t see how that’s possible. Our suicide bomber was dead at least one day before his bomb went off.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Are you okay?” Gibbs asks Shepard when we enter her office tonight to see her sitting completely still, I’m not even sure she is breathing. Gibbs stands next to the door watching out the window with his hands in his NCIS windbreaker.   
“I just got off the phone with Amy, Special Agent James Nelson’s bride of two months. Correction. Widow. Now I have to call Tom and Mary Hall. I don’t like making these calls, Jethro,” Shepard complains.  
“No C.O. does, Jen.”  
“I know, but…”  
“What?”  
“This isn’t Iraq or Afghanistan. My people are not supposed to be killed by suicide bombers here,” Shepard complains making me think of Kate, she wasn’t supposed to be killed by a terrorist, yet Ari killed her. No one is meant to be killed by terrorists here.  
“No, but they were, madam director. And it’ll happen again if you stand around here feeling sorry for yourself. Because you have to make a couple hard calls,” I inform her angrily, this isn’t the time to complain about her job.  
“I am not feeling sorry for myself, Agent Todd. I’m feeling sorry for the agents and their families. But you’re right. I have a call to make and you have a terrorist to kill,” Shepard orders us. After a long moment she corrects herself, “Catch.”  
“BY the way, Ducky says the bomber was dead at least a day before he blew himself up. You might want to give that some thought,” Gibbs informs her as he leads me out of the room.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Swabbed his apartment. Not a trace of explosives. He was a former sailor. president of the Muslim Society for Promoting Peace. Tony checked out his friends. Their alibi holds up. They were at a restaurant when,” Ziva recites what we know in the squad room the next morning. Ziva is wearing a white shirt under a green overshirt. Tony is wearing a green button down shirt under a black jacket. I am wearing a red singlet under Gibbs cream jacket with the black collar, and jeans. My hair is still in the braids that Gibbs put in yesterday.  
“You going to make a point soon?” Cassidy overlaps Ziva.  
“Yes. Who did you see entering the building yesterday, Cassidy?”  
“I’m not convinced that it wasn’t this guy. I mean, how do we know that Ducky wasn’t a mistake?”  
“Tony?”  
“Because Cassidy, my father doesn’t work for the FBI, we don’t make mistakes,” I inform her.  
“Because Ducky doesn’t make mistakes, Paula,” Tony overlaps me.  
“Which means that what you saw yesterday was, by definition, mistaken,” Ziva informs Cassidy.  
“Look, even if he did die the day before, it doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved. Right… Tony?” Cassidy exclaims hysterically and turns to Tony.  
“She does have a valid point, Ziva,” Tony agrees as he turns to his work partner.  
“And we don’t even know what his cause of death is. I mean, for all we know he could have committed suicide.”  
“A suicide bomber who commits suicide before bombing? I mean,” Ziva exclaims before stopping to think of how to say it. She continues, “That doesn’t make any sense!”  
“No, it doesn’t! but it does raise an interesting point. Imagine, if you will, ladies, an assisted suicide of a suicide bomber who suicided before his suicide bombing. It’s kind of like how many chucks would a woodchuck chuck-chuck if a woodchuck could chick wood,” Tony exclaims resulting him a smack to the back of the head from Gibbs who just entered the room.  
“DiNozzo! What the hell is wrong with you?” Gibbs demands of his idiot. Gibbs is wearing a white shirt under a brown shirt and a dark grey jacket.  
“I am just trying to lighten the mood of the room a little bit, boss.”  
“I got a better way. Leave. And take her with you,” Gibbs orders Tony as he points to Cassidy.  
“That works for me,” Ziva and I say together,  
“That works for me, too, Todds, David,” Cassidy says while mispronouncing both of our last names.  
“Dah-ved,” Ziva corrects her while I ignore it because she had to try really hard to get my last name wrong.  
“Re-evaluate the crime scene. Do not come back until you figure out how the guy she saw got out before the explosion!” Gibbs orders them making Tony and Cassidy leave. Gibbs turns to Ziva and demands, “Are you getting soft on me, officer David?”  
“Look, I know what she’s going through. Sometimes you need to find something or someone to focus your anger on. It’s your only relief,” Ziva defends herself.  
“Of course, the drawback is, you know, that they tend to hate you for life,” I remind her.  
“If it helps her get through it, I can live with that,” Ziva states as she gives me a look because I used to hate her when Kate died but my real hate belongs to Shepard… Mann is adding herself to that hate list but for a different reason, nothing to do with Kate. Gibbs nodes with her in understanding.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The NCIS tip line received two calls on Sunday. If Yazeed didn’t make them, one wonders who did,” Abby comments in the lab while working on the calls. We’re all standing around the computer. The order is right to left, Gibbs, me, Abby, Ziva, McGee.  
“Whoever set up Cassidy’s team, Abby,” McGee reminds her.  
“Yeah. It’s a rhetorical question. McGee. Just… just work with me here. The NCIS phone logs show that both calls came from the same disposable cell phone.”  
“Are you going to tell me who, Abby?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Well, no, but a third call was received by the tip line on Friday, two days before. It’s an exact voice match to the calls that came in on Sunday,” Abby informs us before playing the recording.  
‘I must speak with an NCIS Special Agent,’ the caller says on the recording.  
‘What is this regarding, sir?’ the operator asks.  
‘About someone I work with, he is a…’  
‘He’s what, sir?’  
‘I can’t… I can’t talk now. I’ll call back.’  
“This one we can trace. It was logged from a company in Annandale, Virginia. Kertek Computing. They make software for disabled people,” Abby informs us.  
“That’s where Yazeed works,” McGee stats.  
“Worked, McGee. Before he got himself all blown up.”  
“Boss, if we can get samples of their employees’ voices, we can match it to our caller,” McGee offers to Gibbs.  
“That’s good work, Abby. Not bad yourself, Elf Lord,” Gibbs complements his team members.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yazeed is dead. You are sure of this?” Selom asks is at the office of Kertek Computing where we are talking to him.  
“Very,” Ziva answers him.  
“How did this happen?”  
“Cause of death is still being determined,” I state.  
“So you believe he was murdered?”   
“What makes you think that?” Ziva asks him.  
“Four federal agents in my office may have something to do with it.”  
“Mister Abu Selom, what did Yazeed do here at your company?” McGee asks him.  
“He was an instructor. He taught several courses on how to best utilize our software.”  
“We’re going to need to speak to each one of your employees,” Gibbs informs him.  
“As well as check out Yazeed’s office and any computers he had access to,” McGee adds.  
“Do you have a warrant?” Selom demands of us.  
“We can get one soon enough,” I promise him.  
“Maybe you won’t need one if you just tell me why Yazeed is dead, Agent Gibbs.”  
“Did you watch the news lately?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Yesterday, right about this time?” Ziva adds.  
“The policemen who were killed by the suicide bomb?” Selom asks making me clench my fist… couldn’t the news get it right just once, about whose life is gone.  
“They weren’t police officers. They were NCIS special agents,” McGee snaps at him.  
“That’s us,” Gibbs adds while nodding to us agents in the room.  
“Yazeed Fahad… he was the bomber,” Ziva informs him.  
“Oh, no! no!” Selom sighs before informing us, “You can talk to whoever you like.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Sorry guys. None of these voices match out caller. Are you sure this was every male employee?” Abby asks us in the lab after Gibbs and me recorded all the workers.  
“Yes… all the living ones,” I answer her.  
“All but one, Abby. Yazeed Fahad,” Ziva overlaps me.  
“Who couldn’t have made any calls because he was dead at the time,” McGee reminds her.  
“We don’t have a voice sample of him anyway,” Abby complains.  
“Yes, we do. This is one of his training DVDs,” Ziva informs Abby as she hands over a DVD. Abby gets to work on the DVD meaning we have to wait. I walk over and lean again Gibbs who holds me, waiting for Abby to finish working on it.  
“I’m bored, Jethro,” I whine to him after half an hour of waiting making Gibbs give me a look.  
“All right, are you guys ready to give this a shot?” Abby asks us.  
“Thirty minutes ago, Abs,” Gibbs informs her as he walks over with me.  
“We had to compress the DVD audio to match the quality of the original phone calls to make an accurate,” McGee begins to explain.  
“Come on, McGee. Will you just do it?” Gibbs demands of him while cutting him off in the rambling.  
“I’m doing it.”  
“Oaky, Yazeed’s DVD audio is on the top and the caller’s is on the bottom. We have eight key words from each sound tracks,” Abby rambles.  
“And if Ducky was right about Yazeed’s time of death…”  
“This has been a while lot of work for nothing. Okay…”  
‘And… meet… people… invisible… listen… close… suspect… back,’ Yazeed’s voice comes out of the speakers on Abby’s computer.  
“That’s an exact match. Yazeed made the phone call,” McGee exclaims in surprise.  
“But how is that possible?” Ziva asks what we’re all thinking.  
“I never thought I’d say this, but Ducky was wrong,” Abby exclaims.  
“Wash your mouth out with soap,” I exclaim, my father is not wrong.  
“Yazeed was still alive when Cassidy’s team walked into that building,” Gibbs exclaims making me give him a look, my father is not wrong… the evidence is wrong…  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Evidence cannot tell you two completely contradictory things at the same time, McGee,” Ziva complains in the squad room.  
“No, it can’t. except when it does,” McGee agrees with her.  
“It doesn’t make any sense.”  
“Or perhaps you need a fresh pair of eyes. What do you have so far?” Shepard asks us as she walks into the squad room.  
“Yazeed Fahad, a former American sailor, called our tip line to warn of a pending terrorist attack. Yazeed said to meet here, a building with only one way of getting in or out,” Ziva reports to Shepard as she puts the photo of the crime scene building up on the plasma between Tony and McGee’s desks.  
“Agent Hall and Nelson followed him into the building,” McGee adds.  
“Both of them died seconds later when someone activates the suicide vest around the dead man,” I inform Shepard while making sure to comment on Yazeed’s death.  
“Both of them died seconds later when Yazeed activates his suicide vest,” Ziva overlaps me while ignoring the main point that I made.  
“According to Ducky, he had been dead for a day,” Shepard says in confusion.  
“How can that be?” McGee asks her in confusion.  
“Well, you can blow up a dead man, McGee.”  
“True, but Abby has proof Yazeed was talking to Cassidy seconds before the explosion,” Ziva reminds us.  
“Someone mimicking his voice?”   
“Audio forensics says it’s an exact match,” McGee informs her.  
“And there’s no other way out of the building?”  
“Only in a body bag,” I inform her.  
“No. we covered every inch of it,” Ziva reports overlapping my report.  
“He’s like Schrodinger’s cat. Alive and dead at the same time. Existing in a superposition. It’s quantum physics theory,” McGee explains.  
“When faced with a situation like this, the solution’s obvious,” Shepard states.  
“Well, one of them is wrong,” Gibbs states.  
“Abby’s wrong,” I overlap Gibbs making Shepard give us a look.  
“I was going to use the term mistaken, but yes,” Shepard agrees with us.  
“So we have to choose between Abby and Ducky?” McGee asks us.  
“I’d rather be McGee’s cat,” Ziva exclaims.  
“So which one are you leaning towards?” Shepard asks Gibbs.  
“Neither. My money’s on DiNozzo,” Gibbs answers her like that’s the most normal answer.  
“I win a lot of money betting against Tony,” I remind Gibbs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ah, Mister Palmer. Did you manage to,” Ducky rambles as we walk into autopsy only to see Jimmy’s not here and he must think we’re Jimmy. He turns and sees us, releasing that it’s not Jimmy stops talking about what ever he needs Jimmy for.  
“Did you want to see us, Duck?” Gibbs asks him as we walk over to Ducky who is looking at Yazeed’s brain again.  
“Did you pass Mister Palmer on your way down here?”   
“Nope,” I answer him.  
“I swear, every time I turn my back these days, that young man is running off somewhere.”  
“Well, you should try smacking him on the back of his head. It did wonders for DiNozzo and McGee,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Yeah, brain dead,” I agree with Gibbs making him give me a look.  
“Well, I did. Mister Palmer seemed to enjoy it,” Ducky informs us making me pull a face, I didn’t need to know that about the autopsy gremlin.  
“Ha-ha. I’ll remember that,” Ziva laughs.  
“I apologize for the delay in determining the exact cause of Yazeed’s death, but the bomb didn’t leave us much to work with. Thankfully his brain survived relatively unscathed. My first clue was the massive accumulation of lactic acid in its cells. This normally occurs when the brain is forced to obtain energy by anaerobic glycolysis,” Ducky rambles.  
“Yeah, naturally, Duck,” Gibbs remarks wryly, not understanding what Ducky is rambling about any more than anyone.  
“I had a series of CAT scans done to confirm my suspicions. These dark areas show the most brain damage, all areas associated wit rapid and sudden loss of oxygen.”  
“He was suffocated,” Ziva release what Ducky is trying to say.  
“Yes.”  
“Do you have enough left to tell us how?” I ask him.  
“Oh, yes. Yazeed was suffocated with a silicone based substance that was forced into his mouth and nose, allowed to harden, and then removed. Whoever did it was probably trying to make a mask of his face. Anny says it’s latex.”  
“Abby also says you’re wrong,” Ziva informs him.  
“SO I’ve heard. Only I’m afraid it’s the only way around. This man was dead long before his bomb went off. I’d stake my career on it.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Well, Ducky is still saying that Yazeed was dead when the bomb went off, and Abby is saying he was alive,” McGee comments in the squad room when we arrived in the lab.  
“What did Gibbs say?” Tony asks them because he doesn’t know we have entered the room.  
“Where the hell you been, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of him in answer.  
“Solving the mystery of the vanishing dirtbag, boss.”  
“Yeah, well it took you long enough.”  
“He found a secret passageway into he store next to it. It was actually quite impressive,” Cassidy informs us.  
“It turns out both places were part of a magic joke shop that closed down about twenty years ago,” Tony adds.  
“So I was right. You didn’t see Yazeed enter the building,” Ziva exclaims happily.  
“That you for pointing that out… officer David,” Cassidy says while mispronouncing Ziva’s last name… which is a good reason just to call Ziva, bitch. No way to mispronounce it.  
“David!” Ziva snaps at Cassidy.  
“Bitch, don’t… Cassidy never learns, I’ve tried teaching her to beg and she only begs for Tony’s… prize,” I inform Ziva making Cassidy glare at me fore the comment on her sexual relationship with Tony in the pasted.  
“Now, Alice let’s not go there… remember I have something you don’t want the team to know. But I have to ask, what does it feel like when your boss orders you around in the bedroom? Does it get you off when he orders his team around?” Tony whispers in my ear, stopping me from having another go at Cassidy while a blush spreads across my cheeks again. “But now we know we’re looking for another man, and we’re hoping… praying… you can pull a print off that,” Tony begs of Abby while pointing to the broken glasses he found, hoping to get it off of my comment.  
“If there is a print, if there is a fibre, if there is a drop of dried sweat, I will find it,” Abby promise him.  
“Not bad,” Gibbs complements the two agents before grabbing my hand and leading me into the elevator with Tony following us.  
“Uh, boss? I’ve got a question for you. That thing you said yesterday. We were really supposed to have the weekend duty Cassidy’s team took?” Tony asks Gibbs.  
“Yep,” Gibbs answers him as we ride the elevator up.  
“How did we get out of that?”  
“I asked,” Gibbs answers him as the elevator doors open and I step out with him.  
“So that really could have been us.”  
“Tony, it could have been us every single day of the week… it was, and Kate died because of that fact,” I snap at him.  
“You want to worry about something, worry about tomorrow,” Gibbs orders her as the elevator shuts.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You alright, Jethro?” I ask Gibbs as I walk down the stairs into the basement to see him cleaning his gun which is something he does when he stressed and needs something to calm him down when the boat doesn’t work.  
“Find,” Gibbs answers me tightly without looking up from the gun.  
“Hungry?” I ask him as I hold at the Chinese food making him finally look up from the gun.  
“Chopsticks?” Gibbs demands making him hand him a set.  
“I don’t know how you can use them,” I comment as I pull out my own fork to eat my fried rice.  
“It’s easy… soy sauce.”  
“Please… say please or no soy sauce,” I order him as I hold the soy sauce out of his reach… Gibbs glares at me but I just wait while eating with my other hand.  
“Please,” Gibbs exclaims, drawling the word out like it’s poison.  
“See, it doesn’t kill you,” I exclaim as I had the sauce over making him give me a hurt look but I don’t mind.  
“Thanks, Alice,” Gibbs mumbles as he continue eat making me laugh at his discomfort at having to say please.  
“What am I going to do with you, old man?” I ask him with a little laugh.  
“Love me?”   
“I don’t have a choice about that one.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! We got a fingerprint match off the piece of mirrored sunglass lens that Cassidy and Tony found,” Abby exclaims as she runs up to Gibbs as we enter the squad room the next morning.  
“Salmar Umar. We interviewed him yesterday at Kertek Computing,” Ziva informs us.  
“I’ve got two full-s, a right index and a forefinger, and I’ve got a partial on the left thumb. I’ve also got his home address, and a couple of his uncles that lived in… be safe,” Abby rambles as we all rush off to the elevator… this bastard isn’t getting away. He is returning with us… in a body bag.  
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“Low and slow McGee. Take the rear exit. And don’t spook him. We take him alive. Find out if he’s working with anybody else. I don’t get an answer from you, Cassidy, I’ll take your weapon from you right now,” Gibbs orders us as we sneak up on the office.  
“Alice! Alive! I’ve got it. I’ve got it,” Cassidy overlaps Gibbs.  
“Oh, special Agent Gibbs. Has there been some development?” Selom asks us as we walk into his office.  
“We need to ask your employees a few more questions,” I inform him calmly.  
“You already cost me a full day’s work yesterday,” Selom exclaims as the back door slams, Salman enters the room and looks at Cassidy. He turns and runs when he releases we’re onto him.   
“Damn it!” I hiss before shouting “NCIS! Everyone get down!”  
“On the floor! Now!” Ziva shouts making the workers hit the deck. We chase Salman out into the cubicles. Salman ducks into a cubical and shots a handgun at Cassidy. Ziva and I hid behind a doorway, when Salman jumps up to shoot at Cassidy, we both step out and shot him. Gibbs and Cassidy also shot at him, ending the fire fight with a massive overkill on killing this piece of work.  
We all move over to him with our guns aimed on him, I kick the gun away to Cassidy while Ziva squats down and checks his pulse… he is dead.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“We had no choice. If we had not acted, he would have shot someone,” Ziva defends us once we have regrouped next to the body in the office.  
“We had a choice. I could have left her back at NCIS. He was carrying this. I want to know why,” Gibbs informs us before handing McGee the computer Salman had.  
“Yep,” McGee comments as he takes the computer to crack it. As I search Salman’s pockets to find a piece of paper. I pull it out and hand it to Ziva because I can’t read it.  
“It’s Arabic. Read it,” Gibbs orders Ziva… seems he’s going to be pissy until this case is over.  
“A covenant from Mecca, sponsored by the Muslim Coalition for Peace. The flyer for the conference on Friday. Do you think he was planning on attending?” Ziva asks Selom.  
“I doubt that, Officer David. Umar was quite vocal about his feeling towards Shiites. He used to argue quite a bit with Yazeed on how they were destroying Iraq,” Selom informs us.  
“Well, that would have been nice to have known that yesterday,” I complain.  
“People have a right to their own opinions, Agent Todd. His were usually ignorant and coloured by his own prejudice. Still, I can’t believe that he’d…”  
“He would kill over them?”  
‘Apple… toast… bicycle,’ a recorded voice comes out of the computer McGee is working on.  
“Boss, you should see this,” McGee calls us over to where he is working on the desk with the computer.  
‘Big… giraffe… Yankee… white… Holland…’  
“This is Umar’s. it sounds a lot like Yazeed Fahad’s voice,” McGee asks us.  
“Turn it up,” Gibbs orders McGee making him do it as the computer continues to play random words.  
‘Holland… black… display… results… oriented… finger… fish,’ Yazeed’s recorded voice continues but louder than before.  
“What the hell kind of program is that, McGee?” Cassidy demands of McGee overlapping the recording of Yazeed’s voice.  
“V.S. Twelve. It’s still in development. It’s a vocal simulation. It allows disabled people who can’t talk to converse in a natural-sounding voice,” Selom informs us.  
“It’s like Stephen Hawking. You type and the computer says the words,” McGee explains to us.  
“Yes, but ours uses a three-D model of the vocal chords to resonate the cavities in the head creating a lifelike sound. Umar was our main programmer.”  
“Would explain how Yazeed was making phone calls from the dead, right?” Ziva asks us.  
“But I don’t see how he would have done it. It would have required a CAT scan of Yazeed’s throat and mouth.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Umar was who you heard type-talking on the phone, Paula,” Tony informs Cassidy in the lab.  
“The guy that I say was not carrying a laptop and typing. I would have definitely noticed that,” Cassidy informs him angrily.  
“Means he wasn’t working alone,” Gibbs informs them as we sweep into the lab behind them.  
‘Hey, Gibbs. Why no Caf-Pow?’ Abby types into the program making Yazeed voice ask him that. Gibbs glares at her making her type again, ‘I’ll shut up now.’  
“Your team was set up, but they weren’t the target… they were the collateral to make it more realistic,” I inform Cassidy.  
“Yazeed was. They were trying to stop his Sunni-Shia peace conference,” Ziva informs Cassidy next.  
“By turning him into a suicide bomber?” Cassidy asks in confusion.  
“It almost worked, Paula,” Tony states.  
“But luckily for us, Yazeed lost his had… literally,” Ziva states.  
“Well, we don’t know that it didn’t work. At this point who’s going to show up to this thing?” Cassidy demands of us.  
“Oh, you’d be surprised, Cassidy,” Gibbs informs her.  
“This will just strengthen their resolve for this to happen,” I add.  
“We’re not the only one ho refuse to bow down to terrorism,” Ziva continues.  
“They’re going ahead with conference anyway?” McGee asks in surprise.  
“Now that we’ve cleared Yazeed,” Ziva agrees.  
“But we only got one of them. What if somebody else tries to stop it?” Abby asks her.  
“We kill them, Abby.”  
“We watch them. That’s the preferred term,” Tony corrects Ziva.   
“Bitch is right… they kill an NCIS agent, they return in a body bag,” I promise the universe and Cassidy as a whole.  
“I like theirs better,” Cassidy states while pointing to Ziva and myself.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’m sure the reassurance from you will encourage people to attend, director,” Jamal informs Shepard in her office as I enter with Gibbs.  
“This incident has only strengthened our resolve,” Walid says.  
“And made your peace conference a major target,” Gibbs states.  
“All the more reason for us not to back down, Agent Gibbs.”  
“That’s why we’re going to help,” I promise him.  
“I have contacted the FBI, and metro police, and they’ve agreed to increase security at your conference. I will also be assigning agents for protection of the senior clerics that will be attending the event,” Shepard informs them.  
“Bodyguard?” Walid asks us.  
“Where they go, we go,” Gibbs states.  
“Yazeed always spoke highly of his time in your navy. Now I can see why.”  
“We are in your debt,” Jamal informs us.  
“IF your event lessens or ends the insurgency in Iraq, it is us who are in your debt, gentlemen,” Shepard says.  
“Thank you for your support, Director.”  
“Thank you,” Walid agrees with him.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Sheik Abu Talid Yusef, the senior Sunni Cleric in attendance. He’s yours for the day, Tony. Shei Ali Bashir, the senior Shia cleric is Cassidy’s. and… the most senior cleric at the conference is Imam Abdul Al-Maliki,” Ziva orders Gibbs team about the protection details making me freeze for a moment, this sounds like Kate planning the protection of Gibbs from Ari. The men’s photos are on the plasma screen between McGee and Tony’s desk.  
“He’s mine. Ziva, Alice floats between all three, depending on the situation,” Gibbs orders us as we walk into the squad room together making me node.  
“The quickest way to stop the conference is to target one of these men.”  
“Well, we’re not going to let that happen,” I state as I grab the shell casing out of my desk… the case that killed Kate, I kept it and I am taking it with me today.  
“Boss, what about me?” McGee asks because we forgot about him.  
“Yeah, right. I almost forgot. Name of everyone attending. Run them down. Look for any links to terrorist groups,” Gibbs orders McGee as he takes a stack of papers out of the old fax machine behind his desk and hand them to McGee.  
“Um… there looks to be over three hundred names here and the conference starts in less than six hours,” McGee complains.  
“Yeah, well? Why are you still standing there, McGee?”  
“Right,” McGee mumbles as he moves back to his desk.  
“We pick them up at their hotel one hour before?” Ziva asks Gibbs in confusion as he grabs his gun and badge out of his desk.  
“No. A little change in plans. We pick them up now for a field trip. They want to hold a ceremony for Yazeed and Cassidy’s team,” Gibbs informs them.  
“What kind of ceremony?” Cassidy demands of him.  
“Memorial,” I answer her.  
“Where?” Tony asks.  
“Where they died,” Gibbs answer him as he hands Cassidy a set of car keys. We all grab our guns and badges before leaving to get this over with.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We arrive at the crime scene turned memorial location, Cassidy and Tony head into the bomb site while Ziva heads into the other shop. I stand on the street with Gibbs, watching all the people walk by not knowing how many people died and almost died in here just days ago.  
“Alice, are you alright?” Gibbs asks me as he comes to a stop beside me.  
“I don’t like bombs… they’re the work of cowards,” I state making Gibbs give me a look. I feel his finger on my neck before I feel the necklace I am wearing be pulled free from under my shirt, showing the bomb remnants that I wear around that almost killed Gibbs.  
“Because of this?”  
“It didn’t help.”  
“We’re catch him,” Gibbs promise me but I know that’s not the word he wants to use for this case.  
“I,” I begin but I stop as Cassidy storms out of the store making me ask her, “Cassidy are you alright?”  
“Fine,” Cassidy snaps at me making me blink, I didn’t do anything to her and she’s pissed.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Just how long is this supposed to take, boss?” Tony complains as we watch men carry tables into he store turned bomb site.  
“Longer than if you helped them set up, DiNozzo,” Gibbs mumbles before ordering us, “When this thing starts, I want you and Ziva out front, Ziva.”  
“What about me?” Cassidy demands of him.  
“I didn’t bring you here for security.”  
“Look, I know I screwed up at Kertek Computers…”  
“Then say a prayer for your team, Cassidy. We’ll take the heavy lifting on this one,” I overlap her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
This was Yazeed’s dream, to show the world that these terrorist groups do not speak for us. We thank you for making it a reality,” Walid begins back in the retail space as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” Gibbs asks his phone. He listens for a moment before hanging up and pulling me over to Jamal and Walid and orders them while making them, “Hands on top of your head!”  
“Boss?” Tony whispers in confusion.  
“It’s one of them, DiNozzo. The prints found on Umar’s laptop match the painting gear,” Gibbs reports.  
“What laptop?” Walid asks us.  
“Where’s Jamal Malik?” I demand of everyone as I release that he’s pulled a Houdini.  
“He was here just a minute ago!”  
“Ziva! It’s Malik! Find him!” Gibbs orders into the radio as a door slides open.  
“Behind you!” Tony calls out making us all turn and see Jamal standing in the hidden door with a suicided vest already on and armed. Once second we’re all staring at each other and the next moment Cassidy lunches herself at Jamal and pushes his body back into the other store, shutting the door behind them.  
“Paula!” Tony shouts as Gibbs, Tony and I run to the door trying to get her out.  
“Cassidy,” I shout as I look for away to open the door.  
“Allahu Akkbar!” Jamal’s muffled voice reaches us as he talks in Arabic a second before the bomb explodes, making a couple of bricks fall out of the walls. One of them manage to catch me on my right hand making the swollen fingers throb but I don’t feel it as I release she is gone… Tony hit’s his head on the wall as Gibbs steps back…   
I feel tears slid down my dirt face, I… Cassidy’s dead and it’s not far, she didn’t have to die. Without thinking I turn and almost run to Gibbs, hugging him the second I am against him. I feel his arms wrap around me and the other hand holds the back of my head as I cry into his chest.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Alice, are you alright?” Ducky asks me as he looks at my fingers at the request of Gibbs.  
“She shouldn’t have died,” I mumble and for once I don’t know who I am talking about. Kate or Cassidy or Shannon or Kelly or anyone else in the world… no one should have died a violent death.  
“I know,” Ducky mumbles as he wraps the fingers tightly.  
“Why did she have to die?”  
“I don’t know… but she will live on in our memories. That is our job to all of those that fell,” Ducky informs me as he finish wrapping the hand making me node. Ducky pulls me into a hug and I hold him as tightly as I can.  
I hold him for a long time before the door opens into autopsy and Gibbs walks in.  
“How is she, Duck?” Gibbs asks as he walks over to us and wraps his hand around us.  
“The fingers are going to be sore for a while, she managed to crack the third finger and fracture the second,” Ducky reports as I turn into Gibbs chest, holding onto him. Gibbs nodes before leading me out so that Ducky can autopsy Cassidy, or at least what is left of her… not much, we found her head and blood the rest of her we were unable to recover her.  
“Come on, baby,” Gibbs orders me as he leads me into the elevator.  
“Why did se die?” I ask him as I lean against him.  
“I don’t know… but she is with her team now, and that is what she wanted,” Gibbs reminds me making me node.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey Kate,” I greet my sister as I sit down on the roof were her life was cut short so long ago now. I don’t even feel like the same person who watched her sister die because of Ari the dead man walking. I touch the ground where her blood once stained and thought of why I came here again. I begin to inform her softly, “Kate, do you remember Cassidy? She’s the one who let the translator have a whole conversation with an inmate in front of her and smuggle diamonds into America.” I stop talking for a moment waiting for her to answer me even knowing she can’t anymore.  
I force myself to continue, “I thought you should know, she died today… saved everyone’s life at the cost of her own. I hated her but I never thought she would die… to be honest with you sis, I thought she would have a child to Tony or marry Tony… I didn’t… I wish people would stop dying. Ever since you died, everyone is either dying or almost dying.” I look at the stars in the sky, thinking of what Kate once told me. ‘every time a person dies, a new star is born.’ I can’t help wondering which one is Kate, Cassidy, Shannon, Kelly, Pacci, Roy and Mike’s son.   
I sit in silence listening to the traffic below and thinking of Cassidy and Kate… they would have been best of friends if they meet in a different way, and if they meet somehow else without working for NCIS they would both still be here. But I wouldn’t be with Gibbs. It’s a catch twenty-two, it seems I can only have one. My sister or my boyfriend… Cassidy or Gibbs… and if I picked Kate, Gibbs would be with Mann and that’s not going to happen…  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Hey, Alice,” Gibbs greets me as I walk down the stairs into the basement where he is working on the boat late tonight. I am in my sleepwear because I was in bed but I couldn’t sleep so I went looking for my wondering marine.  
“Hey,” I mumble as I walk over to Gibbs and lean against his back. Feeling his heartbeat and the warmth showing me that he is alive, that I didn’t lose him. I can also feel the movement of his sanding on the part of the boat.  
“Are you alright baby?”  
“I… why do the innocent people keep dying?”  
“Don’t know…”  
“I didn’t think anyone else besides the bomber was going to die… I never even thought it was a possibility of Cassidy dying.”  
“No one did… it wasn’t just you,” Gibbs promise me as he continues to sand.  
“We should have,” I state because it makes sense that she would die because of this case. Gibbs just hum without commenting anymore because he understands I didn’t come down here to talk, I came down here for the presence of another living person.  
The only sounds in the room is Gibbs sanding and our breathing. I breath in the sent of Gibbs with every breath. My mind keeps sliding to everyone who has died because of NCIS or NIS, Shannon, Kelly, Pacci, Kate, Cassidy, and so many others…  
“Drink?” Gibbs suddenly asks me.  
“Um… yeah,” I answer as I release him and he walks over to the workbench. He places the sander on the bench while tipping out two cups of screws and filling them to the top with bourbon. He hands on to me and keeps the second one.  
“To Cassidy,” Gibbs says while raising his cup.  
“And everyone else,” I agree as I raise my glass to before we both take a sip of bourbon.


	54. Cover Story

“The house is leased to Petty Officer Darren Cove. No roommates, but according to the neighbours, he is rarely along,” Ziva reports in kitchen of the house that has a mess everywhere. There is no body but a lot of blood on the floor. McGee and Tony are searching the living room. Gibbs is wearing a white t-shirt under a black polo shirt and his NCIS windbreaker. I am wearing a red t-shirt with white flowers down my left side and a pair of jeans, along with my NCIS windbreaker.  
“I can tell. He’s got a fridge full of beer. No hard alcohol,” Gibbs comments after searching the fridge and cupboards.  
“Except for this. Ooh! If smells could kill, I think we just found our murder weapon,” Ziva comments after taking a weft of a mixed drink on the bench.  
“I’m more concerned with where they came from,” I comment because there is nothing to mix to make it with in this kitchen.  
“Neighbour said this was a notorious party house. Maybe someone brought in the mixers.”  
“And they left with them, too,” Gibbs adds.  
“Seems like a lot of effort for a couple of drinks. Wasted effort,” Ziva complains before walking into the living room with the boys. I continue to search the kitchen cupboards with Gibbs.  
“What are you think, Alice?” Gibbs asks me softly.  
“Where’s our body?” I ask him as I look back at the blood. Gibbs nodes before we make our way down to the bedroom to search that next.  
“I don’t know.”  
“Jethro,” I call out in fear making him walk over to me. I point to a note on the ground next to the blood again.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs calls him into the room and he enters before smirking at me.  
“Get this,” Gibbs orders him while pointing to the note. He photos it… it reads ‘one down, two to go.’  
“Looks like McGee wasn’t the only writer here today,” Tony teases McGee.  
“Bag it,” Gibbs orders us before leaving him.  
“What were you doing in the bedroom with the boss?” Tony teases me as I bag it.  
“Working,” I answer him as I attempt to ignore him.  
“Working on what?”  
“The case.”  
“So not a little Giblet?” Tony teases me as I give him a disgusted look. He continues, “Or were you thinking the boss man for a place to stay?”  
“You’re disgusting,” I hiss at him as I leave the bedroom out to were the team is because Tony doesn’t mention what he walked in on in front of the team…  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Petty Officer Cove joined the Navy three years ago, right out of high school. His CO says he’s a little immature but basically a good kid,” McGee reports when we return to the squad room. The boys are standing on the other side of Gibbs desk who is leaning back on his chair with his back to his computers with his arms crossed. I am sitting on the ledge on the table in front of the computers, listening to the reports while wondering why anyone would want to kill this man. Gibbs has swopped his windbreaker with a cream jacket. I have swopped my NCIS windbreaker with a cream jacket that is woollen on the inside.   
“A good kid with a criminal record. Since enlisting, he’s been arrested twice. Both misdemeanours. Public in-tox in oh-four, and a noise ordinance violation last July,” Tony adds.  
“He works to live, and lives to party. It’s his CO’s words.”  
“Guys in his command call him Darren ‘diddy’ Cove.”  
“Why?” Gibbs demands of them in confusion.  
“Un, it’s a reference to Sean ‘diddy’ Combs,” McGee states.  
“The Puff Man. P-Diddy. Rap impresario. Went out with J-Lo. Petty officer Cove was on duty yesterday,” Tony informs us.  
“Left the base at eighteen hundred. Hasn’t been seen since.”  
“And neither has his blue ford ranger. It should be in his garage, but it’s not.”  
“Which means his attacker took it.”  
“OR Petty Officer Cove went for a drive,” I state.  
“Well, Abby’ll tell us, because Cove’s blood sample is in his medical records,” Tony informs us.  
“Thank you,” Ziva says into the phone.  
“I’m going to go check the BOLO, see if he’s got a hit on the pickup,” McGee says while pointing to his desk.  
“That’s not necessary, McGee. Norfolk police just found it abandoned along highway five.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’ve noticed oversized dice like these in numerous vehicles. Do they have a purpose? Hello? Tony?” Ziva asks Tony at ravine where the ute is left in the tree line. Not very hidden at all.  
“What?” Tony asks her in confusion because he wasn’t listening.  
“Do they serve a purpose?”  
“Fuzzy dice? Pretty good redneck indicator. Other than that, no. They don’t serve a purpose. We’ve got a lot more blood back here, boss. Think this was used to cover the body?” Tony asks as he moves a tarp showing a blood puddle.   
“Yeah. Or bodies,” I state as Gibbs phone begin to ring and he answers it.  
“Yeah, Abs. I’m listening,” Gibbs answers the phone while walking away.  
“McGee, you look like you’ve seen a goat,” Ziva comments as McGee continues to stare into the ute.  
“Huh? Oh, ghost. Seen a ghost. Yeah, do you know what déjà vu is?” McGee asks him.  
“Bien sur. My French is better than my English,” Ziva comments.  
“Well, nothing can be worse than your English,” I tease my sometimes friend.  
“Right,” McGee mumbles.  
“So?” Ziva asks him as she ignores me.  
“What?”  
“The déjà vu?”  
“I can’t place it.”  
“By any chance, did you start dating someone, McGee?” Ziva tries after a long beat of silence.  
“Dating? Please. I spend every spare minute I have writing.”  
“Hand on a second,” Gibbs says into the phone as he returns to the scene and he orders McGee, “McGee, get this towed back to lock-up.” Once the order is handled he turns his attention back to the phone call, “Yeah. Go on, Abs.”  
“Abby’s got something,” Tony informs us because he was listening to Gibbs half of the conversation.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Watch out! It’s Halloween at Coyote Ugly. Piper Perabo!” Tony comments as we walk into the lab to see Abby juggling bottles of alcohol and experimenting with mixing drinks.  
“Oh, if you like that one you’re going to love this. It’s… it’s a Scuito original. I like to call it ‘bottoms up,’” Abby informs us as she does a move with the bottle.  
“Oh! I had no idea you were a bartender, Abby,” Ziva states.  
“Well, my Uncle Teddy used to own a bar on Canal Street. And I used to bartend on the weekends.”  
“The case, Abby,” Gibbs reminds her why we came down here.  
“Gibbs, you haven’t even seen my famous ‘fire bomb!’ it can wait. So I tested the blood that was in petty officer Cove’s house. Most of it was his, but one sample did not match,” Abby informs us as he moves over to the computer and pull up the information on her computer.  
“It could have been from a prior accident or an altercation at one of his parties,” Ziva states.  
“Or it could be the killer’s,” Tony offer another option.  
“I also removed prints from our mystery cocktails. One half of our drinking duo was definitely petty officer Cove,” Abby informs us.  
“The other half?” I ask her in confusion.  
“Well, it’s a work in progress, Alice.”  
“Tell me you have more to this, Abby,” Gibbs begs.  
“Have I ever let you down? Don’t answer that. Um, I’m using my mass spectrometer to break down the molecular structure of the cocktails in question.”  
“Guessing that’s where all these come on,” Tony comments as he points to the drinks she was making.  
“Well, you guess correctly. I think I’ve made over one hundred delightful beverages trying to find… the match. The weird this is, this baby isn’t in any bartending guide, anywhere. It’s made out of Jägermeister…”  
“Cherry soda, vanilla vodka, lemon juice, and a splash of tabasco. It’s called a ‘hairy hangover,’” McGee informs us as he enters the room making us all stair at him.  
“And you came to know this how, McGee?” Tony demands of the shaken man.  
“I created it. Our missing Petty Officer is a character in my next book.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“’Cameron Meyer is a good old boy from Northern Virginia. He was born with not much, raised with even less. All he wants out of life is a good girl and a great truck. As of yesterday, he’s halfway there. He dropped his life savings on a blue ford ranger,’” McGee reads off of his new book which isn’t even released yet, back in the squad room.  
“That’s it?” Tony asks in disappointment.  
“Tony, it’s all here. The fuzzy dice, the cinnamon rolls, red track jacket. Petty officer Cove is Cameron Meyer.”  
“Uh, but how is that possible, McGee?” Ziva demands of him, daring him to admit it.  
“My writing isn’t entirely fiction, okay? My stories are… sometimes I base my characters on people I…”  
“Work with?” Tony taunts him.  
“See. People I see.”  
“You’ve seen petty officer Cove before?” Gibbs demands of him because he’s been holding out on us.  
“Every morning at my coffee shop.”  
“But how come you didn’t recognize his photograph?” Ziva demands of him in confusion.  
“He only uses the drive-thru. To me he’s just the ‘large coffee, with the cinnamon roll’ guy in a blue pickup truck I never saw his face.”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Back up. Your coffee shop has a drive-thru? That’s… that’s not important,” Tony dismisses his thought at the glare Gibbs levels at him.  
“Just because you based your character on a person who is missing does not necessarily mean the two of them are related, McGee,” Ziva says while attempting to calm him down because he is beside himself in guilt.  
“Yeah, it does. You created the drink,” Gibbs states making me hit his arm.  
“I want to try that drink,” I comment.  
“Made it up about a month ago,” McGee informs us.  
“How did two glasses of it get from your head to inside Petty Officer Cove’s house?” I ask McGee in confusion.  
“Someone’s read your book,” Tony informs McGee.  
“Are your papers under lock and key?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“Well, I sent my publisher a copy a couple weeks ago, but you know, I’m sure she,” McGee begins.  
“Address.”  
“Um… boss, there’s more. After deep six hit stores, my publishing firm received a ton of emails addressed to Thom E Gemcity,” McGee admits shyly making me feel bad for the guy.  
“Tons?” Tony asks him in disbelief.  
“Most of them were autograph requests, or feedback on the novel. But in the last couple weeks, my publisher says that we’ve got some really weird letters. Borderline obsessive. I didn’t say anything because I assumed they were harmless.”  
“DiNozzo, with us. McGee, you stay here with Ziva. Start going through your book,” Gibbs orders us.  
“What am I looking for?”  
“The next two victims,” I state.  
“Answers, McGee,” Gibbs overlaps me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Miss Crawshaw will be with you shortly,” Todd Ryder, the assistant of McGee’s publisher, informs us in Crawshaw’s office.  
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Tony exclaims when he sees a photo of McGee on the wall of the office.  
“Is there anything else I can get you while you wait?”  
“Yeah. A barf bag.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Todd, black tea, lemon, crab salad, arugula,” Crawshaw, the publisher, orders her assistant before turning to us and stating, “You’re Timothy’s people.”  
“A few weeks ago, he sent you a draft of his next book,” Gibbs states as he gets straight to the point.  
“Partial. It wasn’t finished yet.”  
“Yeah, it still isn’t, is it?” Tony asks her.  
“How many of your people here have read the book?” I demand of her.  
“Zero. No one in my agency has access to advance material without the writer’s consent,” Crawshaw informs us.  
“Except you,” Gibbs states.  
“Writers are notoriously insecure. Soft, even.”  
“Well, that doesn’t sound like our little Timmy McGee, now, does it?” Tony teases the geek.  
“Whether they ask for it or not, I prove coddling, prodding, protection. Anything it takes to keep those elusive muses singing… agent…”  
“Gibbs,” Gibbs answers her tightly.  
“Here you go. Rock hollow, the continuing adventures of L.J. Tibbs and Alicia. How’s this connected with your investigation?” Crawshaw demands as she produces McGee’s latest book bits.  
“A person’s missing. We believe it’s related to the contents of that book,” Tony informs her.  
“Oh, I guess I just made myself your prime suspect.”  
“Sounds about right,” I answer her.  
“I may be the only one in the firm’s who’s read it, Agent…”  
“Todd.”  
“Agent Todd, but I can guarantee you I’m not the only one in the city.”  
“McGee hasn’t given the book to anyone else, Ms Crawshaw,” Tony informs her.  
“Obsessed fans always find a way to get material early. They dig through trash, hack computers, anything short of writing it themselves. And believe me, Timothy has some of the craziest fans I’ve ever seen.”  
“Yes, we know about the letters,” Gibbs dismisses her.  
“Yeah, there are three that stand out. Todd! Bring me those three,” Crawshaw begins making me straight my back before I release it’s not me she’s talking to.  
“Gemcity letters?” Todd finishes for her as he hands Crawshaw the letters.  
“No return address. Each one’s stranger than the last. I bet the psychopath you’re looking for is somewhere in that envelope.”  
“What makes you think we’re looking for a psychopath?” Tony asks her in confusion.  
“Don’t you read crime novels? They are always psychopaths,” Crawshaw informs us as she hands over the tree letters. I put on a set of gloves and bag the letters for evidence.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“A rave review,” Gibbs comments as we walk into autopsy where Ducky is reading the letters sent to McGee.  
“Rave indeed, Jethro. Yeah, in fact, it’s quite possible that Michael is Timothy’s greatest admirer,” Ducky agrees with him.  
“Admirer or stalker, dad?” I ask him.  
“At this point I’d say he is no immediate threat to himself or anyone else.”  
“At this point?” Gibbs asks him because that doesn’t sound good.  
“Well, one foes not become a predatory stalker overnight, Jethro. The mind typically goes through three stages. This letter, strange as it may seem, is only at stage one. The attraction stage,” Ducky explains to us while waving the first letter.  
“And the other two?” I ask him as I point to the other two.  
“Well, on the surface, this letter written by Andrew, would appear more normal. But phrases like ‘I breathe for your words,’ and ‘you need me,’ might suggest…”  
“Otherwise,” Gibbs finishes for him.  
“But because of that sense of desperation, I’d categorize that letter is a stage two; obsession.”  
“What’s a stage three?” I ask him.  
“Well, read for yourself,” Ducky informs me as he hands me the third letter. I take it and feel Gibbs step up so he’s chest is against my back with his hand on my hip, holding me in place, reading over my shoulder.  
“’I know you think of me often, just as I think of you. Please don’t make me do something we’ll both regret,’” Gibbs reads over my shoulder.  
“Now that letter has an aggressive and threatening tone. For that reason, it falls into the final stage; destruction.”   
“Three letters. Three stages,” I comment in disbelief, that’s not likely.  
“I know what you’re think, Alice, Jethro. That its not coincidence. Although the letters may appear to be very different, the writing style is nearly identical in all three.”  
“The same person wrote all three?” Gibbs asks him.  
“And judging by the postmarks, the letters were written and sent over a period of several weeks, during which time the writer became increasingly delusional.”  
“Motive?”   
“Oh, I can’t say for certain. But I say the answers can be found in Timothy’s new book. The writer believes that Timothy’s fiction is very much real.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“She’s right. We don’t even know how the book factors in,” Tony states to McGee about Ziva’s comment that we missed about his book as we enter the squad room tonight.  
“We do now! The letters were written by the same person. He thinks the book is real,” Gibbs informs them.  
“And believes Petty Officer Cove is a part of it,” Ziva releases.  
“It means we’re going to have to go everywhere he’s been,” I state.  
“Well, we’re already done that, though. His home, work, hangout spots,” McGee reminds us.  
“I’m not talking about Petty Officer Cove. I’m talking about your Cameron Meyer… the blue ranger, good-old-boy, man,” I correct McGee.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“High side creek is where Cameron goes to clear his head,” Ziva informs us what she read in the book that we arrived at the next morning. High side creek looks like a typical picnic area. Gibbs is searing a white shirt under a light grey shirt and a black jacket. I am wearing another red singlet with the black leather jacket that Ducky gave me for my eighteenth birthday and bell bottom jeans, they are tight around my ass and becomes loose around about my knees so that I can still search.   
“Well, thematically, this location is very important, boss,” McGee adds.  
“You’ve been saying the same thing all morning, McGee,” Tony complains.  
“Spread out,” Gibbs orders us as he moves away from the group of bickering children. I also move away from them because they’re giving me a headache.  
“Why would Cameron come to a picnic area to think?” Tony asks McGee in confusion.  
“In his book it’s not a picnic area, it’s his favourite fishing hole,” Ziva informs him.  
“Thank you, Ziva,” McGee exclaims as we all search the park for information.  
“Don’t you think it’s kind of a cliché to have your character alone, staring into the serene wilderness?” Tony asks.  
“Would you rather the character fucks everything that moves or builds a boat in his basement?” I ask Tony because it seems like the most normal thing to ever happen.  
“No. If it was, I wouldn’t have written it, Tony,” McGee defends himself.  
“I mean, knowing Cameron, if he was bummed out, wouldn’t he just go to the wing shack with some buddies and toss back a few brews?” Tony asks.  
“Or talk to a priest? Don’t forget that he’s very religious now that his father died,” Ziva adds.  
“Good point!”   
“No, it isn’t. Cameron keeps his emotions bottled up. When he’s upset, he comes here. Afterwards, he always feel better,” McGee defends himself as I roll my eyes at this conversation, why don’t they all shut up and work? I don’t want to hear about the book until it is released and I can read the complete story.  
“Not always,” Gibbs calls out making us rush over to him to see that he has found our missing man, dead.  
“That’s him. That’s Petty Officer Cove,” McGee exclaims in surprise.  
“Then who is this?” Ziva demands as she stands over another dead body.  
“That’s Jerrod Brenner. That’s another character from my book,” McGee exclaims as he looks at the second body making me drop my head.  
“Two down, one to go,” I complain because I don’t want another body.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Two bodies, both with nearly identical stab wounds in the chest and abdomen. It appears that Petty Officer Cove may have put up a bit of a struggle. Note the remnants of skin tissue and blood under the fingernails. Now, both men have been deceased for less than twenty-four hours,” Ducky informs us as he continues to look at the bodies we found. We have all put on out NCIS windbreakers and hats now that this is a crime scene.  
“That is not all they have in common, Ducky,” Ziva states.  
“They’re also both characters in McGeek’s next book,” Tony adds.  
“Yes, from what I head, Timothy, in your next novel, L.J. Tibbs has a love interest. Yes, I hear that it’s an Army,” Ducky begins making me glare at McGee, it better not be who I think it is or I will not be reading McGee’s book, I’ll be reading his eulogy.  
“Ducky, I don’t think we need to talk about that,” McGee attempts to save face… mainly his own.  
“Army what, McGee?” I hiss at him as Gibbs stops behind me, glaring at McGee with me, while placing his hand on my back.  
“Army what, McGee?” Gibbs demands of him as he overlaps me.  
“Uh… lieutenant… colonel… lieutenant colonel,” McGee answers slowly in fear.  
“We got a murder weapon, Duck?” Gibbs asks him as he rubs my back, attempting to calm me down before Ducky needs another body bag… Gibbs is MINE and McGee is writing that I let him go?  
“Yes, well that’s where things get interesting, Jethro. Both wounds are circular, about one inch in diameter,” Ducky informs us in confusion.  
“Javelin,” Tony and Ziva informs us together.  
“Chapter four, my character Cameron Meyer and Jared Brenner… they murder a convenience store clerk to cover up an extortion,” McGee explains.  
“Javelin. Believe it or not,” Tony adds.  
“That is for what they were originally intended, Tony,” I inform him as I continue to glare at McGee.  
“A javelin is a modern day murder weapon. I applaud your creativity, McGee. Of course, well, given the circumstance,” Ducky agrees with me before turning to see Gibbs storming off. Ducky mumbles, “Oh dear. Now I’m going to have to read his new book.”  
“Not if I kill him first… which I might,” I inform my father as I glare after McGee, Gibbs is mine and I don’t share, even in a half-fiction book.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Petty Officer Darren Cove and Adrian Corbett… the inspiration behind two of McGee’s characters, Cameron Meyer and Jerrod Brenner,” Tony begins as he has the photo of our two victims on the plasma screen above my desk in the squad room.  
“Any other connection?” Gibbs asks.  
“Not that we’ve found. Corbett worked as a valet at Alfonso’s steakhouse,” McGee reports.  
“Your favourite,” Tony teases him making me roll my eyes but I am glade Tony is off my sex life with Gibbs.  
“That’s how I got to know him. For my book, I borrowed his physical details… the nose ring, birthmark on the face and the neck.”  
“Where’s his job?” I demand of him I am still pissed that he is taking my boyfriend away from me, even if it’s not real.  
“Valet at a steakhouse. But I did change the name of the restaurant.”  
“From Alphonso’s to Alfredo’s. you don’t need to be sherlock Holmes to figure that one out,” Tony continues to tease McGee.  
“The note from Petty Officer Cove’s apartment,” Gibbs reminds us.  
“’One down, two to go,’ means the killer’s not finished,” Tony states.  
“How many more of your characters did you base on real people?” I demand of McGee but he ignores me in shame.  
“Hey! How many?” Gibbs demands louder than me.  
“Just the team. You, Tony, Ziva, Alice, everyone. Are you happy, Tony? I finally admitted it. I based both my novels on your guys,” McGee breaks.  
“Mann,” I add angrily, why did he have to add her, she means nothing to his fucking plot.  
“That means we’re all potential targets,” Gibbs snaps as he grabs my arm, holding it tightly.  
“Boss, I’m sorry!”   
“Not as sorry you will be when one of us die,” I snap at him.  
“Ducky, Abby, Palmer… twenty-four hour security detail until we finds this psycho,” Gibbs orders us.  
“Twenty-seven javelins sold in the D.C. area in the past six months. Twenty-one were paid for by credit cards. All by track coaches and athletic directors,” Ziva reports while getting back onto the topic of murder weapons.  
“What about the last six?” I ask him.  
“Cash transactions,” Ziva answers me as Gibbs phone begins to ring.  
“Yeah, Gibbs… I got it, Abs. we’ll be right down,” Gibbs says into the phone before hanging up and ordering Tony And Ziva, “Go! Go.” McGee goes to go with them but Gibbs snaps, “To you.”  
“Two men are dead because of me, boss,” McGee exclaims with a voice full of guilt.  
“You got a javelin, McGee?”   
“No, but I own a typewriter.”  
“It’s a typewriter. Not a shotgun.”  
“It caused two men their lives because I based my fictional book on real people.”  
“Then put these on,” Gibbs orders McGee as he pulls his handcuffs out of his back pocket and holds them up to McGee, hanging off of his finger. Gibbs continues, “You just confessed, right?”   
“Not exactly.”  
“It’s either a confession or not,” I snap at him as I attempt to not yell because he’s hurting too. It’s not his fault that he managed to hit a sensitive nerve with me… it’s not his fault that I am scared that Gibbs is going to leave me for Mann because she is closure to his age and has lived through some of the things he did. That is my fault for letting it get to me, and I have to work on it so not to hurt this guy.  
“There’s no mid-ground, McGee. You either put on the cuffs, or you find who’s responsible,” Gibbs informs McGee.  
“How?” McGee asks Gibbs in confusion as Gibbs puts his handcuffs back into his back pocket.  
“This guy’s inside your head. You get inside his.”  
“Boss, it’s not that simple. I still don’t even know what my story is!” McGee complains.  
“You figure it out, McGee! You write the ending to this, or the killer will!” Gibbs reminds him as before we turn and head to the back elevator where Tony and Ziva has already went. I step into the elevator before Gibbs. The elevator rides in silent for minute before Gibbs asks me, “Baby, are you alright?”   
“I’m fine,” I lie.”  
“Alice, you might be able to tell when I’m lying but I can do the same to you… are you alright?”  
“Do you wish that you were with Mann and not me?” I ask him softly what is bothering me. What is hurting me? Why I am pissed off at the world.  
“I am and will always be with who I want to. I don’t stick around of that isn’t who I want. I was taught not to string along girls,” Gibbs promise me as he stops the elevator and pulls me into a hug. I hold him tightly, trying to stop my mind from thinking what it is thinking.  
“But why does everyone think that you are or will date Mann?”  
“She gives off that opinion herself. Doesn’t mean I want it, I have my redhead right here,” Gibbs promise me as he rubs my hair making me node into his chest.  
“I’m being stupid again,” I mumble into his chest.  
“Alice, baby, look at me,” Gibbs exclaims as he pulls his upper body away from me without moving his feet with both hands on my shoulder and looking at the top of my head because I refuse to look up. Gibbs removes one hand from my shoulder and uses it up lift my face up, making me look at him but I shut my eyes as I feel the tears collect in my eyes. He continue, “Open those beautiful hazel eyes.” I open them looking at his beautiful blue eyes, he continues to talk to me softly, “You’re not stupid… I don’t care what anyone says or has said, you’re not stupid. You’re afraid, that’s normal. I am always afraid that my partner will leave me, but that doesn’t make me stupid.”  
“I’m sorry,” I mumble, I didn’t mean to make a big deal out of it.  
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Gibbs whispers to me as he pulls me back into a hug, making me grip the back of his shirt again.  
“I shouldn’t have let it get to me,” I mumble as the tears begin to fall onto Gibbs shirt.  
“McGee shouldn’t have written it… has nothing to do with him,” Gibbs corrects me as he rubs my back.  
“I don’t want to lose you… especially to Mann,” I mumble into his chest.  
“She is the last person you are going to lose me too… I can’t stand that chick,” Gibbs whispers into my ear making me hum against his chest, holding him tightly.  
“I love you,” I remind him.  
“I love you too, baby… I promise,” Gibbs mumbles into my hair as I attempt to get myself under control…  
“I’m sorry,” I mumble again, I really didn’t mean to break down.  
“Don’t apologise,” Gibbs pretend orders me as I wipe away the tears. Gibbs pulls out his tissues out of his pocket and wipe my face for me. Once he is happy that I look normal, he starts the elevator again, while wrapping his arm around me, placing a kiss on my forehead.  
“But I am sorry,” I mumble making Gibbs hold me tighter.  
“Apologies again and I’ll smack you,” Gibbs threatens me as he holds me tighter. A second later the elevator comes to a stop and we step out on the lab level.  
“Does she know?” Abby asks Ziva and Tony making me blink. Who are they talking about? Ziva and Tony are standing on one side of the computer desk while Abby is standing behind her desk.  
“Know what?” Gibbs demands of her as we step into the room.  
“Forensic Specialist Amy… she fell in love with a gay guy, Gibbs.”  
“Is that why I’m here?”   
“No.”  
“Then Amy’s on her own,” Gibbs informs her making me softly laugh.  
“We’ll talk later,” Abby whispers to Tony and Ziva before informs us at her normal volume, “Um, I ran the blood samples that we pulled off the two bodies. Petty Officer Cove had unidentified blood on his right forearm and hand… matched the blood from his house.”  
“Our killer’s DNA,” Ziva release.  
“I’m no investigator, but odds are you’re right.”  
“That’s good work, Abs,” I complement her.  
“I also checked Petty Officer Cove’s ford ranger and Thom E Gemcity6’s c-mail for prints.”  
“C-mail?” Tony asks while I can feel Gibbs confusion from beside me because he is still holding me.  
“Yeah, it’s like coo-koo mail. No, no. I just made it up. Um… nothing on the truck. All the latent prints belonged to Petty Officer Cove. But on the c-mail, there’s dozens of different prints.”  
“Well, that makes sense. ‘cause paper mail gets processed through post offices, delivery trucks mail rooms.”  
“Exactly. There’s still one spot that only the sender touches,” Abby reminds us as she rolls the envelope in her hand.  
“The back of the stamp. You pulled a print?” Ziva asks her.  
“Not only did I pull a print, I already got a match. Todd Ryder. Arrested last year or possession of marijuana,” Abby informs us making Gibbs, Tony and me exchange looks.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Todd!” Tony calls as we arrive outside the publishers office.  
“Oh, god! Look out!” Todd exclaims before taking off running.  
“What do you call that?” Tony asks us as we all take off after Todd.  
“Running, I think,” Gibbs answers her as Todd shouts in fear.  
“Todd, hey!”   
“Where’s his car? Where’s his god damn car?” I demand of another employee.  
“Employee lot. Around back,” the employee informs us making me node before running around with Gibbs to the parking lot to see Todd running over to his car.  
“They know! They’re chasing me! Okay,” Todd yells into his phone as he attempts to unlock his car but drops the keys.  
“You should have left the top down. Put your hands on top of your head,” Gibbs informs Todd while we calmly level our gun at him, making him freeze in fear. Tony runs up to us, panting for air.  
“Nice of you to join us, Tony,” I tease him as I slightly pant for air without taking my eyes off of Todd.  
“I thought I was gaining ground. He’s got a very unorthodox running style. It’s very effective, though,” Tony comments as he walks over and cuffs Todd.  
“Not effective enough,” Gibbs informs them.  
“I didn’t want to do it. I told her it was a bad idea,” Todd exclaims suddenly.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I have been sitting here half the night, Agent Gibbs. What am I being charged with?” Crawshaw demands of us as we walk into the integration room tonight.  
“Tampering with a federal investigation,” Gibbs answers her as we sit down across the table from her.  
“That’s ridiculous. I’ve answered every question you’ve asked.”  
“Resisting arrest,” I state.  
“I told you already. I wasn’t running. I was late for an appointment.”  
“And murder,” Gibbs finishes.  
“You think I murder someone?”  
“Their names are Petty Officer Darren Cove and Adrian Corbett,” I inform her angrily.  
“Never heard of them.”  
“Okay. Well, how about Cameron Meyer and Jared Brenner? Have you heard of them?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“I think so. They’re characters in Tim’s next book.”  
“The book someone is killing over,” I remind her.  
“Too bad you can’t find them.”  
“I think we have. You wrote the letters,” Gibbs states.  
“What? Why would I?”  
“Give it up lady. Todd gave up you. He said you told him to mail the letters back to the agency,” I inform her.  
“Well, I can explain,” Crawshaw says after a moment when she releases she is court in a lie.  
“Well, I sure hope so,” Gibbs informs her while waiting for an answer.  
“I wrote the letter, but only to create a bigger buzz. Stalkers mean more press, more press means increased revenue.”  
“You made up a stalker to sell more books?” I demand of her angrily.  
“Yes, I did.”  
“I’ve had a stalker, it’s not a good thing… you put Tim’s life on hold to see some books. You shouldn’t have to do that, if you were good at your job, you should be able to see a book like that. Tim should be a good enough writer not to need this,” I snap at her as I smack the letter photo on the table.  
“Look, it may sound unorthodox, but I do one interview about those letters and Gemcity’s book sales jump through the roof.”  
“I didn’t think he needed the help… and especially not this type.”  
“There is no such thing as enough sales. What I did might be wrong, but there’s no way I could ever kill anyone.”  
“Why should we believe you?” Gibbs demands of her as he places a hand on my arm, holding me from hitting the table again.  
“Those letters were a strategic business move. I would do anything to help my client sell more books.”  
“Anything?” I ask her as we get up and leave. I follow Gibbs into the hallway.  
“Well, played boss. You’ll get her in round two,” Tony exclaims as he steps out of the observation room.  
“There won’t be a round two, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him as we continue down the hallway towards the squad room.  
“But she didn’t break.”  
“I know. I was there.”  
“She didn’t do it, did she?” McGee asks from behind Tony.  
“She’s your publisher. You tell us,” I ask him.  
“I think she’s telling the truth.”  
“That makes two of us. I compared Crawshaw’s DNA to the mystery blood pulled off of Petty Officer Cove. Se did not do it,” Abby informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I’ve read this a thousand times, and I’ve come up with nothing,” McGee complains the next morning in the squad room while dropping his book onto his desk.  
“Then maybe we should spit-ball ideas and see what sticks,” Ziva comments making us give her a look and she demands, “What? Did I say it wrong?”  
“No, you got that right,” Tony promise her.  
“No, that’s good. So let’s start with what we know. Campfire,” McGee orders them making everyone but for me, move their chairs into the middle of the squad room.  
“Well, we know there’s killer on the loose. One down, two to go. And he’s already killed number two,” Tony begins.  
“In your book, Cameron Meyer and Jared Brenner only have two things in common,” Ziva continues.  
“They extorted money and both murdered a convenience store clerk,” McGee adds.  
“Maybe the killer was seeking revenge for the clerk’s death.”  
“No, the clerk’s a throw-away character. I didn’t even bother to name him. Besides, the stalker letters are fake. So we don’t even know that he’s delusional.”  
“He murdered two characters in a work of fiction, McGee,” I remind him as Gibbs walks into the squad room and over to me, placing a coffee cup in front of me making me smile and sign thanks.   
“Okay, so he’s probably delusional. But that doesn’t mean he’s looking for revenge,” McGee comments as Gibbs signs back, ‘welcome. What’s going on with the kids?’  
“You gotta have motive, Probie,” Tony reminds McGee as I answer Gibbs, ‘campfire. Looking for answers as a team. Tony started it when you quit.’  
“Well, I am not convinced that the answer is in my book, Tony,” McGee defends himself as Gibbs signs back to me, ‘I didn’t quit.’  
“Maybe the answer is in how he got the book,” Ziva offers.  
“He definitely didn’t get it from Crawshaw. She’d never do anything to jeopardize sales.”  
“It means he got it from you,” Gibbs states.  
“Well, I keep everything locked up.”  
“It wasn’t a question. It’s you or Crawshaw… and you say it’s not her, she only fabricates stalkers,” I state as I sip my coffee.  
“Trust your instincts, Tim. They’re usually right,” Tony begins.  
“Except when it comes to Tony’s girlfriends and Jethro’s wives,” I state making Tony laugh at me.  
“Take the lead on this one. All we can do is assist,” Tony continues.  
“Okay. From the beginning, page one,” McGee states before walking off to the elevator.  
“I’d say we played that one nicely, boss. The whole good guy, bad guy, weird girl technique,” Tony says making me pull a face, I’m not weird.  
“DiNozzo,” Gibbs begins.  
“yeah?”  
“Assist,” Gibbs orders making Tony run to the elevator that is closing.  
“Hold the elevator!”  
“I’m not weird… Tony’s weird,” I complain making Gibbs give me a smirk, making me think he is agreeing with Tony.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Boss, I got it!” McGee exclaims as he runs into the squad room tonight.  
“Film?” Ziva asks about the film looking think he is waving around in his hand.  
“It’s from my typewriter,” McGee explains as Ziva takes the ribbons from McGee, looking at it.  
“Typewriter ribbon,” Gibbs comments.  
“How far back does that take you, Jethro?” I ask him teasingly.  
“That’s how the killer read my book,” McGee explains to us.  
“Well, where did he get the ribbons?” Ziva asks her.  
“Trash. Killer must have picked them out of McGee’s dumpster,” Tony explains.  
“That means he had access to all my notes and my ideas,” McGee adds.  
“Which means the murders may not be based on just the book,” Ziva releases.  
“All these pages are a product of my free-writing,” McGee explains as he holds up binder full of pages.  
“Free-writing?” Ziva whispers in confusion.  
“I’ll explain it later,” Tony promises her making me blink, sometimes I think those two would make a good couple and others I think they would make a good siblings.  
“One of my many possible ending involves Cameron Meyer ad Jerrod Brenner killing me… agent McGregor. It’s the character I based on myself,” McGee explains to us.  
“If the kill is confusing fiction with reality, then you’ve got a motive,” Ziva states.  
“He’s protecting you,” Gibbs and I say together.  
“He’s already killed two of the characters. Who’s the third?” Tony asks in confusion.  
“I haven’t decided yet. But Meyer and Brenner are the only characters that wanted me… McGregor dead,” McGee informs us.  
“Then why does he think there are three?”  
“I don’t know. I decided it’s stupid to kill McGregor. Everyone likes him too much.”  
“Well, not everyone,” Ziva informs us before reading the ‘free-writing,’ “’Forensic specialist Amy Sutton offered her heart to Agent McGregor only to be rejected. Using sign language, she tells her deaf mother that she can’t live without him. He’s going to have to go.’”  
“Yeah, ‘go’ as in leave the agency. Not ‘go’ as in ‘go,’” McGee defends his writing.  
“Does the killer know that?” Gibbs asks him before we all take off, running towards the back elevator… if something happens to Abby, I’m going to McGee… we run into the elevator and hit the button for the lab. We wait in silence for it to reach the correct floor.  
“Of anything happened to her,” I threaten him, leaving it hanging as the elevator finally arrives and we rush out into the lab, only to not see Abby.  
“Abby!” Gibbs shouts as we search the room.  
“Abs,” I yell in fear as I look around the lab.  
“She’s not answering her cell,” Ziva informs us.  
“Security detail?” Gibbs asks her as I continue to look around in the hopes of finding my friend.  
“Shift change; they just arrived on duty outside her apartment,” Tony informs us.  
“She’s gone,” McGee states making me freeze before turning around and punching McGee in the face, making him fall onto the ground, holding his nose in pain.  
“She better not be hurt. Physically or emotionally,” I snap at him as I glare down at him.  
“She’s not answering her home phone either, Gibbs,” Ziva reports while attempting not to piss me off anymore, she doesn’t want to get bitten again.  
“Send them in,” I snap at them.  
“Secure the apartment!” Tony says into the phone.  
“No, she’s not there. Uh… her apartment’s flooded. She’s staying with sister Rosita and the girls,” McGee informs us as he gets up off the ground.  
“Sister Rosita?” Ziva asks in confusion.  
“From her blowing team.”  
“The bowling nuns,” Tony adds as we rush back into the elevator and Gibbs physically places himself between me and McGee.  
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Gibbs is driving the car quickly as McGee attempts to ring Abby again. I am in the front with Gibbs while Tony, Ziva and McGee are in the back with McGee as far from me as possible to stop me from hurting him again.  
“Still no answer,” McGee informs us as he hangs up the phone.  
“Call again, McGee,” Gibbs snaps at him as McGee hits recall.  
“I can’t believe I let this happen.”  
“Abby knows how to take care of herself, McGee,” Ziva promises from beside him.  
“And she’s got a crew of nuns watching her back,” Tony adds from the seat behind mine.  
“Nuns are on a spiritual retreat. She’s on her own,” McGee informs us making Gibbs accelerate the car.  
“Why didn’t you say that before?” I snap at the writer, wishing I could hit him again.  
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The car comes to a quick stop in front of the sister’s building, if we won’t wearing seatbelts well be going throw the windscreen. We quickly get out of the car and draw our guns.  
“You two take the back. McGee, Alice, you’re with me,” Gibbs orders us as we quietly rush into the building.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“I will say, I’ve always respected your courage, Amy,” Landon, McGee’s barista at the coffee shop, says to Abby as he points a gun at her.  
“Drop your weapon!” Tony shouts the order at Landon as he aims his own weapon at the crazy guy.  
“He said drop it! Now!” Ziva shouts when Landon doesn’t listen to Tony.  
“Officer Lisa! Agent Tommy. I’m afraid I can’t of that. You don’t know it yet, but your partner’s in danger!” Landon explains to them.  
“Landon? Landon, what are you doing?” McGee asks as we walk into the room with our guns pointed at the crazy man.  
“I’m protecting you,” Landon snaps as McGee holsters his gun.  
“McGee, who is this guy?” Abby asks him in fear.  
“He’s a friend,” McGee lies.  
“Don’t! I have to this!” Landon says as he points the gun at Abby again.  
“Landon, she’s not going to hurt me. It’s just a book. It’s not…”  
“Finished yet. Tell him the ending, Agent McGregor. Tell him what happens,” Gibbs orders him as we realise this guy isn’t going to see the truth.  
“It’s not what you think, Landon. Amy and I… Amy and I get married,” McGee explains.  
“You… you marry her?” Landon asks after a long silence as he looks around at everything.  
“Yeah, I do. That means that if you kill her, you’re killing the only woman I ever loved. Landon, I really do love her! It just took me a while to figure it out,” McGee explains making Landon lower the gun before we all rush him and Tony cuffs him.  
“I was only trying to help,” Landon explains.  
“You killed two people,” I snap at him.  
“I had no choice. They set a wedding date yet?”   
“Guest list is full, Buddy,” Tony snaps at him as Gibbs and I move over to the shaken girl.  
“Are you okay, Abs?” Gibs asks her.  
“Oh, with the amount of bad guys after me, I feel like I’m dating Spiderman,” Abby complains making Gibbs pull her into a hug. I quickly join in on the hug, holding Abby tightly. Gibbs moves his arm so that he is holding both his girls at once.  
“Abby, I’m so sorry,” McGee says to her as we release her.  
“We need to talk.”  
“I know this is all my fault.”  
“Agent McGregor cannot marry Amy in the end. McGee, they’re all wrong for each other,” Abby informs him making me give him a look.  
“L.J. Tibbs better not be dating an army colonel or I’ll bite you,” I threaten him as well with a heavy glare.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, what are you doing?” I ask him sleepily as I am woken up by him getting at of the bed. I look the clock on the bedside table only to groan at the red numbers reading 01:17 am. I roll over to look at the marine who is now sitting on the edge of the bed.   
“Nothing, go back to sleep, baby,” Gibbs lies. I rub my eyes as I force myself to lean on my side, facing him.  
“Jethro, what’s wrong?” I ask him as I lean over and rub his back softly.  
“It’s nothing baby. Go back to sleep.”  
“Nah, I’d rather not,” I mumble sleepily as I lay my head on his pillow, watching him and his tense back.  
“Baby it’s nothing.”  
“It’s something. Talk to me, please.”  
“Nightmares,” Gibbs finally admits softly.  
“Oh, Jethro,” I mumble as I sit up and hug his back. I continue to talk, “If you need an ear, I’m always willing to listen. You don’t have to if you can’t or don’t want to.”  
“Nightmares,” Gibbs finally mumbles after a long silence making me hold him tighter, I can’t take that away for him. He hesitates for another moment before continuing, “It’s the same old nightmare… Shannon dies… Kelly dies and I can’t save them… I am the one who pulls the trigger. I can’t stop myself. I… I… I…”  
“Oh, Jethro. I’m so sorry,” I mumble as I force myself over to hold him tighter, that has to be hard to live.  
“I don’t want it… I tried to stop myself, but I never can,” Gibbs cries making me move so that I am holding him with his head buried in my neck.   
“Do you want a coffee or something stronger?” I ask him softly as I rub his longer hair.  
“Don’t leave me,” Gibbs begs of me when I attempt to stand up and go to make the coffee, so that he has a moment to collect himself.  
“I was just going… I’m not going to leave you,” I promise him as I sit back down only to be pulled onto his lap, straddling his hips. He grips the back of my shirt, holding me like I might die or leave him.  
“Please don’t leave me too.”  
“Jethro, trust me. If I’m still here after you quit; I’m not going to leave by anything else,” I promise him as I continue to rub his back. I listen to him crying and I don’t know how to fix it for him.  
“Alice, why did they have to die? I should have been here to protect them.”  
“Jethro, what could you have done to stop a sniper?” I ask him softly.  
“I could have done something… anything.”  
“The only thing you could have done was die with them. And then their killer will still be at large. Ari will still be at large. And so many other bad guys, who you stopped will still be killing,” I remind him softly, trying to calm him down and make him understand that he is a hero. But every hero has that one person they can’t save.  
“Someone else would have stopped them…”  
“Who? I don’t know anyone who will be able to do that. Especially when ordered to stop,” I mumble as I rub his back until the clock reads 2:00 when he stops crying. I softly asks him, “Jethro, do you want a drink or do you want to try to sleep again?”  
“I need to wash my face,” Gibbs mumbles with a deep voice from crying.  
“Of course,” I whisper as I climb off of his lap and sit down on the bed, letting him go. I settle down on my pillow fort and watch him sit on the side of the bed. After a long minute he gets up and walks into the bathroom half-closing the door so I can’t see him. I listen as the tap turns on and the splashing of water. I lay there, listening and waiting for him, making sure he is okay. For the next three minutes he is hiding in the bathroom before walking out of the room and I watch him walk to the door. He freezes next to the door for a long moment before he turns from the door and walks back to the bed.   
“Alice,” Gibbs whispers without climbing into the bed. I look at him waiting for him to continue but he doesn’t making me feel bad for the scared, broken look on his face.  
“Yes, Jethro?” I softly ask him.  
“I… I,” Gibbs tries but he seems to lose his nerve.  
“Jethro, what do you need me to do?” I ask him but he continues to stare at me making me ask, “DO you want me to sleep out on the coach?”  
“No,” Gibbs exclaims loudly almost before I am finished my question.  
“Do you want to go down stairs and work on the boat?” I ask him but he continues to not answer making me add, “I can help if you like.”  
“No,” Gibbs answers again but softer.  
“Do you want to sleep again?”   
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs softly hums making me node before reaching over and grabbing his hand.  
“I don’t think even marines can sleep standing up,” I remind him as I pull the blanket off of his side so that he can lay down. Without releasing my hand, he lays down on his side with a surprised look on his face. I ask him, “What’s wrong, Jethro?”  
“You’re not mad that I work you up?” Gibbs asks me in honest surprise and confusion.  
“No… why would I be?” I ask him in the same confusion.  
“My ex-wives always got made when I woke them up,” Gibbs explains.  
“Well, let’s not go there… it just means that you have buy coffee later,” I inform him making him hum. I lay back down with my back to him while releasing his hand, but before I can reach back to hold his hand, Gibbs hold chest is suddenly against my back with both his arms tightly around me.  
“Don’t leave me,” Gibbs softly begs of me.  
“I’m sorry… I was just getting comfortable, I can’t sleep on my other side,” I inform him softly making him hum against my neck.  
“I wish the nightmares go away,” Gibbs mumbles into my neck while tightly holding me.  
“Do you mind if I ask,” I begin before stopping because I don’t want to upset Gibbs again.  
“Why now?” Gibbs finishes for me making me node. It falls silent making me think he isn’t going to answer the question but after a long moment he explains, “It’s the day they died… it always brings the memories back.”  
“Oh, Jethro… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked… I… I’m so sorry,” I mumble in shame as I give his arm a squeeze.  
“Not your fault. You didn’t know.”  
“I’m sorry… I still shouldn’t have asked,” I mumble as I roll back over and rub his hair. Gibbs gives me a look for that but doesn’t stop me. I rub his hair until I am sure he is asleep and then I turn around again. I hold his hand as I fall to sleep again but I don’t know how long I’ll sleep before Gibbs works me up again with another nightmare but I do hope he sleeps the rest of the night/morning.  
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I wake up the later that morning with Gibbs holding me tightly and the clock now reads 6:15. I gently roll over to see that Gibbs is sleeping peacefully, I don’t want to wake him up but we have work today. I attempt to slide out from between the arms only for them to tighten as Gibbs’ eyes open with a confused look.  
“Morning Jethro… I was just going to make coffee,” I whisper to him.  
“Morning,” Gibbs groans as he releases me and rolls back onto his side of the bed.  
“Go back to sleep for a while,” I whisper to him as I get out of the bed and walk into the bathroom. I take care of business before walking back throw the bedroom to the kitchen where I put on a pot of water to boil. As the water begins to boil I grab two thermo travel mugs and put the coffee in both, and in mine I put some sugar. I finish boiling the water and tip it into both mugs before I add milk into my own. I am mixing them both when I feel a set of hands on my hip before Gibbs steps up behind me.  
“Thanks baby,” Gibbs says to me as he takes his travel mug and puts the lid on him.  
“Welcome,” I return while turning around and making sure he is okay.  
“What?” Gibbs asks me when I stare at him too long.  
“Are you alright? Or do you want to take the day off?” I ask him in concern for his wellbeing.  
“I haven’t taken a day off since ninety-six.”  
“Except for when you quit.”  
“I didn’t quit… I retired.”  
“I’m young, I can remember you quitting,” I tease him making him fake glare at me while I smile innocently.


	55. Brothers in Arms *

“Name’s Troy Webster. He had information I needed,” Shepard informs us tightly as she is getting checked out at ambulance since meeting this ‘informant’ in an alleyway this morning at 4 am. She got the informant killed because she is on a vengeance mission.  
“The frog,” Gibbs and I state together.  
“Getting La Grenouille on ARES is off-limits,” Shepard snaps sadly. Before continuing, “But with what Webster had, I still could have nailed Grenouille to the wall.”  
“And the reason we’re finding out about this right now,” I demand of her because she sounds like a pissed of wife, not a federal agencies director.  
“Or are you gonna quote rule four to me again?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“Are you gonna quote rule one back at me?” Shepard snaps back at Gibbs.  
“What were you doing out here alone?”   
“I can take care of myself, Jethro.”  
“Right,” I say in disbelief.  
“Who was taking care of him?” Gibbs demands of her.  
“Well, from this point forward, that would be me,” Ducky informs us as he walks up to us making Shepard walk of towards the body. Ducky then asks us, “Well, it’s not anything said.”  
“She’s pissed that her revenge mission is out in the open because she killed her partner,” I inform Ducky.  
“Any witnesses get an ID on the vehicle?” Ziva asks as Shepard walks into the crime scene. I can hear it from where I am standing at the ambulance with Ducky and Gibbs.  
“All I got is some kind of truck. Plates were missing,” McGee answers her while checking his notebook.  
“It was a dark Limited edition, ford excursion. Tinted windows. Off-road tires. Broken taillight. And, uh… now missing a rear window,” Shepard informs them as Ducky walks over to the body and Gibbs and I walk around the perimeter where we can still here without being under everyone’s feet.  
“You got off a few rounds,” Tony comments as he holds ups up the bullet casing.  
“I don’t take kindly to being shot at.”  
“Was he shooting you or him?” Gibbs demands of her as he nodes at the body and moves closer to his team.  
“Director of NCIS is a high-value target,” Ziva comments.  
“Whereas this is,” McGee begins.  
“His name is Troy Webster,” Shepard informs them after a moment of silence when they all exchange looks releasing they don’t know anything about this guy.  
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“Tory Webster. Never met a dollar he couldn’t launder,” Tony says as he puts the victims photo from before he died on the plasma screen about my desk we are all watching including the director.  
“A certified CPA with offices int eh Isle of Mann, Dubai and the Caymans,” Ziva adds.  
“His number one client,” McGee begins as Tony hits the button on the remote putting up the client.  
“The frog,” Gibbs and I say together.  
“La Grenouille,” Shepard corrects us like it’s her name we’re getting wrong.  
“Your favourite international arms dealer and mine,” Tony teases her.  
“Wasn’t Webster’s favourite. At least not anymore”  
“They had a falling out?” Ziva asks her in surprise with her arms crossed.  
“Webster woke up one day, and realized he had sold his soul to the devil.”  
“And then he got in bed with the devils wife… and ended up talking to my father,” I state making Shepard glare at me but I don’t care.  
“Too bad the devil doesn’t give refunds,” Tony comments as he changes the photo to Webster when he was alive.  
“Webster knew the risks,” Shepard defends the death of the man.  
“What was the reward?” Gibbs asks her.  
“He was bringing me a file on La Grenouille’s entire operation, down to the last dock invoice, past and future.”  
“Oh, yeah I would have shot hit too… that’s why you should have done it inside where he couldn’t die,” I snap at her making Gibbs grab me around the shoulder before I jumped over the desk and killed her. This guy didn’t have to die if Shepard wasn’t so self-centred.  
“Next arms shipment he made, we could have nailed him,” McGee released what Shepard’s ‘plan’ was.  
“France would have had no choice but to extradite him to the US,” Shepard agrees with McGee.  
“And he’d never know how we got to him,” Tony releases.  
“The only thing we found on Webster was his cell. No file,” Ziva informs us.  
“Well, there was someone there who could have taken it,” I remind Ziva making Shepard glare at me more.  
“The cell’s flash drive was empty, but that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be a hidden directory,” McGee adds to Ziva’s comment.  
“McGee, get the drive down to Abby,” Gibbs begins.  
“Down to Abby and see if she can pull anything off of it,” Shepard overlaps him while ordering his team around.  
“DiNozzo, Ziva, follow up every lead,” Gibbs begins with an eyeroll.  
“Follow up every lead… you have on the shooter, and report directly to me,” Shepard again takes over Gibbs ordering his team. They all look at Gibbs as Shepard storms away, Gibbs half smiles before following the director, pulling me along because he hasn’t released me yet. We follow her up and into her office where she stands, staring out of the window. There is a photo of the frog on her TV, at least Ari was only a small box in the bottom of one computer on one desk.  
“I suppose I should say thank you,” Shepard comments when she thinks it’s only Gibbs.  
“For?” Gibbs asks her in fake confusion, he knows what she is supposed to be thanking him for.  
“For not calling me out when you had a right to. I apologize. It’s your team. I was out of order,” Shepard explains as she turns around to face us.  
“Whose team?”   
“Your team,” Shepard answers him with a huff of air that I suppose can be called a laugh.  
“What me to get the shades?” Gibbs teases her as he walks over to close it because she is staring at for froggy.  
“I’m through sitting in the dark looking at photos.”  
“Yeah, we noticed,” I inform her as Gibbs comes back around her desk.  
“You think I’m being reckless,” Shepard accuses Gibbs as he comes to a stop in front of her.  
“What do you think?” Gibbs demands of her without looking at her.  
“I think I’m taking the same chances that you did when you were after Ari.”  
“This is completely different… we hunted that animal down because he shot NCIS employees and held the hostage… twice… and then he killed an NCIS agent. You are doing this for personally reasons… big difference and you compare the two again, and dad will be comparing your autopsy to my sister,” I snap at Shepard. She doesn’t have a right to talk about anything that happened around Ari.  
“I wasn’t the director of NCIS,” Gibbs defends himself while throwing me a look that says, ‘leave it. She won’t understand.’  
“But I am,” Shepard reminds him.  
“SO you should be better at not hunting people do… you should know better,” I snap at her.  
“It give me prerogatives,” Shepard informs us. She stares at the photo for another minute as Gibbs waits her out. She begins walking around until she is behind her desk and taken a seat before continuing, “Troy Webster initiated contact with me three months ago. Then he got cold feet.”  
‘Until last night,” Gibbs comments as he turns around and sits on the edge of the table, waiting for the whole story.  
“He called after midnight. Said he had information on an arms shipment to an American supplier happening soon. It was an opportunity I could not pass up.”  
“Which Webster would have known,” I state as I walk over and sit next to Gibbs on the table.  
“It wasn’t a trap.”  
“You sure?” Gibbs asks her.  
“You’re still assuming Webster was the target,” I add.  
“He could have been the bait,” Shepard admits after scrunching up her face like a baby eating a lemon.  
“Do you get it now?” Gibbs demands of her. He stands up walking towards her as he asks, “The real question is, why didn’t you get it sooner?”  
“You think my personal feeling about LA Grenouille are clouding my judgement? You don’t know what my personal feelings are,” Shepard informs him as he comes to a stop right in front of her desk.  
“Right. I have no need to know,” Gibbs takes a stab at her and her lying ways. Gibbs leans down on the desk and demands of her, “How fa are you willing to go to get this guy, Jen?”  
“As far as you went to get Ari, Jethro.”  
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“Strange to say, it was the Germans who deliberately leaked that she was working for them, thus reinforcing the spy world’s oldest maxim,” Ducky rambles to Shepard’s victim as we walk into autopsy and he is putting the dental mould on.  
“Don’t be a spy?” Gibbs asks him as we come to a stop on the other side of the victim.  
“Trust no one,” Ducky corrects him making Gibbs smile closed mouth. Ducky continues with an accent, “You would have made a lousy agent provocateur, Jethro.”  
“Well, thank you, Duck. I’ll take that as a compliment.”  
“I’m just taking my own advice, trying to confirm Abby’s fingerprint ID somehow,” Ducky explains to us as he attempts to remove the mould out of the victim’s mouth.  
“Dad, we also don’t know what we’re doing here,” I remind him.  
“Oh. Oh, yes, I do have some information that you may find useful as well as inexplicable,” Ducky informs us as he walks away from the body over to the rolling table with his paperwork on it. He picks up the clip board to show us, “Take a look at this. One bullet perfectly bisected the inferior vena cava. Another, the superior vena cava. Also perfect bisection.”  
“Two in the chest,” Gibbs states while looking at the paperwork over my shoulder while I look over Ducky’s shoulder.  
“And one in the head. Standard execution-style, but with astounding accuracy,” Ducky informs us as he place the clipboard back down and takes us over to the x-rays to show us the last bullet.  
“Troy Webster was the target,” I state.  
“Yeah. If the shooter had wanted the director dead, he would not have missed. As for Troy Webster, the shooter may have wasted his bullets. The patient suffered from an elevated protein level in his cerebral spinal fluid. I didn’t think much of it at the time until I opened up his cranium,” Ducky informs us as he walks back over to the rolling table, picking up the paperwork and showing us the results. He puts the clip board back down and picks up a jar with a tumour in it. He continues to talk, “And found this. It’s almost certainly malignant.”  
“Brain tumour,” Gibbs comments as he takes the tumour and shakes it around the container.  
“And inoperable. He would have been dead in six weeks.”  
“That might explain why he had a change of heart,” I comment as Ducky takes the tumour back off of Gibbs.  
“If he knew about it. I also took the precaution of acquiring his medical records. Given the size of this tumour, I’d think he would have known something was amiss,” Ducky informs us as we follow him over to his desk where he hands the tumour back to Gibbs who turns the bottle sideways and rolls the tumour around like a child with a ball. Ducky picks up the medical file and turns around to sit on the edge of his desk. He continues to talk, “He would have said something to his doctor, but there’s no mention of any abnormality, far less cancer.”  
“Any chance they could have missed it?” Gibbs asks as he hands the tumour back to Ducky.  
“No. I am at a loss to explain it. Hence the word ‘inexplicable,’” Ducky says right before the power buts out. I grab Gibbs arm because the entire room is dropped into darkness and I can’t stand the dark still. I think I might even be more afraid. The backup generator kicks in within second but it feels so much long. Ducky comments, “Hello, Hello. What is this?”  
“The backup generators is kicking in,” Gibbs states while holding my hand.  
“Sorry… That was me,” Abby comments over the video phone making Ducky get off the desk the first time she speaks.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“What’s going on?” Shepard demands as she steps out of the elevator right before the door way into the lab. We don’t answer her just walk into the lab where Abby and McGee are staring at the smoky computer and the screen is completely shattered.  
“You two okay?” I ask them.  
“well, we’re fine,” McGee answers as Abby walks towards her computer, or at least what is left of her.  
“Bertha… she’s toast,” Abby says in shock.  
“What happened?” Shepard demands.  
“Well, we were trying to access Webster’s smartphone,” McGee begins.  
“Turns out there was some sort of hidden partition. We must have triggered some sort of fail-safe,” Abby explains as she turns to us.  
“Which uploaded a virus on Abby’s system.”  
“A virus did this?” Gibbs asks in disbelief.  
“No. but it tricked our surge protector into thinking that there was a lightning strike that killed the power,” Abby explains.  
“When the backups kicked in, it overloaded our distribution mode,” McGee continues to explain.  
“Were you able to pull anything off the phone before it self-destructed?” Shepard cuts McGee off.  
“No. surge took care of that,” McGee explains as he hold up the burnt phone.  
“Pretty mission: impossible, huh?” Abby asks.  
“Can you retrieve any data?” Shepard demands of them almost in beg. Making the geeks exchange a look.  
“There’s no data left to retrieve,” McGee explains.  
“Anything that Webster would have had on LA Grenouille, it’s gone,” Abby explains. Shepard looks like a kicked puppy making Abby exclaims while walking towards the director with arms positioned for a hug, “Aw, somebody need…”  
“This was careless!” Shepard yells into Abby’s face making Abby almost run away in fear.  
“OI… you might be the director of fucking people over and getting people killed but if you EVER yell at Abby again… I won’t bite you… I’ll shot you,” I yell at her as I pull Abby into a one armed hug.  
“Jen,” Gibbs warns her.  
“How many more lives are going to be ruined before we bring that monster in?” Shepard demands of Gibbs.  
“How many have been ruined so far?”   
“It’s not over. We still have Troy Webster.”  
“Not sure how much talking he’s going to do… the dead tend to stay silent,” I remind her as I glare at her… it’s not our fault she is personally involved in this case.  
“He doesn’t need to. Webster was going to bring us La Grenouille for arms dealing. Now he’s going to bring him to us for murder,” Shepard snaps at Gibbs and me before turning and walking out.  
“I’m going to shoot her one day,” I state as I hold Abby tighter for a second.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“This ever happened before?” Gibbs asks Shepard back in her office as he sits on the edge of the table with me again.  
“No,” Shepard answers him from behind her desk as she stares out of the window.  
“What’s you say to them?” I ask her.  
“I told them to send someone over,” Shepard informs me as she turns around to face us so we are having a proper conversation.  
“You want to see the CIA, you always do it on their turf and their terms,” Gibbs informs her.  
“Maybe they’ve finally figured it out that we’re on the same team.”  
“It doesn’t mean they’re going to play ball,” Gibbs states with a half-smile.  
“After the way we salvaged ARES for them, they owe us,” Shepard reminds us but I don’t think the CIA will see it like that. They’ll see it that we stepped in and chased one of their agents to death and then sold the program to a arms deal from a dead man. The intercom on Shepard’s desk beeps letting her know her assist is trying to get her attention making Shepard ask, “Yes, Cynthia?”  
“Your appointment’s arrived, director,” Cynthia informs Shepard.  
“Send them in,” Shepard orders her while smirking at Gibbs because she was right. Shepard stand up and walks towards the door as it open and in walks Fornell. Fornell shuts the door as Shepard says in surprise, “Agent Fornell.”  
“Jenny. Jethro. Alice,” Fornell greets us.  
“Get lost on your way to work, Tobias?” Gibbs teases his friend with a smile making Fornell smile back with a closed mouth as we both stand up and face the FBI agent.  
“Better question. Are you leaving now?” I ask Fornell like normal.  
“We were expecting someone from the CIA, not FBI,” Shepard exclaims.  
“You… madam director. You were,” I correct her calmly, I was expecting no one but Tony to come throw the door.  
“As you know, I’m on attachment to homeland security,” Fornell reminds us like that explains the not CIA agent in the CIA appointment.  
“That doesn’t make you CIA,” Gibbs reminds Fornell.  
“And yet here I am, just the same.”  
“Langley hates the FBI,” Shepard reminds him.  
“So does everyone else but we have to deal with this,” I remind her as I point up and down Fornell’s person.  
“Yeah, but not as much as they hate you right now,” Fornell begins.  
“I’m really being to like Langley, maybe I should join them,” I comment making Fornell give me a side look for not taking this seriously but come on, she pissed me off to.  
“You really pissed them off over something,” Fornell finishes.  
“And so you volunteered to smooth things out?” Shepard asks Fornell while pointing for him to sit next to the table Gibbs and I were sitting on. He walks over and sits while she moves to the other side of the table and sits down herself.  
“Not exactly ‘volunteered.’ I just draw the short straw,” Fornell informs her, making Shepard roll her eyes at him. I sit on the seat next to Fornell while Gibbs sits on the edge of Shepard’s desk looking at Fornell. Fornell asks us, “So you guys want to tell me what this is all about? ‘Cause they didn’t tell me squat.”  
“Oh, I’d run Fornell… she already yelled at Abby because Abs couldn’t do what the madam director wanted… so she is going to yell at you and she’s ugly when she yells,” I warn him without caring about the glare the director levels at me because I have a right to warn whoever the hell I like.  
“I need face time with one of their undercover assets,” Shepard informs him.  
“Name?” Fornell demands of her.  
“Trent Kort. Alias.”  
“They’re gonna want to know why.”  
“On going NCIS investigation,” Shepard lies making me laugh because it’s not an NCIS investigation, it’s a Shepard getting people killed to get her own way thing.  
“That’s it?”   
“One of my informants was killed. I believe Kort has information to help me find the killer.”  
“That sounds reasonable. On the other hand, this is the Cia, so they’re probably going to tell me to tell you to go to hell,” Fornell informs her making Gibbs smile.  
“I tried… she doesn’t listen,” I inform Fornell.  
“Remind them they owe us,” Shepard informs Fornell. Fornell looks to Gibbs who smiles back, making Shepard add, “And if you want to know why, ask them.”  
Fornell gets up and walks over to the door, opening it and then turning around to ask us, “And who said the old days were dead.”  
“Not them,” Shepard answers him making him walk out and shut the door behind him with a smile.   
“Well, I guess hell hasn’t frozen over after all,” Gibbs comments with a big smile taking great pleasure at Shepard being wrong and the CIA not coming.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs and I walk into the lab to see Abby down on the floor with her new computer, taking a selfie with the computer.   
“Beautiful,” Abby comments when she checks the selfie. She turns around and sees us standing in the door way making her say, “Hi.”  
“Hi,” Gibbs repeats.  
“It’s kind of a tradition when I get new equipment,” Abby informs us.  
“At least you can go back to the photo and work out if it’s still in warrant,” I comment.  
“So I guess you’re here for the results of the blood I found?” Abby asks, as she stands up off of the floor, because when she processed the director’s crime scene she found blood on the glass the director shot out.   
“We heard you got a hit on the DNA,” I state as we walk further into the room because we stopped at the door when we saw Abby taking the photo.  
“Yes, and no,” Abby answers confusingly.  
“Let’s start with the yes part, Abs,” Gibbs offers as we come to a stop beside her.  
“Gibbs, I’m down here by myself all day long, and I finally have some company. So don’t make me rush this,” Abby informs him as she circles us, Gibbs and I turn as we are facing the walking girl the whole time as not to be rude. She continues to talk as she comes to a stop in front of her computer desk but still facing us, “I isolated the DNA from the blood on the SUV’s glass fragments. The blood spatter indicated that it came from the driver. So I ran the DNA through every database I could think of, and I got nothing. So ask me why I’m smiling.”  
“You’re always smiling Abby,” Gibbs and I remind her together before I continue on my own, “Even when you had a stalker and when your hangover… you’re a smiling thing.”  
“Well, that’s ‘cause I’m a happy person, Gibbs, Alice. And I was especially happy when I found out that our driver was a mutant,” Abby says making Gibbs look away from her a ‘why me’ look. Abby doesn’t care and continues to ramble about a mutant, “I mean, we all have mutations in our DNA technically…”  
“Abby,” Gibbs cuts her off.  
“The owner had a genetic defect at position 3702 on his glucosidase beta acid gene. It’s called Gaucher’s disease,” Abby explains to us as she walks over to the computer near the door, one that she didn’t burn earlier, and pulls up the victim’s DNA on it, showing us the glucosidase Beta Acid/370.  
“Rare?” I ask her hopefully.  
“IT’s rear enough. It’s treated with an enzyme-replacement drug called Ceredase,” Abby explains as she pulls up the drugs chemical makeup on the computer while turning to face Gibbs. She continues to explain, “There’s only three pharmacies within a hundred-mile radius that carry it, and there’s only one patient taking it.”  
“Do you got an address?” Gibbs asks Abby like she’s a newbie and not Abby.  
“Do you even have to ask?” Abby asks him as she hands it over. He reads the paper for a second before placing a kiss on her check.  
“Thank you.”  
“Yes,” I exclaim when Gibbs finally says the words on the way out of the lab.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Nice place,” Tony says sarcastically as we walk throw a brick walkway with doors every so often looking for the correct apartment. We are all wearing our NCIS windbreakers with our badges over our left chest and NCIS hats.  
“Apartment 212,” Ziva reminds us.  
“Warrant,” Gibbs asks as we come to a stop in front of the apartment and I knock on the door.  
“Right here!” McGee says while pulling it out of his chest pocket.  
“Federal Agents!” Gibbs calls out announcing ourselves as we draw our guns ready for this showdown.  
“Boss, Agent Lee wanted me to remind you we need to wait at least fifteen seconds,” McGee begins but Gibbs just kicks the door in and we rush in to secure the premises.  
“Clear!” Ziva calls out as we search room to room.  
“Well, this guy was wither practicing for his plastic surgery finals,” Tony comments while looking at all the bloody rags and pads on the lounge room table.  
“Or he was injured in a drive-by,” Ziva adds as she walks into the lounge room with the rest of us.  
“Not injured,” McGee comments as he finds the guy laying on the bed. Gibbs walks over and checks the guy’s pulse.  
“Dead,” Gibbs informs us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The dead driver appears to be a dead end,” McGee comments as he sits behind Ziva’s desk with her int eh squad room tonight.  
“Which makes the shooter our last like La Grenouille,” Ziva comments as I look up and see my father walking down from the director’s office.  
“Better hope he’s not dead, too. I’ll start running down his known associates,” McGee comments as Ducky calls for the elevator and flicks his eyes at Gibbs and then to the elevator letting Gibbs know he wants to talk. Gibbs gets up and walks to the other door to the elevator which opens as we arrive and step in.  
“Jethro. Alice,” Ducky greets us as we lean against the wall across from the wall he is leaning on.  
“Hey, Duck,” Gibbs greets him in return.  
“Hey,” I overlap Gibbs as Ducky hits the button to go down to autopsy.  
“You and the director have a nice chat?” Gibbs asks him with a grin.  
“Well, I wouldn’t call it ‘nice.’ Illuminating, perhaps,” Ducky answers him as he stops the elevator.  
“For who?” I ask him but I already know the answer and it isn’t the madam director.  
“Well, not for her. As you both expected, she didn’t… appreciate my thoughts on La Grenouille.”  
“How many drinks she have while you were there?”   
“One… that I saw but she finished one as I walked in,” Ducky answers me making me close my eyes. She is going down hill fast. Ducky continues on his other line of thought, “She still thinks of him as a prime suspect.”  
“SO do I,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Yes, but you listen to my perspective, and I have no doubt that your mind would change if the facts were to change.”  
“And the director’s won’t?” I ask him.  
“IT does not seem likely,” Ducky answers me with a shake of the head.  
“But why?” Gibbs asks because we haven’t got any real reasons her for her hatred and then she compares it to Ari… he deserved to die.  
“Well, you don’t neem a degree in psychology to see that there’s a history between those two. Something that is consuming her. Her ever… action, every thought.”  
“How far?” I ask him.  
“Well she go? Well, as far as any obsessed person. As far as it takes,” Ducky informs us making Gibbs roll his head back against the wall.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I am walking down the street tonight with Gibbs and Shepard when Gibbs stops, places his umbrella down and picks up a copy of the latest bridal guide off a shop stand. Shepard looks at him in disgust and then at the book he is looking at the dresses in, I don’t know if he picked it up to piss her off or because she’s really a girl in disguise.  
“Old habit,” Gibbs informs her as he looks throw the magazine with a smirk. Shepard walks past him to the limo that just stopped making him put the magazine back, pick up hid umbrella and lead me to the limo. Shepard gets in, then Gibbs and finally me. The only reason I am last is because Gibbs doesn’t want me to bite or kill Shepard.  
“So, you’re the overzealous fed who nearly mucked up eighteen months of undercover work,” Kort asks Shepard.  
“Gibbs,” Fornell says trying to get Gibbs to muzzle the director.  
“I’m not my director’s keeper,” Gibs informs him without much care.  
“I don’t have a lot of time. Grenouille thinks I’m in DC getting dirt on a troublesome customs inspector. Well?” Kort complains.  
“Your boss killed my informant two days ago,” Shepard complains.  
“Informant got a name?”  
“Troy Webster,” I inform him when everyone looks at the director and she fails to answer.  
“I need your help to take La Grenouille down for it,” Shepard informs him.  
“You sure it was my boss?” Kort asks in disbelief.  
“You have any information to the contrary?”  
“No, but I’ve been working with Grenouille a long time. I’ve never know him to order a hit,” Kort explains.  
“And if he did, you’d know?” Fornell asks, almost sounding like he was on our side for a second.  
“Not necessarily. Grenouille keeps information as compartmentalized as much as possible, where everything is…”  
“Need to know,” Gibbs finishes because that sounds like a load we’ve been feed recently.  
“Yeah. And accounting is not my department. Still, I doubt Grenouille had anything to do with the murder. It’s just not his style.”  
“This isn’t a fashion contest. I’m not asking for your opinion. I’m asking who La Grenouille would have gotten for the hit,” Shepard demands of him likes she is entitled to know.  
“Andre Jones. He’s Grenouille’s American small arms distributor. The kind of guy that’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. If Grenouille was to contract a kill in the states, Jones would be the only man he’d trust.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Could’ve used one of these last night,” Tony complains the next morning as we put on our bullet proof vest at the car, near the warehouse.  
“Dinner went well?” McGee asks as he clips on his camera for the director to see from MTAC onto the brim of his NCIS cap. Gibbs swings his NCIS windbreaker over his vest, while I pull on my hat, ready to go in.  
“Barely got out of there alive.”  
“Hopefully, we all do; this jones guy’s got a pretty serious record. Besides being Grenouille’s American distributor we’ve got suspected murder, aggravated assault…”  
“Don’t forget assault wit a deadly weapon, arson and kidnapping. He’s not going own without a fight” Shepard cuts McGee off from her spot safe in MTAC. I grab Gibbs NCIS Velcro label out of the back of the car and put it on his chest for him, labelling him as an NCIS agent. Me and McGee already have them on.  
“He didn’t look so tough tot me. Suspect is on-site, alone,” Ziva reports as she returns from checking that this guy is on site.  
“Armed?” Gibbs ask her.  
“There was. I took care of it,” Ziva informs us.  
“You two take the back. McGee, Alice, you’re with me,” Gibbs orders us as I slam the boot shut. We all sneak up to the two doors.  
“Just make sure Jones can still talk after he’s taken care of. To get extradition, we need an actual confession that La Grenouille ordered the hit,” Shepard orders us from her safe spot in MTAC as we draw our weapons.  
“Copy that,” Gibbs states as we jog over to a fire door looking thing. McGee puts a camera up into the corner so we can see Jones on his hand hold screen while Gibbs pulls out his lock picking kit.  
“Not so tough?” McGee asks in disbelief because this guy is huge.  
“The bigger they are, the louder they fall, McGee,” Ziva informs us over the radio.  
“The harder, Ziva,” Tony corrects her as Gibbs picks our lock.  
“Get ready to move,” Gibbs orders us when our door is unlocked because Ziva should have gotten theirs by now. We all wait, almost holding our breath until Gibbs orders us, “Move now.”  
We rush into he warehouse to see Jones working on a car.  
“Freeze,” I order him as we aim out guns on him.  
“Federal agents,” McGee adds.  
“La Grenouille told you where to find me?” Jones asks us as he turns around to face us.  
“I said freeze,” I state without answering him.  
“You try to do a guy a favour, and this is how he repays you.”  
“Get down on the ground!” Gibbs orders him calmly. Jones stares at us for a second before taking off running towards the back exit.  
“Stop!” McGee orders him.  
“Hold your fire,” Shepard reminds us as we chase him. I’m going to hit her, we can’t let him get away but she more worried about froggy getting away then closing a murder case.  
“Hold it!” Ziva orders him as she and Tony cut of his exit. He turns around and walks back towards us with Ziva following him her gun almost touching his neck. He stops between the five of us, looking over at a gun on his rolling workbench.  
“Don’t do it!” Gibbs orders him when he keeps looking at the gun.  
“I need him alive,” Shepard tells us but he picks up that gun, I’ll going to shoot to protect this team, not to let them die for her. She needed Ari alive to. We all stare at each other waiting for what’s going to happen, then Joes lunges for the gun. He picks it up and shoots at McGee, McGee and I all return fire within second he is dead on the ground with two bullet holds. Shepard yells, “Tango eight… sitrep! I repeat, I need your sitrep, tango eight.”  
“We’re fine, director,” Ziva informs her while checking Jones pulse as I look at the broken camera on the ground that Jones shot… off of McGee’s hat.  
“Uh, suspect isn’t,” Gibbs informs her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Staring’s not gonna change anything. Trust me,” I inform the director as I walk into her office to see her staring out of the window again. I left Alice in the squad room with the team because I know she would have a go at Shepard for ordering us not to defend ourselves with Jones.  
“As far as I’m concerned, Andre Jones got exactly what he deserved,” Shepard informs me as she turns around to face me.  
“This isn’t about Jones,” I inform her.  
“You’re fishing. It’s not like you, Jethro.”  
“You and me are gonna have a little talk,” I inform her as I shut the door behind myself.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“Doesn’t make sense. Why does Jones think that La Grenouille sold him out?” McGee asks in the squad room as he gets out of his chair and comes to stand next to Ziva’s desk.  
“Jones was the last link to the frog,” Tony reminds McGee.  
“With him out of the way, we’d never make a murder charge against La Grenouille stick,” Ziva adds.  
“He tricked us into doing is dirty work,” McGee complains.  
“Dad did say he uses his brains as a weapon more than a hit man,” I remind them.  
“Even I was unaware of just how sharp that weapon is. I just got off the phone with Troy Weber’s physician,” Ducky informs us as he walks into the squad room and over to Gibbs desk where he places a piece of paper.  
“Did you let him know he missed Webster’s cancer?” McGee asks him.  
“I did. And I got two distinct impressions. One, he was scared. And two, he was well aware of that tumour. I mean, how could he have missed it? Yeah, the good doctor was bribed to keep it a secret. Or threatened,” Ducky states as he signs the piece of paper he put Gibbs’ desk.  
“La Grenouille worried his employee health premiums were going to go up?” Tony jokes.  
“Being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Tony, tends to make one eager to atone for one’s sins,” Ducky reminds us as he walks around until he is in front of Tony’s desk, talking to him face to face..  
“And Grenouille didn’t want Webster atoning for his,” McGee release.  
“Webster still tried, so he must have known he was dying,” Ziva states as Ducky walks over to them to talk face to face like a true conversation.  
“With that tumour I found? No, the neurological deficits would have been pronounced. He must have suspected the end was near… regardless of what any doctor told him,” Ducky informs us before turning and leaving to the front elevator.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Normally, when someone says that they need to have a little talk, they actually talk,” Shepard taunts me when I stand there, just staring at her. She moves over and sits at her office chair instead of standing near the window behind her desk.  
“Director… of NCIS,” I begin as I walk over and pull out a chair from the table, over to near the door and sit down.  
“Yes,” She answers me as I swing side to side on the chair.  
“That’s a job I wouldn’t want.”  
“Don’t worry, no one’s offering.”  
“You know why?”  
“You mean besides your impatience, total lack of respect for authority and the fact that you still haven’t learned to play nice with others?”  
“Yeah. Yeah, besides all of that?” I answer her as I stop swinging the chair and stare at her face on.  
“I already told you, I am not allowing my personal feelings to interfere with my job.”  
“Well me again.”  
“IS there something wrong with wanting to put an arms dealer out of business?”  
“No. is that what you’re really after?”  
“What else would I be after?”  
“I don’t know, but the rate you’re going, the name ‘director’ is not gonna be on that door much longer,” I inform her as I point to the door to the office.  
“It’s good to know you’re watching my back, Jethro,” Shepard informs me after a long silence as I stare at her as my phone rings.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” I answer it. On the other end is an overly excited Abby. I listen to what she has found, humming along to let her know I am listening. “BE right down,” I inform her with a hum before ending the call. I then inform Shepard, “Well, you just may get a chance to put that arms dealer out of business yet.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Or maybe he can,” Alice laughs at Abby in the lab as I walk in with Shepard.  
“What do you got, Abs?” I ask her in greeting.  
“Oh, your usual incriminating evidence, all circumstantial, but beggars can’t be choosers,” Abby informs me.  
“I’ll take what I can get at this point,” Shepard informs Abby as Alice steps so she is between the director and Abby.  
“McGee asked me to parse Andre Jones’ old phone and bank records, and when I did I saw a pattern. An encrypted satellite phone comes in, and then a large payment to an offshore account goes out,” Abby explains to us while showing us the number and amount of money on her new computer.  
“Jones is paying for a shipment,” Alice explains to us.  
“And then, like swiss clockwork, 48 hours later, his GPS signal goes off the grid.”  
“Picking up the shipment,” Shepard states.  
“He doesn’t want to be followed,” I add as I look at the screen.  
“I haven’t been able to trace the satellite call yet, but I did recognize the encryption algorithm,” Abby adds as she puts the algorithm on the screen for us.  
“The frog,” Alice and I say together.  
“IT’s the same as the one La grenouille’s people used to call Charles Harrow.”  
“That’s a good job, Abby,” I complement her, getting ready to leave.  
“I have a grand finale. Jones made his last phone call exactly one day ago,” Abby informs us.  
Which means a shipment is coming in less than 24 hours,” Shepard comments making us leave Abby alone, rambling on about a bet.   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
I am leaning on a fence in a park with Fornell on one side and Alice on the other, watching Shepard talk to Kort again.  
“She’s pretty fired up,” Fornell comments.  
“Uh-hu,” I agree with him as I hold my coffee.  
“You know what her beef is?”   
“No,” I answer him.  
“Would you tell me if you did?” Fornell asks making me give him a look before turning back to watch the conversation.  
“FBL, CIA, homeland security and who ever else you work for want a new madam director?” Alice asks Fornell.  
“Not this one.”  
“Damn… can I threaten you into taking her?”  
“No.”  
“Damn.”  
“Okay, tell me this. Is she hot after all arms dealers, or is there something about this one in particular?”   
“You’re CIA for now, Tobias. You tell me,” I demand of him because I really don’t like either answer.  
“Something about this one. And you don’t know what it is either.”  
“You sure you don’t want a new director?” Alice asks him again making Fornell smirk at her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“You know why you’re here,” Shepard informs Tim Gerber, an art teacher that is Kort gave Shepard the name of. I am siting at the end of the table while Alice is sitting across from Gerber and Shepard paces the room.  
“No,” Gerber answers her.  
“It wasn’t a question,” I inform him.  
“Do you know who long you’re going to prison?” Shepard asks him. He opens his mouth to answer only to look at me uncertain if it is a question or not.  
“That was a question,” Alice informs him after a moment of silence.  
“Agent Gibbs., what’s the going rate for forging an EUC certificate for arms smugglings?”  
“20 years,” I answers her.  
“I’m an art teacher,” Gerber exclaims.  
“Good. Then you can draw us a picture of the EUC document you forged for Andre Jones’ guns,” Shepard informs him as she places a pencil on the table and Gibbs pulls a blank sheet of paper out of his file. She continues as she sits on the table next to Gerber, “And please make sure that I can read the time and location of shipment.”  
“It’s going down either way,” Alice informs him calmly.  
“IF you help us, I can put in a good word with the judge.”  
“And if you don’t, then,” I begin before shrugging it off.  
“I hear Gitmo is lovely this time of year. Though you will be wearing a hood.”  
“And that’s certainly going to kill you view. And make it a horrible hair day,” Alice adds.  
“What kind of good word could you put in with the judge?” Gerber asks Shepard.  
“Well, it depends how good your drawing is,” I inform him.  
“Yeah, okay. I forged the EUC for Jones, but I don’t have a location or a date.”  
“Nope, not good enough,” I inform him as I get up and walk towards the door with the file.  
“No, he makes me leave it blank. I swear. It’s added by his shell company.”  
“Name?” Shepard demands of him.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“Abbot imports,” Tony informs us as we walk towards the squad room after the integration.  
“Yeah, you got an address?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Still working on it.”  
“What’s the problem?” Shepard asks as we turn the corner into the squad room.  
“Problem is, it doesn’t exist. There’s no federal tac ID,” McGee explains as he works at his computer and Ziva works at her phone.  
“Mail goes to a PO box,” Tony adds as he moves behind McGee’s desk. I follow Gibbs over to behind his desk  
“The number’s a payphone,” Ziva continues as she walks over to the boys behind McGee’s desk.  
“Who owns the box?” Shepard asks.  
“Bills are paid by Andre Jones,” McGee informs her.  
“I’m really starting to wish we didn’t kill him.”  
“He got one shot off… and shot the camera off of the bill of McGee’s hat… I am glade we killed him before he could aim,” I snap at her making Gibbs smack my leg for snapping at the director of NCIS.  
“McGee, did you try customs?” Gibbs asks him.  
“Trying now,” McGee informs him.  
“There has to be some record of him imports, ever if it is through a shell company,” Ziva comments as she leans right over McGee looking at the computer.  
“Oh, there it is,” McGee exclaims as he finds it. He continue to talk as Gibbs and I walk around to his computer to look, “Next shipment is scheduled to arrive today.”  
“Norfolk Port Authority,” Ziva reads.  
“Got the container number,” Tony informs us making Shepard storm off.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Ever seen anyone walk that quickly in heels?” McGee asks as Shepard marches down the port authority path. We are all wearing out NCIS windbreakers with the badges, including the director.  
“Only at the end of a really hairy date,” Tony answers him.  
“Tony, all your dates are really hairy,” I tease him while turning around to walk backwards for a second making Gibbs smirk without commenting on our joking. I am in the middle of the group with Gibbs so we can hear Tony, McGee and Ziva conversation as well as anything the director might say.  
“Import company missed the pickup. No one claims the container within next 12 hours, orders are ‘return to sender.’ Lucky you guys called when you did,” one of the two custom officers informs us.  
“Luck had very little to do with it,” Shepard informs him tightly.  
“I really hope the director relaxes a bit after this,” McGee comments.  
“Don’t get your hopes up, McGee,” Ziva informs him with a chuckle.  
“Why?”   
“Once we get the weapons and trace them back to La Grenouille, he’ll go underground,” Tony informs McGee.  
“Interpol will issue a red notice,” Ziva continues.  
“But it’ll still be up to us to find him. So in other words,” McGee begins to release how screwed we are.  
“There,” Shepard says while pointing out the container.  
“Cancel your dinner plans, probie,” Tony finishes for him.  
“Open it,” Shepard orders the second officer who is carrying bolt cutter.  
“Yes, ma’am,” he answers her as he walks over and cuts the lock. We all come to a stop watching them cut the lock and open the door.   
“I got you,” Shepard comments at the boxes in the contain, so proud of herself. Gibbs and I walk in before the second door is open, shining our torches at all the boxes, Shepard follows us in. she unlocks the box and Gibbs helps her open it. She is grinning like all her Christmas came out once and Gibbs just got back with her. Gibbs picks up one of the high power guns in his hand and places his other hand over the muzzle. He pulls the trigger but instead of blood getting on my shoes, water drips of his hand.  
“Squirt guns,” Gibbs comments with a smirk. Shepard looks through the box, only to find a letter and a bottle of alcohol.  
“Dear Webster, best wishes on your new career. La Grenouille,” Shepard reads the letter.  
“We have nothing,” Ziva releases.  
“We never did,” I correct her making Shepard scrunch her face up like a two year old, scrunch the letter up. Throw it away and storm off.  
“He’s good,” Tony comments.  
“He’s really good,” McGee ups Tony’s comment.  
“He’d better be,” Gibbs comments as he watches the mad director storm off as fast as she stormed here.  
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“Abby, I need a favour,” I state as I walk into the lab tonight.  
“What?” Abby asks with a grin as she turns around to face me from working on her new computer.  
“I need you to help me with something…”  
“What?”  
“Come with me,” I state instead of answering her.  
“Nope, for once. You’re going to tell me before I go with you…”  
“I want to go shopping.”  
“Why not take Gibbs?”  
“Because it’s a surprise for Jethro,” I whisper to her making her grin.  
“What do you want?”   
“An outfit.”  
“Don’t you have enough sexy dresses yet?”  
“Abby. That’s not what I want to buy,” I inform her.  
“What do you want to buy then?”  
“Something only Jethro is going to see.”  
“What sort of something?”   
“Something that if Tony ever new I have, he’ll never leave me alone,” I promise her making her smirk at me.  
“Got something in mind.”  
“Just a set of colours I want,” I answer her making her smirk at me before login off for the night.  
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*  
I walk down the stairs in what I brought with Abby earlier, into the basement where Gibbs is working on the boat. I step of the last step when he looks up and drops the sanding block onto this foot making me laugh at him.  
“You like?” I ask him.  
“Yeah,” Gibbs answers me as he licks his lips and looks me up and down slowly. He asks me, “Where did you get it?”  
“Abby helped me pick it.”  
“Well, I will have to buy her a caf-pow,” Gibbs mumbles as he continues to look me over. I am wearing a red baby doll. Around my boobs are red lace while from the bottom of my boobs to just below my ass. Down the left side, there is a split that parts up to the lace, and where it overlaps, it leaves a triangle to the top of my left hip. Because of the split, I am not wearing anything under this. I have left my hair out, meaning it covers more of my body then my outfit.  
“Mm-hmm,” I hum as I walk over to the stunned and run my hands up his chest. I wrap my arms around his neck while standing on tip toes and placing a kiss on his lips, which breaks him out of the shock. His hands grip my hips, holding me in place so that he can take control of the kiss. He turns and pins me again the boat cabin rib, rubbing his hands up my body and back down.   
Gibbs moves his mouth from mine, and begin kissing down my neck. I run my hands down his back, grabbing the NIS sweatshirt he is wearing and pulling it over his head. While Gibbs is pulling the shirt off of his head, I lean forward and place a kiss on his neck. Before sucking on the spot behind his ear, making him groan and grab the rib behind me. I kiss back down his neck and onto his chest. I kiss down until I find his left nipple, which I flick my tongue over. I tease one nipple with my mouth as I run my finger over his other nipple. I then scrap it with my nail, making him groan louder. I smirk against his chest before kissing further down his body. I kneel down, kissing his belly button, playing with the top of his pants. I look up at him with a smirk before moving away from his body and untie his shoes. I pull them and his socks off, before undoing his belt buckle and pulling to out of his pants. As I undo the belt, I rub against the bulge in his pants. I smirk at him again as I unbutton his pants, I pull down the zipper. I grab both the pants and his boxers, pilling them down and off.   
I run the tips of my fingers over his swollen member.   
“Alice, don’t tease me,” Gibbs orders me making me smirk at him again. As I run my fingers over it, I stick my tongue out and lick the tip. I can’t help myself, but to put that hold bulb head into my mouth, sucking on it. I grab the how thing in my left hand, rubbing it up and down where the bit that isn’t in my mouth. With my right hand, I fondle his balls, making Gibbs groan at me. Threading his fingers into my hair, attempting to coax me into take more into my warm mouth.   
I slowly suck on the tip of his cock like it is a lollipop while stroking the rest and gently squeezing his balls before rolling them again.  
“Alice... Alice,” Gibs groans before pulling me off of his cock and back onto my feet. Once I am standing he continues, “Alice, stop teasing me.”  
“Why would I do that?” I ask him as he grabs the bottom of the baby doll I am wearing. With a smirk he gently pulls it up before dropping it when he sees my underwear, well the fact I don’t have underwear on.  
“No underwear, baby?” Gibbs asks me with a smirk. He runs his fingers through my lower lips and pulls them out. He returns them, too my lips. He gently pushes one finger inside of me, and begins to thrust it in and out. He adds a second one before bending them into a come here motion, making me moan and grip his arm. He bends his hand so that his palm is rubbing my clitoris. He thrust against that spot inside of me with his fingers, as he rubs my clitoris making me moan, and dig my nails into his arm. With his other hand he pulls the top of my outfit down and flicks my nipple with one hand, and the nipple he wraps his mouth around. Be gently bites the nipple, then sooths it with his tongue. He quickly brings me to that peak.  
“Jethro… I’m going to cum,” I warn him before coating his hand in my cum with a loud moan. He removes the fingers from my pussy, as he releases the nipple and places the wet fingers into his mouth before grabbing the outfit again and this time taking it off, leaving me in my birthday suit. He lifts me up, leaning me against the boat part. I wrap my legs around his waist as he lines himself up with me and lowers me down onto his cock, making us both groan loudly.  
He gently pins me against the rib, using his hips to thrust up into me, over and over again. He starts out gentle but he quickly becomes faster and harder. I move my hips to meet him halfway, making his cock go deeper into me. I throw my head back with a moan, as I scratch my nails down his back, attempting to hold onto him. Gibbs moves his hips slightly making him hit that spot inside of myself that makes me see stars, making me bury my nails into his back.  
“Damn,” Gibbs groan before reaching down and rubbing my clitoris making me moan. He rubs it in tight little circles making me moan over and over again.   
“Cum,” Gibbs orders me.  
“Jethro,” I scream as I cum around his cock.   
Gibbs thrust into me three more time before informing me, “I’m gonna cum.” A moment later he cums inside of me with a loud groan. He holds me with his cock still inside of me until he finish cumin and he then slowly lowers me down so that my feet are back on the ground.  
*  
“Are you alright, baby?” Gibbs asks me as he rubs my hair out of my face.  
“Yeah… definitely worth the money and embarrassment of asking for help,” I mumble.  
“Glade no one walked in when you were wearing that,” Gibbs says as he looks at the outfit he drops onto the floor.  
“Oh, I locked the door before I put it on,” I promise him, Tony is not walking in on that again.  
“Good… that’s for me to see only,” Gibbs promise me as he wraps his arm around me, pulling me into a hug.  
“You want to go to bed?”  
“Yeah… yeah,” Gibbs agrees with me, making me lean down to pick up my baby doll to put in the dirty washing only for Gibbs to pick me up again, making me laugh.  
“Jethro, put me down,” I beg of him as he heads over to the stairs and walks up, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes making me laugh at him.


	56. In The Dark

“What are you doing?” I ask Gibbs as he looks for something in the garage.  
“I lost my drill,” Gibbs answers me as he continues to look for the missing drill.  
“Like a true drill, or from the stone ages?” I tease him as I lean against the doorway, watching Gibbs ass as he leans down to look on the floor.  
“It’s a hand drill. Are you going to help me, or just keep watching?”  
“I’ll watch,” I answer him with a smirk but I do enter and begin looking on the bench. I ask him, “What does it look like?”  
“Like this,” Gibbs comments as he draws in the dirt on the floor. He draws a line then at ninety degrees another line in going the same way as the first, back down so he is in line with the first line and back out. It kind of looks like a half-square with lines out each end.  
“Okay,” I mumble as I begin looking for it. I can’t help asking him, “Is it definitely in this room or is it in the basement?”  
“I already looked in the basement.”  
“And it will be in the garage because?”  
“Because it’s the only other place I remember using it.”  
“Right,” I mumble as I look around. I am looking under the bench.  
“Gotcha,” Gibbs exclaims making me look over at him to see him pulling it off of the top of a cupboard.  
“Were you trying to lose that permanently?” I ask him because who would look on top of the cupboard.  
“I put it out of harm’s way. Emily was around,” Gibbs defends himself.  
“And Emily is?”   
“Fornell’s daughter.”  
“Poor girl,” I say making Gibbs smirk at me as his phone rings.  
“Yeah, Gibbs… Uh-hu… have them meet me there,” Gibbs says into the phone before handing up.  
“Work?”   
“Yep…”  
“I’ll put my shoes on,” I state as I walk over to the door back into the house with Gibbs following me. I pick up my shoes and put them on before taking the gun Gibbs is offering me from the safe. I grab my badge on the way out of the room but I don’t have my NCIS windbreaker at home, so I just put on the leather jacket Ducky brought me.  
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“After my assistant noticed the body, I blew up the photo. She saw the uniform, called you,” Mr Scott, a blind photographer, informs us how he found the body as we walk around his apartment.   
“We’re going to need a copy of your negatives, Mr Scott,” I inform him as I turn to face him, he might not be able to see but I find it very rude not to face the person you are talking to.  
“Sorry, we’re late, boss. Hit every red light and we had to stop get gas,” Tony inform us as he walks into the room.  
“And some… bratwurst?” Scott asks him after smelling the air. Making Gibbs give Tony a look as Tony chuckles at being told on.  
“Everybody gets hungry,” Tony defends himself.  
“Where’s the body?” McGee asks as he carries all of Tony, Ziva and his own crime scene stuff into the apartment making me give them a look. Tony should know better then to make McGee do that by now… I will just have to teach him that lesson again.  
“Apparently there’s been some sort of miscommunication,” Ziva informs them.  
“What? We carried all our equipment up here for nothing,” Tony complains making me hit his arm.  
“Yeah, ‘we,’” McGee agrees.  
“Do you remember where you were when you took that photo?” Ziva asks Scott.  
“I was at the corner of 18th and Wescott following the fruit,” Scott informs her.  
“Since Mr Scott lost his eyesight in an automobile accident ten years ago, he’s had to rely on his other senses for his work. Instead of following the light, he’ll go out and follow a sound or in this case, a scent as inspiration,” Bryn Landers, his assistant and the one who found the body in the photo, informs us as I take a seat on the steps next to Gibbs. McGee is fascinated by the photo on the wall of someone smoking or something like that.  
“Last night, it was some kid of… fruit smell. Slightly rotten. Like an orange, maybe. Bad cologne, I followed it for over an hour. ‘Til I hit that underpass… and then all I could smell was vomit.”  
“What’s the inspiration behind these?” McGee asks while pointing to the photos on the wall.  
“Oh… I heard a girl crying, I followed the tears,” Scott informs them as he stands up.  
“I don’t see a girl,” Tony says very uncertainty with what he is looking at.  
“Neither did I.”  
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“It’s funny how a hundred people probably walked by this guy and it took a blind man to find him,” Tony comments as we process the crime scene. Tony is taking photos while I am sketching it. Gibbs and I have gotten our NCIS windbreakers and hats out of the van, now wearing them. Ziva and McGee are over near the edge of the crime scene working together.  
“’It’s funny?’” Gibbs demands of him as he walks around from the other side of the dumpster back around, looking closely at everything he passes.  
“Well, funny in a kind of sad, pathetic way,” Tony defends himself as Ducky and Jimmy arrive. Tony takes photos of Jimmy with his eyes shut as he says, “What if I was blind?”  
“You’d walk off the edge of a building… and make a mess,” I inform Tony as I squad down between the body and Gibbs sketching the knife. Next to the knife on my sketch I write down how far it is from the dumpster and the body.  
“That technique may work for the likes of Jackson Scott, Tony, but a true investigator keeps his eyes open at all times,” Ducky informs Tony as ne kneels down next to our victim. Gibbs kneels down and marks the knife with a crime scene number as Ducky continues to informs us, “A lesson this unfortunate would have done well to heed. Does he have a name?”  
“No wallet, no ID,” Gibbs informs Ducky as he bags the knife once Tony and I finish with it in place. Gibbs shows Ducky what he found while informing him, “Found this, Duck.”  
“Sharp-force trauma to the abdomen, making that the probable murder weapon. If this was a murder, of course,” Ducky says making Gibbs give him a half smile because it looks like a murder to everyone. Ducky adds, “Yeah, I know, I know. It always is, isn’t it?”  
“May I?” I ask Gibbs before taking the knife off of him and looking at in while it stays in the bag as Ducky inserts the liver prob. It’s clean beside for the blood. The whole this is silver and looks well taken care of.  
“Time of death roughly fifteen hours ago,” Ducky informs us as he removes the liver prob and wipes it clean.  
“Those markings on his neck?” Tony asks as he takes a photo of the markings, like something was ripped off.  
“Yeah, well abrasions such as those usually result from the forcible removal of jewellery. Perhaps a crucifix or in his case, his dog tags,” Ducky informs us.  
“Pre-mortem?” I ask him.  
“Well, the inflammation suggests he was still alive.”  
“Combine that with the missing wallet,” Tony begins.  
“Looks like a mugging,” Jimmy exclaims as Gibbs and I stand back up before Gibbs signs the evidence back holding the knife that he took back from me. Jimmy continues, “I’ll just swab under the fingernails.”  
“He is right, actually. Snatched necklace, missing wallet, signs of struggle, textbook mugging,” Tony says softly to Gibbs and myself in surprise that Jimmy the autopsy gremlin was and is right.  
“Or it was made to look like one,” Gibbs corrects him before walking away.  
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“As withal new media, carnal activity came to the forefront, thus proving the old adage,” Ducky informs Jimmy as we walk into autopsy.  
“Sex sells,” Gibbs finishes for Ducky.  
“Yes, it does. Although I assume that’s not what you came down here to discuss,” Ducky states as he turns to face us while removing the face shield..  
“That’s a good guess,” I agree with a blush on my cheeks, I do not need to hear my father talking about sex… especially not with my boyfriend.  
“Yeah, well, how about another one? You came down here hoping that I had found some subtle incongruity in my autopsy that would shed some light on this dastardly mystery.”  
“Always seems to be the case, Duck,” Gibbs states.  
“Yes, well, all I’ve done so far is to confirm my initial impression as to the cause of death.”  
“He was stabbed. Right in the stomach,” Jimmy informs us.  
“Now, even with medical intervention, this lad was not long for this world.”  
“You mean Petty Officer Peter Lynn. Worked in supply corps at the defence logistics agency, which is also known as DLA, if you’re ever in the ‘K-N-O-W. they’re the guys who supply the military, you know, with pretty much everything. You already knew this. He was a liaison to the Naval space command, which is the spy satellite guys. You remember the time we had the naked girl on the beach,” Tony informs us the name of our victim as he walks into autopsy carrying a file, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.  
“I remember you almost getting fired,” I state.  
“You already know about all this,” Tony release before reading the file for a moment before closing it and informing us, “Abby got a hit off the prints.”  
“That’s not all Abby got. She was able to match mitochondrial fragments in the vomit to the cellular material scraped from the victim’s fingernail,” Ducky informs us as Gibbs takes the file from Tony and begins to read it himself, without his glasses which is not good for his eyes.  
“They both came from the assailant,” Gibbs and I say together.  
“The old snatch and vomit?” Tony states the question without any care.  
“Emesis, as it is known, is not uncommon in first-time offenders. They learn the hard way that they don’t have the stomach for a life of crime. Take our mugger’s last supper: a cheese blintz, some red wine… no doubt a cheap Bordeaux… and almost a pound of veal.”  
“Mugging business must be good, Duck,” Gibbs comments as he walks over to the other autopsy table and puts the file down.  
“I’ll have Ziva start running down the local restaurants,” Tony comments as he attempts to not throw up. Gibbs begins walking out making me follow him and Tony rush after us both while informing us, “Uh, I got an address on Petty Officer Lynn, as well.”  
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“Petty officer Lynn live alone?” McGee asks as he unlocks the victim’s apartment.  
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Tony answers as McGee opens the door. Gibbs looks on each side of door inside the room before we walk into, McGee staying in the entry room while I follow Gibbs and Tony into the kitchen that is full of trash bags.  
“Hmm, the eagle nebula,” McGee comments while looking at the background on the victim’s computer.  
“Trash,” Tony comments as Gibbs and I put our gloves on and begin going throw two bags of trash.  
“What are you talking about ‘trash’? this si know as the pillars of creation, Tony,” McGee exclaims because he thinks Tony is talking about the nebula. Tony gives him a look before point to the trash int eh kitchen.  
“Talking about this. He must really not like taking the trash out,” Tony exclaims.  
“Well, maybe it’s not trash,” McGee comments as Gibbs pulls a disposable cup out and put it back in. Tony walks away as Gibbs phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, what do you got, Duck?... Popular dish… it wasn’t a random mugging,” Gibbs comments before hanging up.  
“Bad news?” I ask him as I look at the reseat he found.  
“The killer broke bread with him before killing,” Gibbs informs me.  
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“You read my psych profile? What’d it say?” McGee asks Abby as we walk into the lab, carrying a caf-pow.  
“Ah, it’s better you don’t know, McGee. But I promise, it’s better than Tony’s” I dismiss McGee’s concern.  
“Got your message. What do you got, Abs?” Gibbs adds while ignoring the fact that I read something I wasn’t supposed to off of his computer as we walk over to next to Gibbs.  
“Trash, and lots of it. Sadly, nothing that can identify the owner. Yet,” Abby informs us before snatching the caf-pow and saying, “No thanks. I quit,” and then throwing it in the bin making me blink.  
“Quit? You?” McGee asks what I am thinking.  
“I decided it was time to cut down on the caffeine. I wish I could tell you I’ve already reconstructed these documents. I’ve got it on an automated program, but it’s still going to take some time.”  
“You called me down here to tell me you got nothing?” Gibbs ask her as we walk over next to McGee who is working on the computer.  
“Me, nothing. But mister mildly neurotic introvert with a highly sensitive ego… he has something,” Abby informs us as she places a hand on McGee’s shoulder.  
“Yeah. Um, I was going through Petty Officer Lynn’s computer, looking for an address book, and I found this,” McGee explains as he puts something on the plasma, which is lots of planets. He continues as I walk closure with Gibbs, “IT’s called Celestia. It’s an open-source astronomy program popular with space enthusiasts, people in the field.”  
“Cool,” I mumble as I look at the stars on the screen.  
“I’m not one of them, McGee,” Gibbs reminds him as he walks back over between to the two monitors.  
“Sorry. My point is, it’s supposed to be accurate simulation, but I found a star system that doesn’t belong.”  
“Of course you did,” Abby laughs at him making Gibbs give her a look making McGee continue.  
“Program’s open source. That means you can adapt it to pretty much anything… education, games. You can store grocery list, or in this case, us it for a diary,” McGee informs us while pulling up the star system that isn’t right, as Gibbs comes up and stands right behind me.   
“What better lace to hide all your personal secrets than in a galaxy far, far away?” Abby asks as the diary words slowly come up the screen.  
“What’s he hiding?” Gibbs asks as he walks back over to McGee and rest his arm on the chair behind McGee.  
“Well, for the most part, not a whole lot. It’s about the most boring diary I’ve ever read. An obsession with Kelly Clarkson. Wondering why he can’t find a girlfriend,” McGee explains.  
“He didn’t make the connection between those two things?” Abby asks McGee making Gibs blink at her.  
“Two weeks ago, though, it got interesting. Lynn claims that he was contacted by someone at the Naval inspector General’s office in Norfolk. Asked to go on a mission.”  
“Did he say who?” I ask as I finally stop staring at the stars on the plasma and walk back over to Gibbs.  
“Nope. Didn’t say what kind either. That was the last entry,” McGee informs us making Gibbs node before turning to leave with me while patting McGee on the shoulder on the way past.  
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“A-ah, the fifth photo was a,” Scott informs us in the conference room as Abby struggles to find the correct photo in her arm of all the photos.  
“Streetlight,” I finish for him since he can’t see what Abby has put up and I don’t expect him to remember what he didn’t see to start with.  
“Oh, yeah, right, right, right. Halogen one,” Scott informs us while talking about what type of globe was in the light fitting. He continues to remember what is next, meaning he makes random buzzing noises before remembering, “Oh, yeah, yeah, there was a, couple having a fight nearby. A hotdog vender. And something that smelled like mothballs. I didn’t get to close.”  
“The next one is… I’m not used to working with someone,” Bryn complains as she helps Abby find the next photo as Tony sneaks in and sits next to Ziva.  
“I got it. I got it. Okay, um, this is number six?” Abby informs us as she puts the next photo on the easel.  
“That’s where Mr Scott first picked up the fruit smell.”  
“You with him?” Gibbs asks her.  
“No. I was in the office when he left,” Bryn answers him making me blink, if she wasn’t with him. How does she think she knows when or where he got that smell?  
“I work alone, and I like it that way. Bryn writes our press releases, so I had to go over the photos with her this morning. Like I said, it was an unusual scent, so I followed it,” Scott agrees with her.  
“Okay, um, this is seven. Looks like a… it could be a sewer,” Abby informs us when she finds it as Gibbs takes notes.  
“And I’m the blind one,” Scott laughs at Abby. He then informs her, “You got the photos out of order, honey. Number seven’s a sky shot… number 22 is the low-angle.”  
“Good memory,” I comment because I can barely remember where I left my coffee let alone what order I took photos in the night before.  
“Yeah, well, I don’t have must choice. Either that or I break my nose walking to walls.”  
“Number 22 is where Mr Scott lost the fruit smell,” Bryn informs us.  
“I recognize that graffiti. It’s on the restaurant where I tracked petty officer Lynn to his last supper,” Ziva informs us.  
“You found the restaurant?” Tony asks her.  
“Well, there’s not to any places that serve cheese blintzes,” Abby says.  
“But no one remembers seeing the petty officer,” Ziva adds.  
“If he was the source of the smell he never came out of there,” Scott informs us.  
“And if he wasn’t, then he was probably with the guy who was,” Tony adds.  
“They could have used the back exit,” Gibbs states.  
“Which would make sense if they were having a clandestine meeting and were worried about being followed,” Ziva comments as she walks towards us.  
“Hey, hey. Check, uh… number 18,” Scott orders us as he slams his probing cane onto the table in front of him. He continues, “There was a car idling outside the restaurant.” Abby and Bryn attempt to find the correct photo only to drop them all.  
“Sorry,” Abby apologise as she walks over next to me. Gibbs leans down to help Bryn pick them up.  
“I’ll get those,” Bryn informs him making Gibbs only pick one up back onto the table.  
“Time to go digital,” Abby says while pulling the photos up on the plasma screen.  
“How long was he there?” I ask Scott.  
“He was still there when I left,” Scott informs us as Abby find the correct photo.  
“Can you get the license?” Tony asks as we all look at the plasma. Abby zooms in and cleans up the plate, getting a partial plate.  
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“Accessing the Virginia DMV,” Ziva comments in the squad room as she does it at her desk with Gibb leaning onto the desk next to the computer.  
“We only have a partial plate, but we can narrow it down by making and model,” Tony comments from his computer.  
“Really?” Ziva asks him sarcastically as Gibbs gets up and walks away from her desk.  
“Sarcasm is not sexy, Ziva.”  
“You shouldn’t be finding anything she does as sexy Tony. You have a girlfriend, or is Jeanna a girl… friend?” I state making Tony give me a look.  
“Narrowing the list down to make and model,” Ziva comments when Tony doesn’t answer me as the search is on the plasma between Tony and McGee’s desk. I walk over to next to Gibbs as the list is narrowed down to one car… what is that chances of that?  
“Got it. License plate T-A five, four, zero, two, one,” Tony reads off his computer.  
“Registered to a David Wong, 41, civilian,” Ziva adds.  
“Record?” Gibbs asks as he walks over to behind Tony, reading over his should if he can ever find it.  
“Guy’s squeaky clean… no criminal record, no outstanding parking tickets. Works in inventory management at the defence logistics agency. Who else works there, he thought sexily?” Tony reads off once he is finished reading Gibbs gets up and walks back to his desk.  
“I know a petty officer who used to. And just as squeaky,” Ziva comments.  
“Call McGee and have him bring David Wong in here,” Gibbs orders as he sits at his desk. Tony dials McGee’s number on his desk phone with it on speak so we can all hear both sides of the conversation.  
“I was just about to call you, Tony,” McGee answers the phone.  
“I was going to say great minds think alike, but, well, you know,” Tony says while pulling a face that he almost said that his mind is like McGee’s and that McGee has a great mind.  
“Got a lead.”  
“Yeah, same here… flip ya for it,” I call over from my desk making Gibbs smirk.  
“We found a car outside the restaurant Petty Officer Lynn ate at. A Honda licence plate,” Tony continues for me.  
“T-A, five, four, zero, two, one?” McGee finish.  
“Good guess,” Ziva complements him.  
“Not a guess. I’m standing right in front of it. I spoke to petty officer Lynn’s superiors. They had a lot of nice things to say about him. It’s the guy in the office across the hall they were worried about,” McGee informs us.  
“David Wong,” Gibbs states.  
“That’s right.”  
“Why were they worried?” Ziva asks him.  
“He left for lunch four hours ago, never came back.”  
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“You have to go straight,” Gibbs lectures me once he hears me slip and hit my knuckles on the boat again while I attempt to drill the hole in the rib he told me to but the hand drill keeps moving crooked, tonight as we work on the boat. Gibbs has brought me a dusk mask after I had three asthma attacks down here in a week, now I have to wear it when he is working or cleaning down here, plus there is a puffer always on the work bench even when I’m not home.  
“I’m trying… how did anyone ever use these things?” I ask Gibbs as he puts the sanding block down and duck under the boat structure. He steps up behind me wrapping his arm around me, holding the drill with me and lines the drill up straight and helps me get the hole started without answering me. After a moment I ask a better question, “Okay, better question, how did I let you talk me into helping with this?”  
“See,” Gibbs says when it easy once it’s straight.  
“How many holes have you drilled with this thing?”  
“Enough.”  
“If you had drilled enough, I wouldn’t be trying to drill one.”  
“Enough… for the other boats,” he corrects himself making me laugh before attempting to finish drilling this hole without slipping again.   
“Right… for the other boats… I still don’t know how you got the wood in? is it like a dinosaur secret?”  
“Mm-hmm,” Gibbs hums without agrees or denying his age making me smile. I stick my tongue out of the right side of my mouth as I slowly turn the handle of the drill. It takes me quite a while but I finish drill the hole making me smile. I am not drilling all the way throw the wood, what I am drilling is a hole for the head of the screw to sit in so it if flush. Next I grab a smaller drill bit, and put it in the hand drill. Predrilling the hole so that Gibbs can hand screw in the screw, holding the wood together.  
“There,” I exclaims as I show Gibbs only for him to smirk at me.  
“Do the next one know,” Gibbs states as he points to the next rib making me pout, why couldn’t it be one hole.  
“You’re mean.”  
“You only working this out know?”  
“Yes… I thought you were nice but I see what everyone means now,” I complain as I step under to the next rib and place the drill on the mark Gibbs places for where to drill.  
“I’ll make it up to you,” Gibbs promise as he walks over a places a kiss on my check making me smile, losing the pout.  
“Better,” I pretend threaten him as I attempt to start the next hole. As I attempt to start the hole, I hear Gibbs pick up his sanding block and get back to work sanding the rib. I might not like wood work because I’m not good at it, I enjoy the feeling of helping Gibbs and more to the point doing something he enjoys. Though I also enjoy sitting in the corner watching him work, but sometimes he gets me to help, with the promise of sex because I still don’t like wood work.  
“How did you talk me into this?” I mumble as I slip and hit my knuckles again making Gibbs chuckle at me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“No hits on the BOLO yet,” Tony comments the next morning back in the squad room with Wong’s DLA on the plasma screen between Tony and McGee’s desk. McGee is sitting on the edge of his own desk while Tony stands beside him and I am standing beside Tony.  
“Co-workers said he’d been acting strange all week,” McGee adds.  
“IF he planned his run, it’ll make him that much harder to find,” Ziva reminds us as she leans on the corner of Tony’s desk, while pointing her finger at us making me node at her. I would plan my run when I murder Shepard.  
“Did you track his cell calls yet?” Gibbs demands as he walks into the squad room carrying a cup of coffee like normal.  
“Agent Lee is getting the warrant now. She’s at the U.S. attorney’s office,” McGee reports as he stands up.  
“And Abby’s processing evidence from his office. She nearly bit my head off when I poked it in to her lab to check on her,” Tony adds.  
“Quit drinking caffeine.”  
“Quit drinking caf-pow,” I overlap McGee.  
“Abby?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“Abby Scuito?” Tony asks because he thinks we’re having him on. Gibbs smacks the back of his head making Tony ask, “Yes, boss?”  
“Wong, David Wong,” Gibbs says while pointing to the plasma screen and walking over to his desk.  
“We have two competing theories on Mr Wong. Theory on,” Tony begins while holding up two fingers, then pointing to Ziva to explain the theory.  
“It is possible that David Wong and Petty Officer Lynn was working together,” Ziva explains.  
“And then they had a fall out and Wong ended their relationship. Theory two,” Tony finishes for her before pointing to McGee for the next theory.  
“The commander from the I.G. had it wrong about Petty Officer Lynn,” McGee explains.  
“Wong was selling the info, Lynn found out, Wong killed him for it,” I explain to Gibbs as I turn around and face him but by the looks of his eyes, he has already worked out both these theories, probably when working on that god damned boat.  
“We figure out a motive, we figure out where he’s going,” Tony says while turning to Gibbs too.  
“First, we need that warrant,” Ziva reminds him as she slowly points at the boys.  
“I’ve got it right here,” Jimmy says while holding it up.  
“Umm, aren’t you the autopsy gremlin not the lawyer gremlin?” I ask Jimmy because I thought he was the autopsy gremlin.  
“Uh, Agent Lee faxed this over. I thought I’d run it up to you,” Jimmy says to Gibbs as he walks over and hands Gibbs the file.  
“McGee,” Gibbs says while taking the warrant from Jimmy and walking over to us, handing the warrant to McGee.  
“Yeah. On it boss,” McGee says while sitting down behind his computer, pulling the records. McGee looks at the warrant for a second before informing us, “All right, pulling up his records.”  
“What’s with Palmer?” I whisper to Ziva as I sit on the edge of the desk next to her, watching Jimmy look for something BEHIND Gibbs desk.  
“Hey. You need something else?” Gibbs calls to him when he releases everyone is watching Jimmy.  
“Uh… no,” Jimmy says before rushing off the way he came only to raise his finger in the air and turn and rush off the other way.  
“Palmer’s been acting like that all morning Earlier, I caught him at the gym hiding in the towel bins” McGee informs us as Gibbs turns watching Jimmy go, while Ziva and I laugh.  
“You were in the gym? Why didn’t anyone tell me that hell froze over?” I exclaim as I hit Ziva in the arm like she was purposely not telling me that.  
“Bank records are coming up,” McGee informs us without answering my questions, as Tony’s phone vibrates. He checks it before informing us, “No unusual activity.”  
“You know what? I got to make a pit stop,” Tony informs us without answering the phone, and then walks away.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yes, Ma’am,” Tony says into his phone from where he is hiding behind the steps. He hangs up as he turns around only to see we are all watching him. Making he say, “Hi.”  
“Hey. Abby called; she found something. Wanted us to come down,” McGee informs Tony as he waves his caf-pow around.  
“IF you’re done. That is,” Gibbs says as we finally walk around the stairs and Gibbs comes to a complete stop in front of Tony, talking to just him but we can all hear.  
“I’m sorry, boss, I… I’m,” Tony attempts to explain but can’t find the correct words.  
“I know. DiNozzo, trust me. I know,” Gibbs informs him before turning and walking away. McGee smirks at Tony before following Gibbs while Ziva and I stay with Tony to have a semi private conversation.  
“How long were you guys there?”   
“Long enough. So you are getting a new roommate?” Ziva answers him.  
“We’re discussing it.”  
“What’s there to discuss? Either you are moving in together and she is going to get woken up in the middle of the night because you scream like a little girl when an iguana gets in your bed, or she is not living with you, sleeping throw the night,” I state calmly.  
“It’s complicated,” Tony informs me while attempting to ignore the stab at his younger and nakeder self.  
“Complicated, complicated, complicated. You know, in America, I have noticed they us that word as a code for… ‘if I explain it, you would not agree, therefore I will use the word complicated, and hopefully, you will stop asking,’” Ziva comments.  
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it in a nutshell. I’m gonna go see what Abby wants.”  
“Tony,” Ziva begins.  
“Ziva. If you’re going to give me advice on dating, I’m going to need to get something out of my system first, okay?” Tony asks before laughing while bending over and pretending to gag.  
“Stop laughing or I will hurt you,” Ziva warns him as he stands up, laughing at himself.  
“We know what your doing. You’re hiding behind your jokes again… it’s been a while since you last did that,” I inform him calmly.  
“Since when are you helping Ziva?”  
“Since when are you helping the madam director? It’s a crazy world,” I inform him.  
“And I know what you’re hiding from,” Ziva jumps in before we can get into a word battle, exchanging insults again.  
“Really? What’s that?” Tony asks her.  
“What everyone who is afraid to love hides from. Getting hurt.”  
“It’s not just me I’m worrying about hurting, Ziva.”  
“That’s because you’re a good person, even if you look like a ken doll who came to life while having a crazy, glitchy, bad jokey, personality,” I state before walking off to the back elevator with Ziva, and Tony following us.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It’s a bug,” McGee informs Gibbs as we leave the lab, missing what is a bug.   
“I found it embedded underneath he ‘caps lock’ key of David Wong’s keyboard,” Abby informs us as we walk into the lab to see that McGee is standing behind Gibbs, holding that caf-pow. I want to throw it in the bin because Abby is attempting to better her life and he is tempting her with the thing. Tony leans on the table used for evidence, taking notes on everything Abby informs us for his report.  
“I thought the DLA ran routine security sweeps,” Tony comments.  
“How did they miss it?” Ziva adds as I follow her over to the computer, but while Ziva leans on the table next to Abby, I stand next to Gibbs who is right behind Abby looking over her shoulder. If I didn’t trust Abby not to steal my man, I might just get jealous with how close they are but I know they don’t see each other that way.  
“The same way I almost did. Okay,” Abby informs us before turning on the scanner and running it over the bug without it going off. She continues to explain to us, “To avoid the detection from internal sensors, the bug records for five hours.” She stops talking when she turns to face us only to get distracted by the caf-pow in McGee’s hand, sniffing it, turning back to the computer she continuing again, “And then blast sends the data in under five seconds.”  
“A little bug can do all that?” I ask her in surprise.  
“Yeah. It can if it only records a few, tiny sub-audible frequencies,” Abby answers me.  
“’Sub-audible’ meaning?” Tony asks her in confusion because that sounds a little Si-Fi to me.  
“Humans can’t hear it,” McGee informs Tony.  
“So, what? Lassie’s bugging this guy?”   
“I think, he bugged himself. Don’t you like the way I do that? Like, right when you think you know where I’m going it’s like… shazam… a hard turn,” Abby exclaims as she turns to face us completely without getting court on McGee’s rude drink choice but at the end she gets court again on the Caf-pow.  
“He bugged himself?” Gibbs asks but she continues to sniff the drink making him add, “Abs.”  
“Sorry, Gibbs. I’m just a little bit distracted,” Abby informs us making me node before snatching McGee’s drink off of him and throwing it into the bin next to the computer desk. Gibbs walks around the desk and comes to a stop in front of the plasma while I walk over and stand next to him, looking at the bug on the screen. Abby continues to talk now that the drink is gone, “Better. Sub-audible bug! Whoever planted it wasn’t eavesdropping on conversation. They were listening for keyboard taps. Every key makes a similar but unique sound. With the right software, you can record the keystrokes…” she types on her computer as she talks, “then using a decoding algorithm, you can figure out what was typed.”   
“The virtual Rosetta Stone,” McGee comments from where he came to a stop behind Gibbs. Abby clicks on something making it decode what she typed which is ‘he’s exact l h w t works McGee.’  
“A bug like this would bypass all security protocols. No password would be safe,” Abby informs us.  
“David Wong had access to some pretty sensitive info,” Tony comments.  
“Why would he need to bug himself? He already knew his passwords,” Ziva asks as she turns to face Tony.  
“No, he didn’t. the DLA uses RSA secure ID. It’s a hardware token that regenerates authentication every minute,” McGee release as he walks back around behind the desk with Abby.  
“If Wong had a partner, the best way to give him access would be to,” Abby begins.  
“Bug himself,” Gibbs and I finish for her. Gibbs continues while pointing to the bug on the plasma, “Doe this record more than passwords?”  
“It records everything that’s typed,” Abby answers him making me sign to her, ‘Jethro’s safe then.’  
“Okay, let’s see it,” Gibbs informs her while throwing me a look because Abby smiled at what I signed and he didn’t see it because I am standing behind him at the moment.  
“But we can’t. ‘Cause it broadcasts and it then dumps.”  
“You could try the buffer,” Tony says making us all look at him. He adds, “Sorry. You guys say that every once in a while, so I thought…”  
“He’s right,” Abby releases making my heart freeze. That last person to say Tony was right about something with Kate.  
“He is?” Ziva asks in surprise.  
“I am?” Tony asks in even more surprise.  
“Abby, it’s Tony. You don’t have to try and protect his feelings,” I exclaim as I point to him in surprise, Tony’s can’t be right, because if he is the world has done a one eighty and we’re all going to die.  
“If we treat the buffer like a normal hard drive, even if it erased itself, we should be able to get something off of it,” Abby explains to McGee making him walk to the new computer of hers as Gibbs looks over their shoulders.  
“Accessing he RAM buffer,” McGee informs us while doing it.  
“We’ve got something. Wong was looking for directions for an abandoned DLA warehouse,” Abby reads the map location off of the screen.  
“Perhaps a rendezvous with his buyers?” Ziva asks us.  
“Or he was worried we’d traced the murder of Petty Officer Lynn to him and he decided to run,” McGee offers.  
“Address,” Gibbs orders Tony while calling him over but using his finger in a come hither motion and then pointing to the address on the screen.  
“Got it,” Tony comments once he has written it down.   
“That’s good work, Abs,” Gibbs complements the smiling girl as we rush out of the lab.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pulls the car up at the abandoned warehouse and we all get out. We draw our guns as we quickly and quietly move closer. We are all wearing out NCIS windbreakers and as we get out of the car Gibbs puts on his hat, making us all have our hats on too.  
“Nice place,” Tony comments as Gibbs takes cover behind a tree, Ziva is behind another tree. McGee and Tony are hiding behind the car with me as all of us aim on the building in case Wong comes out.  
“Don’t think Wong chose this location for scenery,” Ziva informs Tony.  
“McGee, DiNozzo,” Gibbs says before signalling for them to advance to the door while we cover them. They stay low and run to the door while Ziva, Gibbs and I move closer at a slower pace, overing their backs. Ziva has her gun aimed at a window on the second floor while Gibbs and I have ours aimed on the door the boys are about to open. McGee peaks in between the two doors as Ziva and Gibbs move over to another door while I stay with the boys.  
“If Wong was running, he didn’t get very far,” McGee informs us. As we all watch Gibbs count down on his left hand. He uses his last three fingers, then his first two fingers, finally he has up just his pointer, which he uses to point at us as go ahead. Tony and McGee pull the door open while Ziva throws the other door open, I step in before the boys, but I quickly feel them step in behind me.  
“Federal Agents,” Gibbs calls out as we sweep the room with our guns and eyes. Only for us to quickly locate and aim onto Wong.  
“Wrong. He got about as far as he could get,” Tony corrects McGee as we lower our guns because Wong is hanging from the ceiling rafters. There is a note on the ground not far from him and Gibbs slowly walks closer to the poor guy.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The tell-tale inverted ‘v,’ combined with the haemorrhaging of the lips and eyelids, fractured cervical vertebrae,” Ducky begins as he point everything out as he says it while we stand around in autopsy listening to the facts. He moves the victim’s head side to side making it crackle and Tony pulls a face in disgust. Ducky continues to inform us, “No evidence of any drugs in his system, and only his DNA on the rope.”  
“Let me guess… he hung himself,” Tony comments.  
“It certainly would appear that way.”  
“He have any help?” Gibbs asks Ducky next.  
“He may have. A murder could easily cover up a ligature strangulation with a post-mortem hanging. I understand there was some kind of note from Mr Wong.”  
“Took the credit for killing Petty Officer Lynn,” I inform him as Gibbs slowly walks around autopsy.  
“Wong said he and Lynn were partners on a con, embezzling from the DLA, until Lynn tried to blackmail Wong out of his share. So Wong killed him,” Tony continues.  
“Tried to make it look like a mugging,” Gibbs adds.  
“Then he panicked when he learned NCIS figured out it wasn’t,” Tony continue again while pulling out the letter and reading the end, “’I’m sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen. May god have mercy. David B Wong.’” He then informs Ducky, “Abby verified the handwriting.”  
You know, the vomit near the body contained copious amounts of cheese blintz. David Wong was lactose intolerant,” Ducky begins while reading off the medical file as Gibbs reads over his shoulder before walking off again. That man never seems to sit still. Ducky continues, “If he consumed that much cheese, that would explain his throwing up.”  
“Puts Wong at the underpass,” I states.  
“Which corroborates his letter. Yet you doubt it?”  
“Mugging wasn’t a mugging,” Gibbs reminds him as he comes back around behind me.  
“So the suicide may not e a suicide. In the mugging, certain key facts did not add up. But here, I’m affair, there are no such discrepancies.”  
“Well, I got a discrepancy. Evidence bag says David G Wong,” I state as I read it off the clothing on the rolling table next to me.  
“Yes. His middle name was George.”  
“Then why’d he sign his name with a ‘B’?” Tony asks while showing Ducky the ‘suicide’ note.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Perhaps he was sending us a message,” Ziva offers in the squad room as the ‘suicide’ not is sitting above my desk on the plasma screen, she is standing in front of the plasma while I am sitting on the edge of Gibbs desk next to Gibbs.  
“Letter ‘B’ is not much of a message,” McGee comments from where he is working on his computer at his desk.  
“I find it very doubtful that he wold make a mistake. Besides, if he wrote a note under duress, the message would have to be something the killer would not notice.”  
“Could be part of the killer’s initials,” Tony offers from where he is sitting on the edge of McGee’s desk.  
“Is that what you’d write, DiNozzo?” Gibbs demands of him.  
“No. two letters would be circumstantial, one letter is just useless.”  
“Perhaps there is another place where David Wong used the false initial,” Ziva offers as Gibbs gets up and turns around, sitting down on my desk, facing the team and not the plasma, by the looks in his eyes. It must be too bright, hurting his old eyes.  
“I already checked. DMV, bank records. Only place that Wong used the letter ‘B’ is on the suicide note,” McGee informs us.  
“Maybe it wasn’t one letter then,” I offer making Gibbs node before moving back over next to me.  
“McGee, run it,” Gibbs orders him. McGee starts at the begin of the ‘suicide’ note, enlarging the first work and quickly working the way through all the words. After a second Gibbs orders him, “Whoa, stop it right there.” McGee stops it as Gibbs stands up and walks over to the screen pointing to the word ‘but’ on the screen with a red pen he picked up, and saying, “There.”  
“What? The ‘b’s are different,” Tony release making me blink because the ‘b’ in the name the rounded part doesn’t touch the line while in the word ‘but’ the rounded but overlap on top and bottom with the middle touching.  
“Thirteen,” Ziva release when the two ‘B’s are side by side the ‘b’ in the name looks like a thirteen. Ziva continues, “It’s not a letter. It’s a number.”   
“Actually, I think it’s both. Boss, I think this is an ‘I’ and a three together. After Wong’s suicide note, I checked his office records. They code their invoices with an ‘I’ followed by a number corresponding to the department. I’ve got as far as I-5, but I didn’t find anything to corroborate the claim of embezzlement,” McGee reports to Gibbs as Gibbs walks over to McGee’s desk fiddling with the pen in his hand.  
“Look again” Gibbs orders him as he walks back over to his desk.  
“That’s good advice, Gibbs. That’s exactly what I did. You’re going to love what I found,” Abby informs us as she walks up on the other side of the divider, behind McGee’s desk.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“The first thing I did when I got the photos,” Abby begins down in the lab explaining what she found while the facial recognition software runs on the plasma she is pacing in front of.  
“Was run facial-recognition software on every face you could find,” Ziva informs her.  
“Which led nowhere,” Tony adds.  
“Thank you both for that reminder of my failure,” Abby complains sadly, looking very disappointed in herself.  
“Haven’t failed me yet, Abs,” Gibbs informs her making her continue with renewed confidence.  
“I thought I had squeezed all the data I could out of the photos, until Jackson Scott walked in and humbled me. The man uses echolocation to find obstacles in his way,” Abby informs us before Tony opens his mouth making her add, “No Shamu jokes. Echolocation is reflected sound, which made me thing of reflected images. Which made me find… this.” She clicks on the mouse below the plasma. She looks at us all but we’re all confused making her continue, “I know, it’s a blue, but that’s because of the photons of light in the image, they’re spread out in time.”  
“But you can de-spread them?” Tony asks her.  
“Well, the technical term is ‘deconvolution,’ but yeah. So I calculated the shutter speed, merging the photons into a coherent image. The final results are still processing. But this is good enough for an ID. Look familiar?” Abby asks us as we see a face we’re all to familiar with.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Relax. There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Ziva informs the suspected in integration.  
“Than, why am I in an interrogation room?” Bryn asks her.  
“That’s a good point. Maybe you should be nervous.”  
“I haven’t don’t anything wrong.”  
“Actually, you did. But we’re going to give you another chance to correct it. So, tell us again, where were you the night your boss took this picture?” Ziva asks her as she places the crime scene photo on the integration table.  
“I told you already. I was in Mr Scott’s office until 6:00. And then I went straight home.”  
“She was at your loft when you left?” Tony asks Scott in observation.  
“Told you that already, too. I’m blind, but you guys are deaf,” Scott informs us.  
“You believe her?” Gibbs asks Scott from his spot standing behind me.  
“Well, why would I think she’s lying?”  
“Because she is,” McGee informs him.  
“So if you went straight home, then what are you doing in this photo your boss took that night?” Ziva asks Bryn as she places the photo on the table.  
“It’s interesting you didn’t notice she was there,” Tony begins.  
“Yet you noticed everything else,” McGee adds.  
“I see. She’s not the only one being interrogated,” Scott releases why we’re letting him hear her interrogation.  
“Care to change your testimony?” Ziva asks Bryn.  
“I took the long way home. I must have walked by where Mr Scott was shooting. If I did, I didn’t realize he was there,” Bryn defends her lie.  
“So you two were within 20 feet of each other,” Tony begins.  
“And neither of you knew the other was there?” McGee asks.  
“It’s possible Bryn wouldn’t have notice me. I word hard to keep myself below people’s radar. But I would have certainly noticed her,” Scott informs us as Gibbs walks around behind me to the other side of Scott.  
“Why did you?” I ask him.  
“I don’t know.”   
“That’s an interesting story but here’s the problem,” Ziva informs Bryn in the integration, talking at the same time as Scott. She stands up walks around behind Bryn as she continues to talk, “We showed your photo to the staff at the restaurant where Petty Officer Lynn was having his last supper. And one of the waiters identified you at the lobby. You being in the same restaurant as Petty Officer Lynn a coincidence, too? Because I don’t think the jury will see it that way.” Ziva leans on the table when she informs her what the jury will see before standing up and continuing to talk and walk around, “What they will see is the person he had dinner with then lured him to the underpass, and stabbed him to death.”  
“No. it’s not what happened,” Bryn exclaims as Ziva leans on the table again, getting into Bryn’s personal space.  
“Then tell me what did.”  
“I was following Mr Scott. But I lost him for a few minutes. I just ducked into he restaurant for a second when he came around the corner and surprised me. Jackson’s harder to follow than you’d think. I have to wear special shoes and perfume when I follow him.”  
“Fruity perfume by any chance?”  
“Lavender.”  
“Why were you following him?”  
“I don’t understand this.”  
“Why were you following him?”   
“I was the one who called NCIS…”  
“Why were you following him?” Ziva yells as she slams her hands onto the table in annoyance only to release, “You’re in love with him.”  
“If you think he’s photos are brilliant, you should see him work. He can’t see, but he still sees more than most people. I lied to you, because if Jackson knew I was following him… I didn’t see your petty officer. And if he was there when I was, I wouldn’t have noticed,” Bryn admits before Gibbs turns to the tech and signals to cut the sound.  
“For a man who can see more than most people, I… managed to miss the thing that counts the most,” Scott says while trying not to cry by the looks of it. He continues, “Better late than never, I suppose. You going to let her go now?”  
“Now, no,” Gibbs answers him softly.  
“After we corroborate, yeah,” Tony adds as Gibbs walks back around to behind me.  
“Maybe Wong’s suicide note was legit after all,” McGee comments as the door to the observation room opens and Jimmy enters.  
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just looking for some pipettes, which are clearly not here. Bye,” Jimmy says as Scott’s takes a deep breath of the hair. Gibbs reaches out and grabs the scuff of Jimmy’s neck.  
“What is it?” I ask Scott.  
“The fruit smell from that night,” Scott informs us while touching Jimmy’s chest while Gibbs releases him.  
“Oh. Oh, my gosh. I forgot to take my insulin. I was so busy looking for the… pipettes that I forgot,” Jimmy exclaims while hesitating on saying what he is really looking for.  
“Insulin?” Tony asks him in disbelief.  
“Yeah, I have mild diabetes. When my blood sugar spikes, my breath gets a mild fruity smell. Is it really that bad?” Jimmy asks before trying to sniff his own breath. He breaths into his hand before going to offer it to Gibbs to sniff, who pulls back not wanting to smell someone else’s breath. Jimmy looks at us all looking at him making him ask, “Why is everyone looking at me like I’m in some kind of trouble?”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Well, I got your message. What’s this about a breach of our security?” Commander Jakobsen, the guy ‘investigating’ our victim, asks us as he stand up from his chair in greeting.  
“We believe someone’s been running a bogus investigation out of your office,” Tony informs him.  
“The Lynn case?” Jakobsen asks before blowing his noise into a hanky.  
“Our suspect told Petty Officer Lynn a co-worker was under investigation for embezzling,” McGee begins.  
“A lie,” Gibbs states from beside me before walking closer to Jakobsen staring at him.  
“And asked Lynn to plant a bug in the co-worker’s office. That co-worker was David Wong,” McGee continues.  
“The lie was to get Wong’s password to the DLA accounting database,” Tony adds as McGee walks around the room.  
“The suspect was the one who was embezzling,” I continue while leaning on the table with my hip.  
“You can check DLA ledger I-three. It’s all there,” McGee promises as Jakobsen blows his noise again.  
“The funny part is Wong grew suspicious and contacted you, which is ironic, since you were the one running the bogus investigation out of this office in the first place,” Tony states as Gibbs slowly walks around behind Jakobsen’s desk.  
“We traced the long-ons to DLA’s servers back to your computer. Also, a waiter places you at the restaurant with Lynn.”  
“And we have come to believe that it was colonel mustard in the conservatory with a wrench.”  
“How?” Jakobsen asks Gibbs as he turns to face the man.  
“Jackson Scott decided to follow the fruit,” Gibbs informs him as Tony walks around and opens the desk drawer. Tony finds and removes the insulin from the drawer, placing it on the table.  
“As a diabetic, you should’ve skipped the cheese blintz,” Tony informs him as he fiddles with his handcuffs.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Alice, what are you doing?” Gibbs asks me with a chuckle as he watches me working on wrapping something on the bed tonight.  
“Nothing,” I say innocently as I attempting to hide the gift I am wrapping.  
“Alice, don’t hide that,” Gibbs exclaims while rushing over to the bed and trying to get it the present out of my hand only to fall onto the bed. I move the present further away from the marine.  
“I can hide it, if I want to,” I exclaim as I attempt to get out of the bed and hide the present more only for Gibbs to pull me back onto the bed and onto of him. Making me laugh,” Jethro.”  
“Alice… what do you have there?” Gibbs laugh at me as continues to reach for the present I was still holding, but I sit up on his stomach, holding it out of his reach to the best of my ability. Gibbs sits up making me slide off of his stomach into his lap. Grabbing me around the waist while grabbing the present with the other hand making me laugh as he holds it out of his way.  
“Jethro, give that back,” I demand of him as I reach for it but he’s arm is longer.  
“Let me think,” Gibbs says before humming in thought before informing me, “Nope.”  
“Jethro,” I exclaims as I continue to reach for it.  
“Nope. Not until you tell me what it is?”  
“It’s a surprise,” I hiss at him but he just stares at me making me try to look innocent. After a moment I add, “It’s a present for you birthday tomorrow.”  
“Who told you it was my birthday tomorrow?” Gibbs asks me in surprise as he lowers his arms.  
“A little birdy.”  
“Ducky…”  
“Mike, actually. I didn’t think dad know,” I admit before admitting something more important, “I owe Mike a beer the next time I see him.”  
“Thanks, Alice… can I open it now?” Gibbs asks me as he shakes the present.  
“I guess,” I mumble making Gibbs smirk as he pulls me into a hug. I turn around in his lap, watching as he gently opens the wrapping paper. He pulls out the box, which he opens to reveal a new hand sander, that is polished and engraved with ‘Leroy Jethro Gibbs, weirdo, marine, NCIS quitter, coffee addict.’  
“I didn’t quit,” Gibbs complains making me laugh because that’s his only problem with the present.  
“Yes, you did… I remember you quitting,” I state as I lean back onto his chest, laughing at him again.   
“No, I didn’t. I retired.”  
“Nope… you quit. Don’t lie to me, I’m not falling for the lie,” I promise him as I laugh at him.  
“I love you… even if you are wrong,” Gibbs informs me before placing a kiss on the top of my head.  
“I love you too… even if you did quit,” I respond to him as I turn around and place a kiss on his lips.  
“We’re never going to agree with each other on this are we?”   
“Nope. Because you’re wrong and can’t admit it.”


	57. Trojan Horse

“These files have to be reviewed by Friday,” Cynthia informs me as I watch the news of the latest war on the plasma in the director’s office while holding my almost empty coffee. I am wearing a white shirt under a black shirt under a closely stripped black and white suit coat Alice brought me for my birthday. It makes me look thinner according to Alice but I think she’ll say anything to get me to wear it to work. The coat looks grey unless you get close to me or the coat.  
“Mm-hmm. I’ll get to them,” I promise her without turning around to face her at the director’s off.  
“Tomorrow’s Friday,” She reminds me making me squint at the TV for a second before turning it off and begin walking to the desk.  
“I had a wad like you once, Cynthia. I divorced her,” I inform her as I finish walking to the desk.  
“Beat her to it, did you?” Cynthia asks me as I pick up my glasses, making me tap them on the desk before sitting down on the chair to read the reports. I put on my glasses before grabbing the first file, I look at the name of the lead investigator and sign it without reading the file, because I trust him. Making Cynthia exclaim, “You didn’t read it.”  
“Scoletti case. I know the case agent. Jeff Gillman. He’s a good agent,” I inform her as I throw the file into the signed file.  
“Director doesn’t want Justice not going to trail because of a procedural error,” Cynthia informs me as the door opens and Alice walks into the room with my new coffee.  
“Oh, Cynthia, give it a break. He doesn’t even read his own reports, I’ve been writing them since I was seventeen and he just signs them,” Alice informs her as she walks over and hands me the new coffee that I happily take off of her lovely hands. Alice is wearing skin tight jeans that stop at her waisted, then she is wearing a red shirt that the shoulders are made out of lacy.  
“Well, then the director should be here instead of shopping in Paris all week,” I comment on Cynthia’s comment while not conforming or denying that Alice has been writing my reports that long. Alice leans on the edge of the director’s desk, making it so when I place the files on the signed file, I’ll be running my hand along her ass, not that I mind.  
“An Interpol antiterrorist conference isn’t shopping.”  
“Yeah,” I agree with her as I sign the next report while Alice steals one off my pile to read herself making me smirk because my girl is so noisy sometimes.  
“You know him, too?” Cynthia demands of me while trying to take the file off of Alice but she just moves so she is behind me, leaning on the chair I am sitting in.  
“Yep. Don’t worry. Justice has its own procedural problems,” I inform her as I place the file in the signed pile and pick up the next one only to not recognize the name making me ask, “Who’s special agent Grisham?”  
“Transferred in from San Diego.”  
“Hollywood Special Agent? There’s a NCIS in Hollywood?” Alice asks him surprise making me hid a smile.  
“Rejected,” I inform Cynthia while handing her the file.  
“You have to give a reason,” Cynthia informs me, making me look up at her in silence that is broken by the phone ringing. Cynthia goes to answer but I put my hand over hers making her inform me, “It’s her private line.” I continue to stare at her making her give up and take the hand away so I can answer the phone.  
“Hello Cynthia,” Shepard says while I smile at Cynthia because I won. After a moment of silence Shepard says unsurely, “Hello, Cynthia?”  
“No,” I answer her.  
“Jethro. I should have recognized the heavy breathing. Is the agency intact?”  
“I cut it up into small bitsy pieces and sold it to the three-letter boys,” I inform her making Alice laugh at me because I would do that to get out of the paperwork. Why didn’t I think to have Alice do this paperwork? That is why the other director hired her in the first place.  
“I take it walking in my heels has presented a challenge.”  
“Well, I accepted some speaking request for you,” I inform her as I pick them up from where I put them.  
“Which speaking requests?”   
“Women for Women, St Paul, Minnesota chapter. The eighth grade class of Hondo Middle school in Hondo, Texas. The teacher, she’s an admirer. Society of Preservation for Barbershop Quartets.”  
“You’re not serious Jethro.”  
“Well, about the barbershop quartets, no, no, I’m not. But I did accept six, seven… eight, nine others for you,” I inform her as I count them.  
“Put Cynthia on.”  
“Hey, how’s the frog,” I ask her but Alice pinches my shoulder, before signing to me, ‘behave. We don’t need another man hunt.’ Making me add, “Legs? You always enjoyed them sautéed in butter”  
“Cynthia. Now!” Shepard orders me angrily. Guess she didn’t like the legs. Making me remove the phone from my ear and hand it to the girl. Alice walks back around from behind me handing me the file and signing, ‘sign this one. Seems alright.’ I sign it as Alice leans back onto the table.  
“Yes director… of course not, director… thank you, director,” Cynthia says into the phone before handing it back to me.  
“Yes?” I ask her.  
“IS there any serious business I should know about?” Shepard demands of me.  
“Well, the buy America toilet paper doesn’t fit in the metric fixtures, and we got a truck,” I begin informing her only for her to hang up making me complain, “She hand up on me.”  
‘Rude, ungrateful, drunk,’ Alice signs to me making me node in agreement as I place the phone back onto the cradle.  
“Shocking,” Cynthia says in fake surprise as the phone rings again.  
“You call back to apologise?” I answer the phone with before Cynthia can.  
“I don’t know what you heard, boss, but I was not the one who started that pool. Alice did,” Tony informs me making me blink. What pool? What is Alice up to now? Naughty girl.  
“What pool is that, DiNozzo?” I demand of him as I give my naughty girl a look while removing my glasses.  
“On the case.”  
“What case?”  
“’There’s a dead body in the taxi at the main gate’ case.”  
“I’ll be right there,” I inform Tony before hanging up and standing up to leave. I grab my coffee and round the desk.  
“The case files?” Cynthia asks me as Alice falls into step beside me.  
“Leave them on my desk,” I inform her.  
“They are on your desk,” Cynthia calls after me.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
We walk down to the crime scene which is at the main gate, where I walk over to the main gate’s guards to talk to the them while my team stares at me and I bet it has something to do with ‘Alice’s’ pool that is going on. Once I am done talking to the Ziva comes over to report to me.  
“Driver’s name is Joe Kelly. He says the victim hailed him on 25th street and told him to bring him here,” Ziva informs me.  
“To see?” Alice asks as I take a sip of my coffee.  
“Us. He did not specify a particular agent,” Ziva informs us before I lead her and Alice over to the driver to talk to him.  
“Mr Kelly, did you ever see your fare before?” I ask him.  
“Never,” Kelly answers me.  
“He seem injured or ill when you picked him up?” Alice asks him next.  
“Not really. He was kind of out of breath.”  
“Like he was running?” Ziva asks him.  
“Yeah, and he kept looking over his shoulder like he thought someone might be following us.”  
“Were they?” I ask him.  
“Good luck tailing anyone in D.C. traffic.”  
“Did he speak to you?” Ziva asks him.  
“Not a word. As usual, I did all the talking. Passes the time, you know? I passed the time, he passed away, poor guy,” Kelly says while releasing that he wasted the man’s last moments as I my phone begins ringing.  
“Yeah, Gibbs,” I answer it.  
“SecNav is holding, sir,” Cynthia informs me.  
“SecNav? Tell him I’m,” I begin as I walk away from the crime scene, listening to her.  
“I already told him you are on the navy yard and available, sir.”  
“Cynthia, don’t ever tell anybody I’m available until I tell you I’m available, okay?”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“Put him through,” I order her while watching my team from a distant, while they whisper to each other. I quickly hang up the phone and walk back.  
“Ziva, take the driver’s statement,” Tony orders Ziva when he releases I am done on the phone.  
“I already did,” Ziva informs him making Alice laugh, I beg this is something to do with that god damn pool.  
“McGee crime scene photos, finish ‘em.”  
“Yeah, I finished them,” McGee informs him making Alice laugh harder, leaning on my when I arrive as she laughs so hard.  
“You get an ID?” I ask them over Alice’s laughter.  
“Yeah, the photo on the Yemeni’s driver’s license matches the victim’s,” Tony informs me as he opens the victim’s wallet.  
“’Hamal Farhan.’ No buzzers,” Ziva informs us after reading the name on the licenses.  
“Balls,” McGee corrects her.  
“What else?” Alice asks now that she has stopped laughing.  
“List, even names on it, Farhan is number five,” McGee reports while showing me the list.  
“Obviously, whatever he wanted to tell us had something to do with this list,” Ziva comments.  
“Find everyone on it,” I order them.  
“SO, director, does that mean you’re?” Tony begins to asks me.  
“I’m heading the investigation,” I finish for him.  
“Hey, Duck, you win the pool,” I inform him making Alice double over with laughter again.  
“Yes! Thank you, Jethro,” Ducky exclaims.  
“So close. One more day,” Alice complains while standing back up when she releases that she just lost.  
“And I didn’t do anything wrong, McGee,” I inform him before grabbing Alice arm and leading her away from the team.  
“One more day, Jethro… just one and I’d have had fifty dollars from everyone in the pool.”  
“Sorry.”  
“One more.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Alice pov  
.  
“I’ve been hacking cabs for 22 years. Never had a fare die on me. Couple od heart attacks, a suicide or two, but none of them died,” Kelly informs Ziva as she prints out his witness statement on the printer behind her desk in the squad room.  
“Till now,” Ziva reminds him. Before adding, “Anyone who does something for 22 years must love it.”  
“You kidding? It’s the best job in the world! So now you think I’m crazy, right? But here’s the thing. My best friend, I met him in the cab. The guy who does my tax, I met him in the cab. Poker buddies, met ’em in the cab. I even met my wife in the cab. Well, three out of four ain’t bad,” Kelly informs her.  
“This is your statement. Read it. If you agree, sign it,” Ziva informs him as she hands the statement over.  
“I think we should call for a recount,” Tony whisper shouts to McGee after throwing a pen at McGee to get his attention making me look up at him from my desk to look at the boys.  
“On what?” McGee asks Tony in confusion.  
“Ducky winning the pool. Gibbs is up in the director’s office directing, right?   
“Tony, trust me Jethro can do two things at one… besides he’s only upstairs. He ran a case from Mexico, this isn’t that big of a difference,” I remind Tony.   
“We’re working the case. He’s not,” Tony reminds me as he turns around to talk to me but see’s Gibbs out of his peripheral vision making him add, “Because he’s waiting for me to give him an update. Which I am gonna do, as soon as Mr Kelly signs his statement and leave.”   
“I can go?” Kelly asks hopefully.  
“You can go to the head or our conference room,” Gibbs informs him as he walks over to his desk.  
“He said I could leave.”  
“He does that. Not one listens to him, he doesn’t listen to him,” I explain while pointing to Tony.  
“Well, what I say doesn’t count when the boss is here,” Tony defends himself.  
“Like me when the wife is around,” Kelly comments as Ziva gets up and walks around her desk.  
“Me Kelly,” Ziva says to him.  
“Lead the way,” Kelly says happily as he stands up to follow her.  
“Follow me,” Ziva orders him as she hands the witness statement to Gibbs on the way past.  
“Update?” Gibbs asks as he stands up and walks to the plasma above my desk. I get up and move over to sit on the edge of Gibbs desk so I can see the plasma.  
“McGee,” Tony adds as he walks over to the plasma.  
“According to Immigration, Hamal Farhan applied for a student visa twice and was turned down twice. Granted a six-month tourist visa. That was a year and a half ago,” McGee reports as he puts up photos of the victim’s license and visa on the plasma.  
“Even if he had it extended for a year, he’s here illegally.”  
“Should we notify immigration and deport him?” I ask Tony.  
“That’s a good one, Alice,” Tony says with a laugh while Gibbs smiles at me.  
“Actually, his visa was extended indefinitely. Yemen added Farhan to their embassy personnel,” McGee informs us making us turn from the plasma to face him.  
“What are you trying to do, make me look bad?” Tony complains.  
“Because you don’t need to try this hard, Tony does that all on his own. You just have to wait,” I add.  
“I just read it,” McGee defends himself.  
“Added as what?” Gibbs asks as he walks around and leans on the back of McGee’s chair.  
“A gardener,” McGee releases.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“How did he die, Duck?” Gibbs asks as we walk into autopsy where Ducky is weighing the victim’s heart.  
“Quickly, Jethro, as the meter ticked over and without the driver even noticing. And whatever caused his demise is net evident from my autopsy. There’s no sign of violence, no lumps, bumps, punctures or holes,” Ducky informs us as he removes his latex gloves.  
“Drug overdose?” I ask him next.  
“Well, I can’t say for certain till I receive Abby’s report. But he didn’t die of a cardiac infarction which is how most overdoses hill. His heart shows no sign of coronary artery disease. In fact, it’s in excellent condition, as can be said for all your organs. Pity they couldn’t all have been donated. They were all so healthy.”  
“Poison?” Gibbs asks next.  
“It’s the most likely culprit, but again, I wait Abigail.”  
“I thought you were supposed to solve these riddles, Duck.”  
“Abby and I like to share,” Ducky informs us as he walks around the body and we follow him over to his desk, while Gibs phone begin to ring.  
“Right,” Gibbs comments as he checks the phone and ends the call.  
“That wouldn’t have been your assistant, would it, director?” Ducky picks on his old friend while sitting down.  
“I do hate a nagging woman, Duck,” Gibbs reminds him making me smirk, he hates the job that he has at the moment too.  
“She’s only doing her job, Jethro,” Ducky reminds Gibbs as he calls Abby on the video phone but it shows an empty lab. Ducky calls out anyway, “Abby, Abby are you there. Oh, I guess she must have.” I don’t hear the rest of his conversation because I follow Gibbs out when we release Abby isn’t there at the moment.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“It was his first time, too,” Abby informs McGee and Ziva as Gibbs and I step out of the elevator into the NCIS garage, making me blink. That sounds interesting and I missed it.  
“First time for what?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Seeing a curling match, Gibbs. Have you ever seen a curling match? The pristine ice and those little brooms that sweep,” Abby lies as Gibbs looks into the cab.  
“That’s a clean cab,” I comment as I also look in throw the open door, most cabs’ are dirty and this one I could eat off the floor or chairs.  
“So, what killed him, heart attack?” Abby asks as Gibbs moves from the back of the cab to the front.  
“Nope, dad ruled out a heart attack,” I inform her.  
“Poison looks better all the time,” Ziva comments as she leans down to look throw the cab to talk to Gibbs.  
“Well, Major Mass Spectrometer is working as fast as he can,” Abby informs us.  
“Make him work faster, Abby,” Gibbs orders her as he comes back to the back of the cab.  
“Yes, sir,” Abby exclaims as she pulls out her evidence box with everything in it to collect evidence as it is found.  
“Running shoe,” Gibbs points out the shoe print on the door.  
“Yeah, that impression matches Farhan’s left foot. The cab must have been cleaned before he was picked up,” McGee explains before getting into the cab while showing and talking about what the victim did, “After he hailed the cab, like most passengers he didn’t sit directly behind the driver. Crossed his leg like this.”  
“Then he died,” Ziva informs us as Gibbs phone begins to ring again.  
“In a very relaced position,” McGee comments as Gibbs checks his phone and then ends the call again making me laugh behind my hand.   
“I know he was healthy and young, but it does happen SADS.”  
“No sad. No S.”  
“Not it is SADS. Sudden arrhythmia death syndrome.”  
“Right. Sorry.”  
“It can leave the heart looking perfectly normal.”  
“McGee, you check out our cabbie?” Gibbs asks as he leans down to talk face to face with McGee before turning and walking towards the elevator with me.  
“Not yet. That is my next task,” McGee answers as he gets out of the cab.  
“Hey, boss,” Tony greets Gibbs as he steps out of the elevator only for all of us to step into the elevator and Gibbs to hit the button for the squad room making Tony step back in. he reports, “Five of the seven names found on the list in Farhan’s wallet are dead.”  
“A hit list?” Ziva asks as Gibb.  
“When?” I ask Tony.  
“First died three weeks ago. The last… not including Farhan… Monday,” Tony reads off his notes, how he can read that is beyond me. He writes that messy that I still need a translator.  
“Kind of rules out your SADS theory, Ziva,” McGee comments.  
“SADS?”  
“Sudden Arrhythmia death syndrome,” Ziva explains.  
“I know what it is, Ziva. It’s number two on the list. Sean Price, 24, died of SADS,” Tony explains while handing Gibbs the list of the known dead ones and their address when living.  
“The others?” Gibbs asks.  
“Heart attack.”  
“Or a blown autopsy,” McGee comments.  
“No autopsy. He was 79. One car crash, one drowning. On list, five people.”  
“You and Ziva find the two live names on this list. Look for a connection,” Gibbs orders them while handing Ziva the list.  
“David Brown and Robert Smith,” Ziva reads off. Before commenting, “There’ll be dozens of them.”  
“I read the obits. If there’s a connection, I didn’t see it,” Tony informs us.  
“There’s a connection that I’m seeing right now,” I inform Tony.  
“What?” Tony demands of me as the elevator opens.  
“They’re all dead,” I inform him as I leave the elevator with Gibbs. We walk along the walkway until we arrive at the conference room that is holding Kelly.  
“Relax, Thelma, they won’t keep me here overnight. I’ll be out of here soon,” Kelly informs in wife over the phone before turning to see us and asking Gibbs, “Right, boss?”  
“I’m not your boss,” Gibbs informs him.  
“Right now it sure feels like it.”  
“When’d you have the cab cleaned?” I ask him.  
“I got it that way from dispatch.”  
“How many dares before Farhan?”  
“He was my first.”  
“He was looking over his shoulder?” Gibbs asks as he walks around the table.  
“Till he was sure we weren’t being tailed. Then he relaxed. Maybe I just thought he relaxed, seeing how he was dead. Can I get my cab and go now?”  
“Not yet,” Gibbs answers him as he turns and leaves with me. We walk back to the squad room where Tony and Ziva look annoyed. More Ziva then Tony for the moment.  
“Hey, boss, 32 David Browns in the metro area. So far I’ve talked to four,” Tony reports.  
“41 Robert Smiths, two,” Ziva adds while holding up two fingers and looking annoyed at herself and the job she is attempting to do.  
“And I notified the Yemen embassy of,” Tony begins.  
“Director Gibbs,” Cynthia yells overtop of Tony. She continues now that she has his attention, “Your cell phone is off.”  
“Because I shut it off.”  
“Alice is off two.”  
“Nope, Abby blocked you. This fight has nothing to do with me, I am not involved in anything to do with the madam director being gone and there being anew madam director standee,” I inform her, I am not getting involved in this one. Gibbs and Cynthia can fight it out.  
“The Yemen embassy has been calling for the director.”  
“Did you tell them she’s in Paris?” Gibbs asks her.  
“Yes.”  
“Good,” Gibbs informs her as he walks over and sits behind his desk.  
“I also told them you were Acting Director. They’re sending an attaché to identify the body.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Yes, that is him, Hamal Farhan. When will the body be released?” Doctor Temani, the attaché, identity’s the body in autopsy.  
“When we know how he died and why,” Gibbs informs him.  
“You suspect murder?”  
“We always suspect murder when a healthy young man dies for no apparent cause,” I inform him.  
“Finding the cause of death could take several days,” Ducky informs Temani.  
“Weeks,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“It is our request that Mr Farhan be turned over to the embassy immediately,” Temani informs us before walking off.  
“Kid must have been a hell of a gardener,” I call after him.  
“He had no family in America., we take care of our own.”  
“This time of night, the embassy sends an e-mail, not a cultural attaché, Dr Temani,” Gibbs reminds him as he walks over to in front of the doctor while Ducky leaves autopsy so we can talk in private.  
“You are acting director of NCIS, I believe?”  
“Director will be back at the end of the week if you want to wait around,” I state calmly.  
“Mr Farhan wanted to attend an American university, but was repeatedly denied a student visa.”  
“So he took up gardening?” Gibbs asks in disbelief.  
“Only on paper. He stops at the embassy every Friday just to pick up a pay check.”  
“He was connected,” I state softly.  
“Yes. The son of one of the prime mister’s advisors. Hamal wanted to learn English and study American culture, nothing more.”  
“Did I say there was?” Gibbs asks him.  
“No, but I know what you’re thinking. Hamal was not the type to be involved with terrorism.”  
“He asked to be brought to NCIS for a reason,” I remind him.  
“I cannot imagine why.”  
“The last person from your country who asked to talk to NCIS was killed,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“When was that?”  
“October 10, 2000.”  
“Two days before the terrorist attack on USS Cole,” I add.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro,” I call as I run after him because he is leaving the building to get a coffee.  
“Yes, Alice?” Gibbs asks me without stopping or slowing down.  
“I need to go home,” I inform him as I finally catch up to him.  
“Once this case is over you can go home.”  
“No, I need to go home now,” I hiss at him as I grab his arm and bring him to a stop.  
“Alice. You can go home once this case is done… I’m still your boss.”  
“Jethro. I need to go home right this minute,” I snap at him angrily.  
“Why? What is so important that it can’t wait until after this case?”  
“I need to go home and have a shower.”  
“Why? What makes you more imported then the rest of the team that you can go home when they can’t?”  
“Because I got my period. And I don’t have any pads,” I hiss at him as my face goes red.   
“What?” Gibbs asks while slowly blinking.  
“I need to have a shower. And put on some clean clothing,” I hiss at him as he continues to blink slowly.  
“Right,” Gibbs mumbles with a node. Before saying again, “Come on, I’ll take you home for a moment.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Do you know Maury Goldberg, Thomas West, Adam Zeileg, Sean Price, or Hamal Farhan?” Tony asks into his phone as the victims’ license are on the plasma above my desk in the squad room. I am wearing a new pair of jeans and Gibbs’ NIS sweatshirt. He continues to talk, “No, not Adam West. Adam Zeileg or Tomas West… you know Burt Ward?... Really? Holy molars!... no kidding. On the Simpsons? Which one? Is that the one with the Muslim guy on the bike? Thanks for your help, Mr Brown. Tell Burt, Tony says hi,” Tony says before hanging up because Gibbs is walking over to his desk. Tony rambles to get himself out of trouble, “I know, boss. This isn’t TV trivia. A dead man was left on our door step clutching a hit list. Well not exactly clutching, but with a hit list in his wallet, and we have to find the two names on the list that haven’t been hit yet before they are hit.”  
“No, DiNozzo,” Gibbs informs him as he leans onto the desk.  
“No?” Tony asks in confusion.  
“We have to find the dirt bag that killed the other five!” Gibbs yells at Tony making Tony raise his finger to comment but he can’t find anything to say.  
“Agent Gibbs?” Cynthia says softly.  
“What?!” Gibbs demands of her loudly making Tony throw me a look while lipping, ‘help us.’  
“Justice called on the Scoletti case. They’ve granted the defence permission to do their own ballistics test tomorrow,” Cynthia informs him while I mouth back to Tony, ‘what do you want me to do?’  
“Tell Special Agent Gillman this is his case.”  
“As acting director, you have to sign off on it,” Cynthia informs Gibbs making him walk over to her and sign the file she is holding. He slams the pen back onto the clip board and point at her to leave but she informs him, “We still have those case files to review.” Gibbs glares at her making her add softly while Gibbs waves her off again, “We can do them later.”  
“Joe Kelly,” Gibbs demands of McGee while pointing to him.  
“Uh, legit. He’s had a hack licence in DC for 22 years. Other than a couple of minor traffic violations, he’s clean,” McGee informs us while putting his licence onto the plasma above my desk, I stand up and walk over next to Gibbs without touching him. I don’t want to deal with his anger. McGee adds, “He has been here a while. Should we release him?”  
“If I wanted him released, McGee…”  
“You would have told me.”  
“Scoletti’s lawyers have a hired gun coming into check Abby’s ballistics. Tell Abby,” Gibbs orders him as he collects a couple files.  
“I’d really rather not.”  
“IT wasn’t a request.”  
“When is the director returning?” Ziva asks as Gibbs and McGee leave the squad room.  
“Sometime tomorrow,” Tony answers her.  
“Not soon enough,” I overlap him.  
“I don’t think Gibbs is going to last that,” Ziva begins before the call she is on hold comes back to life making her exclaim, “Hello. Yes. Mister Smith… I’m calling from NCIS… Naval criminal investigative service.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Jethro, wait up,” I call after him as I run after him towards the conference room.  
“What?” Gibbs demands as he stops letting me catch up.  
“Oh, don’t get pissy at me, I didn’t do anything… what is wrong, you’re not that easily pissed off by Tony. Lately,” I ask him as I gently place a hand on his arm.  
“It’s nothing Alice.”  
“It’s something. You wouldn’t normally yell at Cynthia even when she is blocking your way into annoying the madam director.”  
“Five people are dead and Tony is talking TV shows.”  
“It’s Tony. I’m not surprise… just, don’t yell at innocent bystanders because Tony’s being Tony,” I beg of him.  
“Something doesn’t feel right,” Gibbs informs me.  
“About the case? Or Tony’s love life?”  
“Both.”  
“We can only fix one. Let’s talk to the cabbie,” I say before squeezing Gibbs arm and then moving my hand down until I am holding his hand, pulling him along behind me. Once we arrive at the door to the conference room, I drop his hand and let him enter first.  
“You’ll just have to wait. They can’t hold me here overnight,” Kelly informs him wife over the phone again. Before informing us while covering the speaker, “My wife doesn’t believe I’m being held by navy cops.” Gibbs snatches the phone.  
“He’s a material witness,” Gibbs informs her before ending the call and dropping the phone back into Kelly’s lap.  
“Thanks, pal. You know how wives are… they don’t trust you as far as they can kick you,” Kelly informs Gibbs as I follow Gibbs around the table so that I am sitting to Gibbs right while Kelly is on the left, at the end of the table.  
“Wouldn’t know. Never married,” Gibbs lies as he opens the file he picked up off his desk.  
“How did you get away?”  
“After a while, women… they don’t like me.”  
“What do you do, leave the toilet lid up?”  
“I know when they’re lying.”  
“Men too,” I add as Gibbs flicks the witness statement around to face Kelly.  
“From the top,” Gibbs orders him as he taps the witness statement.  
“The guy was my first flare. Flagged me down outside Kelsey’s bar on 25th.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
“Saxitoxin?” Abby asks in the lab while reading the report that mass spec finally got.  
“Never heard of it,” McGee comments.  
“It’s a neurotoxin. It’s found in most cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning.”  
“He ate a bad clam?”  
“I don’t know,” Abby asks him as she turns around and looks at the door.  
“What are you looking for?”  
“Gibbs and Alice. They have this uncanny way of showing up whenever I make a discovery.”  
“He’s a little bit off his game since he’s been playing director.”  
“IS that so, McGee?” Gibbs asks while leaning on the desk in front of the video phone we’re using to listen in on their conversation.  
“Jethro, why did he have to speak. I wanted to see if they get back to talking about what they we’re talking about in the garage… I know it’s not a curling match,” I complain as I lean onto his shoulder so they can see me too.  
“Both of you, get down here,” Gibbs orders them while ignoring me. They turn and leave making Gibbs smirk at me.  
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“Saxitoxin is produced by a single-sell organism that flourishes in the warm months. It is eaten by oysters, clams, mussels, and is responsible for the deadly phenomenon know as ‘red tide.’ The poise is disrupts the electrical impulses to the brain, and the body basically forgets how to breath, how to live, and it’s practically undetectable. Good work, my dear,” Ducky complements Abby as he walks around the dark autopsy. I am leaning onto Gibbs side while he leans onto the bed, watching and learning everything.  
“Thank you, Ducky,” Abby says to him happily as she hugs him.  
You’re welcome.”  
‘Whenever you two are done,” Gibbs informs them making me laugh, he is nicer to Ducky and Abby then to anything else in the world.  
“Yes, well, six-tenths of a milligram kill an adult. That level is consistent with, well, for example, improperly prepared fugu,” Ducky informs us while releasing Abby.  
“IT’s a blowfish. Japanese delicacy,” McGee explains to Gibbs when he looks at him.  
“Perhaps death was accidental?” I ask them.  
“Not likely. His stomach was empty,” Ducky informs us.  
“And even if it wasn’t, the saxitoxin levels were a hundred times higher than he could have possible consumed by eating shellfish. There’s nothing in nature with that high is a concentration,” Abby informs us.  
“During the 50s, a suicide pill was synthesized using contaminated butter clams.”  
“By who?” Gibbs demands.  
“Our old friends, the CIA,” Ducky informs him making Gibbs roll his eyes and look away, thoroughly annoyed again.  
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“We’re trying to establish a timeline of Farhan’s final ride, Gibbs,” Ziva informs her while the map with two roots are on the plasma above my desk on the squad room.  
“Taxicab’s on board computer tracked his movements with a GPS, and determined the fare based on how many zones it crossed,” McGee explains.  
“Our cabbie did not take the most direct route from the embassy.”  
“This is America, Ziva. Land of opportunity. No cabbie ever takes the quickest route,” Tony informs her from his desk as eh is on hold for something.  
“He dropped down along the river, circumvented the city centre,” McGee informs us.  
“Who much?” Gibbs demands.  
“$27.65.”  
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“Hope you guys are on overtime,” Kelly comments as we walk into the conference room again. Gibbs and I walk down the table to across from Kelly while Ziva walks to the plasma mounted on the wall near the door.  
“Is this the route you took to the navy yard this afternoon?” Ziva asks Kelly while putting it onto the plasma making Kelly get up and walk closer to the plasma screen.  
“More or less.”  
“More,” Gibbs corrects him while walking over to them near the plasma and standing next to Ziva.  
“The fare was $27.65,” I remind him as I walk over and stand next to Gibbs.  
“It does not match the distance you said you travelled,” Ziva adds.  
“There was traffic. I was trying to avoid it. Got jammed up. He wasn’t complaining, you know?”  
“Because he was dead,” Ziva reminds him as she sits onto the edge of the table under the plasma while Kelly phone begins ringing.  
“The wife. I’m going to take this because she scares me more than you guys,” Kelly informs us after checking the caller ID and then answers the phone, “Thelma?... I’m trying, Thelma, I’m trying… I pretty sure they’re going to let me go soon… Love you, too, sweetheart.” He ends the call with a kiss before informs us, “Thelma’s really getting worried.”  
“The route,” Gibbs reminds him.  
“Okay, so maybe I took the long way around. What cabbie doesn’t now and then? Report me to the commission. I’ll report myself to the commission. Just tell me we’re done. Tell me I can get my cab and go home to Thelma.”  
“Abby’s done with the tai and he’s been here all day,” Ziva reminds Gibbs who continues to stare at Kelly for another moment and turns to leave.  
“Call the front gate,” Gibbs orders us as he leaves.  
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” Kelly thanks Ziva while kissing her hand every time.  
“Just go home to your wife,” Ziva order him with a laugh as we leave the conference room together.  
“Did I tell you Thelma and I are going to take a cruise to the Bahamas?” Kelly asks us as we lead him to the elevator which Ziva rides down with him as I catch up to Gibbs, and grab his arm. Walking with in him into the squad room where Tony and McGee is watching something on the plasma between their desks.  
“What are we watching?” Gibbs asks them as he steps behind them, looking over their shoulders.  
“It’s an NSA decryption program scanning all possible connections between people on the list,” McGee explains.  
“There’s a five and a three in all their social security numbers,” Tony adds.  
“Except for Farhan, who didn’t have a social security card.”  
“I have the numbers three and five in mine,” Gibbs informs us.  
“Me, too,” McGee and I say together.  
“That’s it? Not other connections?” I ask them.  
“Nope. No common churches, social clubs, schools, fraternities, nothing,” McGee answers me.  
“The only place these people ever met was in the obituaries,” Tony adds making Gibbs pull his thinking eye look.  
“Pull up the full pages of the obituaries,” Gibbs orders them. McGee pulls up all the pages of the obituaries making us look at them and Gibbs asks us, “Where do your eyes go to?”  
“The photos,” McGee answers them.  
“You think their names were randomly picked from the obits?” Tony asks.  
“Gives the appearance of a hit list,” I release.  
“The only one actually murdered was Farhan,” Gibbs finishes for me.  
“Why?” McGee asks.  
“To distract us,” Gibbs answers him as I release his arm and he walks over to his desk.  
“Gibbs. Gibbs. Gibbs. Gibbs,” Abby calls as she runs into the squad room and over to Gibbs. She continues while holding two evidence bags, “Unless this foam grew legs, something weird is going on. Not that polyethene foam growing legs isn’t weird in the first place, but this is the foam that we found on the floor of the taxi, and this foam is exactly the same.”  
“The point?” I ask her in confusion.  
“Well, I just found this foam inside the evidence lock-up,” Abby explains making Gibbs ring Ziva.  
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“Gibbs! Thank god you’re here,” Kelly exclaims as Gibbs and I walk out, aiming our guns at the car. He continues to talk as Tony searches the boot, “Tell these Gi-rines I can go.”  
“Clear,” Tony calls as he slams the boot of the car shut.  
“Clear? It’s empty.”  
“Front or back?” Gibbs orders as he points his gun in the front and I aim at the back seat.  
“What?”  
“Which seat?” I demand of him.  
“Which seat? What are you talking about?”   
“The accomplice you smuggled into the evidence lock-up,” Ziva informs him from the back of the car where she is aiming her gun on Kelly.  
“Accomplice?” Kelly asks only for Ziva to walk closer so that her gun is almost on his head making him add, “Thelma looks like you when she’s pissed, only she doesn’t have a gun, thank god.”  
“FRONT or BACK?” I shout at him.  
“Front,” Kelly informs us when Ziva clicks her safety off.  
“Name?” Gibbs demands as I move my gun so it is leave with the seat while I am half in the back of the car, using the seat as a shield.  
“Mario Vincetti,” Kelly informs us as Tony and McGee comes over to stand behind Gibbs.  
“Mario! Special Agent Gibbs. Come out,” Gibbs orders him.  
“Slowly, hands first,” I add as I flick my safety, making sure it’s off, which it is.  
“There’s no sense in getting,” Kelly begins only for Gibbs to shot the footstool in the front of the car.  
“Don’t shoot. I’m coming out,” Mario informs us before opening the Velcro seat and climb out. Gibbs and I keep our guns aimed on him as he climbs out of the car with his hands on the roof and McGee pulls in away while restraining his hands behind his back. Mario hisses, “I said drive faster.”  
“And to think I pitied a murderer,” Ziva hisses, angry at herself.  
“Murderer? That guy was a murdered? I didn’t know. I ain’t no murderer. Mario told me the guy was a stiff they got from a funeral home. Tell them,” Kelly exclaims as they cuff Mario and recover the gun he stole out of evidence.  
“Let Scoletti’s lawyers do the talking, dummy,” Mario hisses at him.  
“Scoletti’s lawyers got us into this mess,” Kelly reminds him as McGee and Tony manhandle Mario away.  
“Shut up!”  
“Honest, I didn’t know they killed the guy. I was going to get ten grand, take Thelma on a princess cruise to the Bahamas. A second honeymoon. We never had a first,” Kelly explains to Ziva. She continues to give him the evil eye making him beg of Gibbs, “Tell her enough with the evil eye. It reminds me of my mother.”  
“You’re comparing me to your mother,” Ziva demands of him.  
“Just around the eyes, maybe a little around the mouth.”  
“Permission to shoot?” Ziva asks while aiming onto his family jewels making Gibbs smile without answering her.  
“Ooh,” Kelly mumbles while looking between the smiling man and the angry Israeli in fear.  
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“How’s the paperwork going?” I ask Gibbs as I walk into the director’s office to see him signing files without looking at more then who is the head agent.  
“Slow,” Gibbs answers me without looking up from the file as I walk over to him and hand him the coffee.  
“I’m not helping,” I inform him as I sit on the edge of Shepard’s desk while holding out the report for this case making Gibbs take it and sign ‘his’ report before putting it aside for the madam director to sign when she gets back.  
“You’re not allowed to help. Agency policy.”  
“I’m not allowed to do a lot of things I have done,” I remind him making Gibbs laugh at me.  
“Like sitting on the director’s desk,” Gibbs informs me as he grabs me around my waist and pull me off the desk onto his lap, making me laugh at him.  
“What we don’t tell her, wouldn’t hurt.”  
“Mm-hmm… but we’re not the only one who might tell her,” Gibbs reminds me while putting another file right where I was sitting.  
“Mm-hmm,” I hum as I snuggle into his chest while he continues to work around me as I enjoy the warmth that he always seems to radiate.


	58. Angel of Death

“Okay, I know this looks a little weird, but I couldn’t get my hands on a real polygraph machine, so I made one,” Abby informs a shirtless McGee who is hooked up to a heap of wires in her lab while tied down to the chair he is sitting on.  
“Does it electrocute him when he lies?” I ask her making Abby smile at me without answering me.  
“Name?” Abby asks McGee but he hesitates making her demand, “Name! tell me your name.”  
“Stop acting like a Nazi. Come over here. Scratch my nose, please. Right side. Right side. Ow! God not so hard,” McGee complains as Abby scratches his nose with some needle nose pliers for him.  
“McGee, stop being such a baby. Name.”  
“Timothy McGee… no middle initial.”  
“Have you ever used an alias?”  
“Does a nom de plume count?”  
“It does.”  
“Thom E Gemcity.”  
“Any other names?”  
“No.”  
“No?”  
“No.”  
“Okay, either you or my polygraph is lying. And since this is a machine and it can’t lie….”  
“HAL lied through his chops,” Tony reminds her as Ziva and him enter the lab.  
“I thought the expression was ‘to lie through your teeth,’” Ziva comments in confusion.  
“Hal, the computer. 2001? Si-fi classic?”  
“How can a six-year-old movie be a classic?”  
“The film that was made in 1968. 2001: a space odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick. How long do you have to be in this country…”  
“Guys. I’m trying to prep McGee for his polygraph on Monday,” Abby cuts Tony off.  
“Really? Well, unless you’re a spy, McGeek, the thought of which is utterly ludicrous. What’s the sweat?”  
“He panics taking test,” I explain before popping a piece of popcorn into my mouth.  
“It’s not uncommon,” McGee defends himself while shrugging Tony’s hand off of his chest where he is trying to remove one of the heart monitor’s Abby placed on him.  
“Started in kindergarten. Couldn’t change his answer,” Abby explains.  
“Hard to erase crayon,” Tony teases him.  
“Tony, it’s not funny. Retaining my Special Agent status is dependent on passing this polygraph,” McGee hisses in fear.  
“Oh, this is definitely a lie,” Ziva points out the lie.  
“What’d you ask him?” Tony asks us.  
“His name,” Abby and I inform him together.  
“You lied about your name?” Ziva asks McGee.  
“Not the first time… probably wouldn’t be the last. Doesn’t want us to find out about his other books,” I inform them.  
“No. Timothy McGee is my legal name. Thom E Gemcity is my pen name. I don’t have any other names,” McGee defends his lie.  
“Probie,” Gibbs calls out as he enters the lab.  
“Yes boss?”  
“And Elf Lord. Two other names,” Gibbs adds, giving us the lie while walking behind Abby and me, into our personal space. He asks us, “Why are you torturing McGee?”  
“I am not torturing, McGee,” Abby begins defensively.  
“Yeah. She didn’t make it electrocute him when he lied,” I complain.  
“I am prepping him. He has his CPS polygraph on Monday,” Abby explains making Gibbs walk back around her so he is standing behind me, stealing some of my popcorn.  
“Who ordered that?” Gibbs asks us.  
“Homeland Security. All NCIS agents must take it, directors included. Check your e-mails,” McGee informs us making Tony and Ziva check theirs.  
“Monday, 0900,” Tony complains.  
“Tuesday 1300,” Ziva informs us when hers is, as Gibbs steals a handful of my popcorn and leaving without anyone else noticing.  
“Boss, what time is you,” Tony begins only to release Gibbs left making him change it to, “Alice, what times yours?”  
“Tuesday 1400. Bitch will have to ride with me,” I answer him.  
“Alice, you have to be honest,” Tony reminds me.  
“And can’t drink caffeine,” McGee adds.  
“OR lie,” Ziva continues.  
“Why do you think I can’t do that?” I ask them while eating my popcorn. They all give me a look but I choose to ignore it.  
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“Visiting our ex-wife?” Fornell asks once he walked across the street to were Gibbs and I are sitting in our car outside of their shared ex-wife’s house and leans onto Gibbs door.  
“Waiting for you,” Gibbs corrects him.  
“How’d you know I’d be here?”   
“Friday night. Odd weekend.”  
“Hold on, Emily,” Diane, the ex-wife, calls to a beautiful little blonde.  
“Hey, daddy!” Emily, the little girl, yells while waving to him.  
“Hey, Em. Be there in a minute,” Fornell calls back.  
“One second, before you two go at it, I have to ask. How did something that pretty come from you?” I ask Fornell in honest confusion as Diane crosses her arm and glares at the two men.  
“Diane look that pissed at you after the divorce?” Fornell asks Gibbs softly so his voice doesn’t carry as Gibbs looks at her while ignoring my question for the moment.  
“Ah, she’s looking at me, Tobias,” Gibbs promise him.  
“Ever thing of picking up a phone?”  
“Hard lines are tapped. Cell calls snatched right out of the air,” I inform him.  
“Turning into a conspiracy nut, Alice. What’s next? Alien abductions?”  
“Only when there’s an FBI, CIA, homeland security, weirdly pretty daughter person involved,” I inform him.  
“Hey,” Emily calls over to Gibbs who waves back to the happy girl.  
“Only if you don’t answer our questions,” Gibbs informs Fornell.  
“Why the polygraphs?” Fornell asks Gibbs.  
“No. Do you still dream about OJ-ing Diane?”  
“Nah, Emily kind of likes her.”  
“That’s your only reason? Not because you might have to get your hands dirty? Spend the night in jail? Lose your job or coffee?” I ask him in disbelief before throwing myself back into the chair making Fornell smirk at me.  
“You?”  
“Only when I think about my grandfather’s railroad watch,” Gibbs answers him as they look away from the little angle and the old glarer.  
“Beautiful chimes.”  
“FBI being polygraphed?” I ask him.  
“No. And before you run through the alphabet soup. This net is being cast strictly over NCIS.”  
“Who’s doing the fishing?” Gibbs asks.  
“Obviously, someone who thinks there’s a security risk at NCIS.”  
“Who are they after, Tobias?”  
“Your boss.”  
“Why don’t they just poly her, not the rest of us… we’re not responsible for her stupidity,” I snap at him making him push off the car and walk back over to his beautiful daughter. I ask Gibbs, “How did someone like Fornell get a child so pretty? Is there DNA evidence she is his?”  
“Not touching that one,” Gibbs answers me.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“Senor Gibbs,” Noemi, Shepard’s maid, greats me at the door of Shepard’s house when I ring the door bell in the rain tonight after Shepard gets back into the country.  
“Director home?” I ask her because the house is dark.  
“I’m in here. In polite society, one usually called before a visit. Bourbon?” Shepard informs me while standing up in the dark room at the end of the hall.  
“I kicked in too many doors to be polite. Yeah,” I answer her as I follow her into the study.  
“I appreciate the restraint you showed by using the bell. I’ve been rather fond of that door since I was a child. You could have waited to report till Monday, Jethro,” Shepard informs me while pouring the drinks.  
“That’s not why I’m here. You lost your protection detail in Paris. You went missing for 21 hours. Where were you?” I demand of her.  
“You sound like a jealous husband.”  
“How would you know?” I ask her making her look at me in shock that I would even call her on that comment.  
“Do you want this or not,” Shepard demands of me while holding out the drink she poured for me. But I walk over to the desk where there is a bottle of something on it and I go to pick it up making her yell at me, “Don’t… touch that. It’s scotch. You drink bourbon.”  
“So do you,” I remind her because if she is going to tell me what I drink, I am going to remind her what she drinks but I do take my hand away from the drink.  
“I had another visitor before you arrive… unannounced,” Shepard informs me as she walks closure to me with every word, sounding annoyed that I arrived.  
“Did he duck out the back?” I tease her. “You go off grid for 21 hours… and we’re being polygraphed for a security breach,” I inform her but she doesn’t seem to care, I am being to think Alice has the right idea, palm her before she get NCIS shut down for personal reasons.  
“Drink you bourbon and say good night, Gracie,” Shepard orders me.  
“What were you doing for 21 hours, Jenny?”  
“What we used to do. Ever so well,” Shepard comments as I sip my bourbon, ignoring her hint at when I used to have sex with her in Paris before Alice and before Shepard broke my heart.  
“When you’re lying, your right eye twitches. It always has,” I inform her as I place my glass down and leave the house while fingering the box in my pocket. I have to talk to someone about this box before it get’s to it’s rightful owner.  
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Alice pov  
.  
“You know, constitutionally, you can refuse to take a polygraph,” Lee informs McGee at the bar as we all drink.  
“I’d have to turn in my badge,” McGee reminds her.  
“True, but you don’t have to take the test.”  
“Hey, I have an idea,” Abby exclaims while raising her hand in the air before lowering it while continuing, “Why don’t we have Ducky to tell the examiners that Tim is just way to stressed out to take the test?”   
“Ducky’s a medical examiner, he’s not a psychiatrist.”  
“But he does psychological profiles.”  
“Of serial killers,” Ziva reminds us.  
“That’s good I’ll go from Federal Agent to serial killer in one day,” McGee complains.  
“New plan… we get dad to tell the examiner that McGee can’t take the test because he is being autopsied at that moment?” I ask Lee before taking a sip of my bourbon and coke.  
“He’s not dead,” Lee reminds me.  
“To dead,” McGee adds while giving me a look but I smile innocently at him.  
“It was just a thought,” Abby defends herself before taking a sip of her beer.  
“Here you go,” the bartender says while handing Abby her next drink.  
“Thanks. Great bartender.”  
“You can beat a polygraph,” Ziva informs McGee.  
“No, you can’t.”  
“I’ve done it, Abby. It’s part of Mossad training.”  
“Okay, you can… McGee can’t… if he can’t beat Tony, Kate or me to shotgun in the van before we got a second car, he can’t beat a poly,” I inform her.  
“All you have to do,” Ziva begins to explain to us.  
“Oh, hello! If it’s unethical, I can’t hear it!” Lee exclaims after making a sound to stop Ziva.  
“Well, don’t listen,” Ziva informs her.  
“Fine,” Lee says while blocking her ears and going li-li-li and then stopping making that sound to inform Ziva, “Go ahead.”  
“May we join you?” Ducky asks us as he arrives with Jimmy.  
“Hey, Ducky, here take my chair,” McGee comments while getting ready to get up.  
“No, no, no, no, Timothy. At a bar, I prefer to stand.”  
“Me, to,” Jimmy agrees while leaning onto the bar next to Lee.  
“Macallan neat. Mineral water on the side. No ice,” Ducky informs the bartender what his order is.  
“I’ll take a, uh, chocolate martini,” Jimmy orders only for us all to give a look of disbelief making him change it to, “Just kidding. Uh, make that a green fairy Mojito.”  
“You got it,” the bartender agrees while getting the drinks.  
“Why is everybody so dour? It’s TGIF and the happy hour!” Ducky reminds us.  
“Homeland Security’s ordering us to take a polygraph,” McGee explains.  
“That’s rather odd. But there’s nothing to worry about. Unless… you’re a spy.”  
“Why are you looking at me?” Ziva asks in confusion but she doesn’t sound offended, yet.  
“I’m trying to lighten the atmosphere with a little humour.”  
“I don’t think they expect you to be funny doctor,” Jimmy says before going to eat a pringle only to release who is sounded and add, “That didn’t come out right.”  
“No, I should say not,” Ducky says quite offended at the comment making me gently squeeze his arm behind McGee’s back.  
“I mean I don’t think they expect a Scotsman to be funny.”  
“Stop digging, Jimmy. You’ve almost reached China,” Abby orders Jimmy while holding her hand up to stop him.  
“Yeah, a round for my friends on me,” Ducky asks the bartender who finally gets his drink.  
“Dispelling two misconceptions about Scotsmen in one night,” Ziva comments before Lee jumps up.  
“Does anyone know where the rest rooms are?”  
“I do!” Jimmy answers.  
“Okay.”  
“One moment! First… a toast!” Ducky stops them making Lee and Jimmy mumble something.  
“May the best you’ve ever seen be the worst you’ll ever see. May a mouse never leave your Girnal with a teardrop in his eye. May you stay hay and hearty until you’re old enough to die. May you always be as happy as we wish to all be,” Ducky begins in a Scottish accent as McGee, and Abby’s pagers go off.  
“Guys, I’m sorry, I gotta go,” McGee informs us.  
“Uh, me, too. Great toast, Duck,” Abby says to him before placing a kiss on his check.  
“Terrific,” McGee agrees while shaking Ducky’s hand before they leave.  
“Really good, Doctor,” Jimmy agrees before disappearing into the crowd.  
“May a mouse never leave your girdle with a teardrop in his eye,” Ziva attempts to remember what Ducky just said as I move closure to them on the chairs and Ducky sits down.  
“Not girdle, Girnal. It’s an oat bin,” Ducky corrects her. Before explaining, “If it was empty, a mouse would cry.”  
“To dry-eyed mice,” I toast making them copy me.  
“Yeah, yeah,” Ducky agrees.  
“I would love to hear the whole thing,” I inform him as I take a sip of my drink.  
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Gibbs pov  
“Hey, boss, what’s up?” McGee asks me as he walks into the squad room after I paged him.  
“There’s a letter on your desk. Sign it,” I inform him as I work on my computer.  
“What is it?”  
“Just sign it, Tim. It’s a get out of jail free card,” I order him as I get up and walk over, watching him sign it before signing it myself and taking it back to my desk.  
“Boss, why would I need such a card?”   
“Because you’re going to hack into the CIA,” I inform him as I sit back behind my desk.  
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Abby pov  
.  
“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” I order my machines as I walk into the lab, dripping wet and turn the lights on. I continue to talk to them, “Okay, I know you guys have been working really hard lately, and I promised that you could have the weekend off, but this sounds like an emergency, so I need everybody to get those electrons flowing! If anybody is not up to it, I need to know now, not when the director arrives.” I have powered up them all but something wrong making me comment, “Something’s wrong.” I walk into my inner office and pick up a CD titled ‘rise and shine’ which I put into my CD player and play it. I take a deep breath before commenting, “Ready.” I hear the elevator and turn around facing the elevator while saluting it.  
“Thanks for coming in on such short notice, Abby,” Shepard comments as she sweeps into my lab with a bag in her left hand.  
“Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail will keep this scientist from her appointed rounds.”  
“Nice. You’ve adopted what the post office has forgotten.”  
“Did you climb the Eiffel Tower?”   
“No.”  
“No? How can you be in Paris and not climb the Eiffel Tower?”  
“I want to know whose fingerprints are on these,” Shepard informs me while pulling out a glass and scotch out of the bag she is carrying. I grab and click my pen but she informs me, “Chain of evidence is not important. I’ll be in my office.”  
I am so confused, when is chain of evidence not important? I can see what Alice means when she says something is wrong with Shepard at the moment.  
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Gibbs pov  
.  
“Boss, you were right. The order to polygraph came from homeland security’s assistant director for infrastructure protection. But it didn’t originate from there. I traced into his IMAP account using an encryption algorithm developed,” McGee explains to me as I stare out the window into the rain, last time it rained like this and I was in the squad room, Kate just died. I stop staring out the window, into my past and walk over to the plasma as McGee releases, “You’re not really interested in how I did this, are you?”  
“Nope, I’m not,” I admit as I stare at the plasma between Tony and McGee’s desk.  
“Okay, well, the order went from homeland security to china, then Kurdistan. It went through a secondary server in India to the island of Cypress. Then through Puerto Rico. There it followed a bank like back to DC and,” McGee explains while moving the map to each place.  
“CIA.”  
“Specifically, their national clandestine service. It went in and out of a maze of incoming and outgoing black op chatter. All encrypted. That’s where I lost it,” McGee informs me making me give him a look until he continues, “But I found it again. It’s part of a black op. It’s code named Lodestone. Running out of the CIA section for weapons control and arms proliferation.”  
“The frog,” I release.  
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Alice pov  
“I have a funny feeling, Doctor,” Ziva complains as I lean on Ducky, we’re wasted. We are the only people left in the bar and Jimmy and Lee never returned from the toilet.  
“It’s the tequila, my dear. You’ve had three shooters just in the time I’ve been here,” Ducky explains.  
“We deserve to get drunk after what the director has and will put us through,” I inform Ducky as I attempt to point at him.  
“Straight to voice mail. Just like always when he’s with her,” Ziva complains after trying to ring Tony.  
“Tony?” I ask her as Ducky gives her a pity look because it’s obvious she likes him.  
“What?”   
“Nothing,” Ducky answers her.  
“Oh, no, no, no. that look was definitely something.”  
“Well, why do you monitor Tony?”  
“I don’t monitor Tony.”  
“Yes you do. I’m dating Jethro and I know where he is less then you do with Tony and I’m with him most of the time. Ring him less to and he was in Mexico,” I inform her.  
“Oh, yes, you do, my dear, like a mother with her toddler,” Ducky agrees with me.  
“That’s a good description,” Ziva comments.  
“Or a woman with a wayward lover.”  
“Ducky… do not profile me… I’m not a killer. Correction… I have killed before, but not feloniously.”  
“Ziva, it’s Friday not…. Tony is with his girlfriend and you are worried about him. What does that tell you?”  
“He is my partner. And my partner said he would be here. And… and I have this… not so good feeling.”   
“That would be the bourbon you were drinking with the tequila. It too will pass into pain,” I inform her.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
“Someone is looking at me,” McGee complains.  
“It’s the cleaning crew,” I say while dismissing it.  
“No, in the computer. I got to shut down my UPD port. I don’t think it penetrated my firewall,” McGee explains making me get up and walk over behind him, leaning on his chair looking at what is on his computer screen.  
“What the hell is it?”   
“It’s a bot-agent. It’s probably one of the CIA’s. bot-agents… short for robotic agent. Designed to crawl the internet looking for snoopers like us.”  
“This for real?”  
“Oh, yeah, boss. If this had penetrated my firewall, it could have downloaded my hard drive. The CIA would have all our data, and know we were onto Lodestone.”  
“Can you kill it?”  
“No, though I could build a mirror to my firewall, so that when it looks in, it could just see itself.”  
“How long?”  
“Too long. Or I could another computer,” McGee comments while moving over to Ziva’s computer while I move back to my own computer, looking at the background that is a picture of Alice and myself in Mexico. I don’t know how she got the photo off Mike or how she got it on my computer without me noticing. McGee turns to me and informs me, “Boss, just one thing…”  
“There’s always just one thing, McGee.”  
“A really smart bot-agent won’t just sit on my computer. It’ll look for m search pattern on the internet.”  
“This is like tracking a dirtbag, McGee. You stake out his house. You put out a BOLO. Keep tabs on the girl,” I explain to him as I get up and walk back over to the window.  
“Never thought of it that way.”  
“Start a new search.”  
“Okay. What am I looking for?”  
“The girlfriend…Jenny Shepard,” I inform him making him look at me. I add, “When you look at me like that, McGee, I get this overwhelming urge to head slap you.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Abby pov  
.  
“I’m going to get… a dig… now!” I exclaims while turning from the rain outside the window to the fingerprint running only for it to continue to run. I lecture them then as I walk over to my standing desk with the two computers on it, “You guys are doing this because it’s the weekend. And you think if you just stall, then I’ll give up and I’ll finish the search on Monday, but that is not going to happen.”  
“Abby… you worry me,” Shepard informs me from the doorway where she is watching me.  
“Oh, they know I’m just, you know, talking to them to pass the time. Because at this point, the fingerprint match is totally up to AFIS. Right, guy? Right, guys?,” I inform her as she walks closure to me. I then turn to the director and inform her, “I’m just joshing you, director.”  
“I spoiled your Friday night.”  
“Oh, you know, I was just hanging out at the bar. And Alice and I probably would have been completely passed out by now if I’d stayed.”  
“Joshing me again?”  
“No,” I answer her but she give me a disappointed look making me change it too, “Yes.”  
“How many prints?”  
“Two sets. He poured with his left hand and help the glass with his right,” I explain as we walk over and look at the glass and bottle.  
“Left-handed?”  
“Or ambidextrous. I can pour with either hand. I can tell you he’s not military. AFIS would have gotten a match on anyone on active duty by now.”  
“What if he was retired?” Shepard asks me as she looks at the print on the plasma.  
“Covered them, too.”  
“Dead?”  
“Dead? You said this wasn’t a case,” I ask her in confusion.  
“It’s not. I want you to expand the search to include servicemen alive prior to ’95,” Shepard informs me as she turns to leave, making me blink, she knows who the print belongs to. So why did she ask me to run it without telling me who to run it against?  
“Okay.”  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Gibbs pov  
.  
I walk into the squad room carrying two coffee, one for McGee and one for me the next morning. I place one on Ziva’s desk next to McGee only to see there is a photo on the plasma above Alice desk.  
“Who’s this?” I ask him.  
“It’s uh, director’s father… colonel Jasper Shepard… you don’t know him?” McGee informs me.  
“She never talked family.”  
“It’s like you,” McGee comments as I look at the colonel.  
“She has his eyes. He still alive?”  
“Deceased. Suicide, 12 years ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and happy new year.  
> Sadly this is my last written chapter. I am going to take a break from this story line because my hard drive with all my NCIS episodes died days ago… I hope to have a new one in the next months and then I will work on this story again…  
> Thank you for all of your time in reading and reviewing of this story. I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I have. And I hope that you have a great Christmas and new year

**Author's Note:**

> There is a new book up.... it's name is Gibbs Girl... enjoy


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